Chopper  

This project started on a Sunday at 4pm and ended that night around 1am.  The mini-chopper is built off of a Honda spree engine and wheels, the rest is all custom.  Pictured left you can see mike stripping the chopper of grips, electronics, etc.  Justin-credible lends a watchful eye and emits 'yup' on occasion.

Below Mike and I try to setup what fork angle we want so as to make the bike comfortable to ride and the right size that more than just myself can reach the grips.  The spree engine is 50cc which was questionable as far as power so we had to keep things as light as possible, Which didn't make the 2 inch tubing we used as a frame a very wise choice, but the overall size of the tube gave the bike good proportion in it's look.

The forks used are one of the few things not fabricated from scratch.  They came off of a 1986 Suzuki dirt bike that had been given to me about 2 weeks prior.  The bike came from a guy I work with and had sat on the side of his house for almost 10 years.  I had suspected that I could bring the bike back to life and use the engine for another project, but it was so badly rusted the forks were about the only thing that didn't get scrapped.

Dinner break and a discussion on what tube to use, we were somewhat limited in material selection since we really wanted to finish the chopper that day and being Sunday, no steel shops were open.  So we opted to use the 2 inch steel tube even though it was quite heavy.  In the end the chopper was still 80lbs less than the curb weight of a factory spree!

Some quick paint via the rattle can by Justin and myself.

Below is the completed frame with paint.  The electronics are yet to be cleaned up and trimmed but the majority of the bike is completed.  The seat is still all metal but will be padded and upholstered at a later date.

Here Mike and I are bending some conduit tubing on a jig that I came up with to help keep the tube from kinking and also to keep a consistent arc in the tube.  One end of the tube has a lawnmower muffler from the local hardware store and the other end has a 1" X 2" X 1/8" plate with three holes, two for manifold studs and the third for the outlet.  It worked quite well actually and provided some nice aesthetics for the chopper.

As for now I don't have any pics of us riding it but will take some soon and post them here.  This was by far the most fun project I did this summer and with friends like Mike and Justin it's that much better.  Mike is a professional plumber by day and works for his dad's company.  Justin works with me at Volvo and is one of the better fabricators I have known.  Email comments and suggestions, we love to hear it.

Here is the finished Chopper.  The silver can in the center of the frame is the gas tank, remember the spree was a 2 stroke engine so that's mixed gas!  Note the custom exhaust, a donation by Mike himself.  You can also see at this point the seat has been upholstered which was a nice comfort since all the engine vibration went right up the seat and into your backside, causing your naughty bits to tingle in a less than desirable way.