When I was a lot younger all "real" choppers were rigids. Could be that most of them were based on reworked stock hardtail frames. But some were aftermarket frames too.
So I wonder if a "real" chopper today could have rear shocks and a swingarm, or do they have to be rigids?
__________________ Buzz Kanter
Editor-in-Chief, American Iron Magazine
Of course they can. I remember several FX choppers. In fact if you look in the special edition of American Iron "Choppers" Or what ever it was called 2 yrs ago I think you will see several of them. OK I guess I will have to dig it out and see.
OK just checked it and according to the pics provided by Frances G. Blake I would say yes. WOW that issue is from 2005. Didn't think it was THAT long ago.
__________________ 2004 FXDI SUPER GLIDE 65,000+ miles and still going strong. K&N Filter and Screaming Eagle Pipes
Last edited by sgtcowboyusmc; 09-18-2009 at 03:48 AM.
Reason: found Chopper Magizine;-)
They can have whatever you want it to have, do it your way. There will be those who disagree on both sides as with everything else and they will tell you so. Some of the hard core old schoolers are extremely "rigid' in their thinking! (No pun there?) But hey if we all thought the same way we'd all ride the same bike!
Sorry, folks. To really be classified as an old time chopper ( I hate the tired cliche 'old school'--- nobody even knows WTF that means, really) it must be a rigid frame. When the chopper movement got started, the whole thing was to take a worn-out old bagger--- that would make it a knuck or ealy pan--- and cut everything off it it didn't need to run, rake the neck, extend the springer front end. You never saw a 'choppped' swingarm, not in the '60s or '70s, except for the Jammer "Saviour" frame with plunger style shocks on a raked and stretched frame. And if you're talking about choppers from later than that, you missed the point of the question.
Now, don't get me wrong---- I'm a firm believer that anyone can do whatever the heck they want to thier own bike. I am just trying to answer Buzz's question, that's all.
Hate to disagree with ya Big but I saw many choppers in the late 60's and early 70's that had shocks. I referenced the American Iron "Chopper special" from 2005 where a guy named Frances G. Blake provided a bunch of pics for a Sam Whitehead article from that era and yup there are shocked choppers in it. The vast majority were rigids but the vast majority of the bikes at the time were older rigids and that's what was available at the right price for "modification".
Cowboy
__________________ 2004 FXDI SUPER GLIDE 65,000+ miles and still going strong. K&N Filter and Screaming Eagle Pipes
Last edited by sgtcowboyusmc; 09-18-2009 at 01:53 PM.
And all this time I thought a chopper was a 45 caliber Thompson machine gun. Well, there goes another broken long cherished delusion.
By the way, Big Incher, I agree that back in the day most real choppers were hardtails. There were, however, more than a few sprung rears around too. I actually think that came about as the supply of old hardtail frames got short and guys were chopping the out of service sprung police bikes. Some of those guys wanted a hardtail so bad they took off the shocks and put on struts. I believe you could also buy weld on hardtail sections to convert to a ridgid rear end. First time I saw a stretched chopper with shocks on the rear I was shocked. Made it look kind of ungainly (kinda like a skinny chick with a huge butt) but then I thought, "Why not? It's their bike".
As for today...well Softails blew that old looks vs. ride thang. I like the looks of the Softails along with the softer ride. Good compromise.
I like the looks of the Softails along with the softer ride. Good compromise.
LOL... Well, we certainly agree on that! I grew up on a rigid chopper, then went sorta flip-flop to a bagger FLH shovel (and later stripped it) and when I got my "new" bike ('94 softail model), I figured I died and went to heaven! Looks right, handles like a dream, and is easy to ride hundreds of miles a day, every day, for days on end!
I think the discussion about the "real choppers" will have no real ending, just a collection of opinions. My own opinion comes from the fact that I was there in those days, not watching a show in the '90s about a magazine from the '80s that had some pictures from the '70s.....................! Nome sain?
Can A Real Chopper Have Rear Shocks? 
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