Bitter End Old School Chopper

Hang on for this feature. This poker hand will take you from the bare shotgun frame to big-titted babes posing on the finished monster at the Smoke Out. Plus the owner of the shop and the builder, fabricator from Bitter End Old School Choppers wrote the story.

Bitter End Old School Choppers is a chopper/machine shop, which has evolved into one-stop shopping for people who build their own chops (including frames from scratch, all the way through powdercoat). They offer complete tech support throughout the build for people who don't beat 'em down on parts pricing. Check out their web site: http://www.bitterendchoppers.com for updates on future projects, T-shirts, frame sub-components, event coverage, etc.

–Bandit

PART I – THE INFAMOUS “BOUNTY HUNTER” FRAME BUILD:

The frame's billet neck was lathed turned out of 2.5-inch solid rod. Here you see it meeting with the shotgun (top rail) and a piece of 2-inch DOM tubing turned down to reduce wall thickness and weight and give it some “look” near the bottom.

The club above is hand plasma cut joined with 1.125-inch DOM tubing with a solid slug heat fitted to allow for machining of the taper at the end of the tube.

The other end of the 2-inch DOM downtube. It has a couple of heat fit slugs in the end to allow us to create the taper. The downtube joins the front motor mount via a 1-inch thick gusset to maximize rigidity, since I did not use a top motor mount. The hand plasma cut spade axle plate on the other side. Shows both tapered fits.

The rear section has a drop seat, rear loop, and shotgun (before stock was cut for length).

The frame began to take shape. Everything was still just tacked in place at this point and the gun was still stock length. Frame was out of the jig, but the gun stock still wasn't cut for rear wheel placement. Since I wanted it to butt perfectly against the rear fender and give the illusion that it is an integral structural member, I saved that.

The real gun stopped where the bluing of the gun ended. Everything else was lathe work. The barrels on the gun side have 3.5-inch-long machined pieces heat fit and welded into them. This alone took a lot of time, because the barrels were not only not standard tubing or rod size, but were different size by over .010-inch than each other. The machining work on the other (front of the neck) side is lathed billet rod bored and welded to look like real cut-off barrels. Most people who see the bike, in real life, assume that I just cut the barrels off the original gun and welded them to the neck.

I wanted as much of the original gun to be left in tact so that it still looks as operable as possible, so that's why my crazy ass did it this way.

“Boo Yah!” That means a cry from a shotgun, “You want some of this? Come on and getcha some!!!!”

FABRICATION OF BIG DADDY'S DUBI combined the fact that I wanna build old school (which to me means you take whatever you can find and substitute labor and love for money), and that I am a muscle car owner, wanna-be, so I used a Cragar SS mag rear wheel. Yes, they still make 'em brand new for $150. At this point, I still only had a vague idea of how I was going to mount this sucker. I ended up fusing a GM junkyard hub, a 1-3/4-inch rear wheel spacer, 1-inch sealed bagger bearings, and 6 12-hr days of lathe turning to get 'er spinnin'.

Here's a picture of my 9.5-inch rizers machined out of 1.5-inch stainless steel rod – a punishing, long, brutal experience. We used 1-inch stainless tubing for the bars and polished it with a buffing wheel.

The rear brake pedal was hand plasma cut from stainless and polished on a buffing wheel. Wild One skull (always loved those!!!), set-screwed on into recesses in the attaching bolt.

You will find a spade, a club, and a diamond on this bike, but no heart. Heartless…

I took a couple set of drag pipes I had laying around and cut all the bends out of them. I then began piecing them together as the spirit led me. He led me right here.

The rear fender started as a $20 16 ga. trailer fender from Northern Tool and then, got some hand plasma cutting work. You can see the black marks where I originally drew what I was going to cut and then see that I just ignored 'em and had fun.

I set a beverage bottle by the lathe and copied it. I spot welded it later to make a spiral ramp so that the real cap would screw on

The glass and brass knob was off a house I actually lived in. The shifter rod was machined from solid brass rods and drilled/hollowed out so that some day I could run a nuetral indicator wire and bulb, in the glass knob. Pivot (again from stainless rod) bolted to the front top motor mount stud (remember: no top motor mount used — so they were free game.

Pipes got coated high temp powdercoat black. Added ramp rifle sites (available at http://www.bitterendchoppers.com). Adds to the out-and-out hatefulness of the ride…

Of course ya gotta paint the drive belt!!! If you want work this good, call Tommy at 812-752-9711

This picture caught “barn fresh” paint scheme (stolen from the hot-rodder scene) when it still looked like glass. I have no idea why Tom and Dave might have that type of beverage in their shop?!? I then made them wet sand it to give it that decades-sitting-in-the-barn look.

Here is a close-up of the seat art by BGSMC out of Des Moines, Iowa.

Here is how it is starting to look a few days before riding it at the Smoke Out. This is outside the infamous Bitter End – Old School Choppers.

Here's nother pic a day or two before the only show that matters…

This showed my shop logo sanded to look like it was wearing off. If you do this as well as Tommy, you will actually be able to see none of the actual lettering, in certain spots, but the residual shiney clear behind it allows you to read it.

Tommy sanded the gun stocks to lighten them and give the checks a darker, custom-gun look. He painted the pinebox oil tank to match the color and grain. The cross on top of the pinebox coffin oil tank is more hand-cut plasma work from stainless and then polished. It says, “To The Bitter End,” since my shop mantra is “Two Wheelin to the Bitter End”.

Here's how she looked going down the road in da rain. Those of you who were at SMSO V remember the sucky weather on Friday.

–Big Daddy

CHOPPIN AIN'T EASY, BUT IT'S NECESSARIO
TECH SHEET

GENERAL

Fabrication: Big Daddy Al Wilkerson & Charlie “June Bug” Johnson, Bitter End, Old School Choppers (B.E.O.S.C.)
Year and Make: 2004 Bitter End, Old School Chopper
Model: Big Daddy's Dub
Assembly by: Big Daddy, Charlie, Dave Simpson, Kenny Sipe,
Dave “Big Ox” Glover
Time: Five Months

ENGINE

Year: 2004
Model: V-Twin Mfg. cone style Shovel
Ignition: DYNA S
Displacement: 88 C.I.
Cases: S&S
Carb: SU Eliminator II
Air Cleaner: Su “bug eye”
Pipes: Hacked-up old drag pipes by B.E.O.S.C.
Oil Filter: Antique canister style

Da Kicker

TRANSMISSION

Year: 2004 Milwaukee Twins
Engine Sprocket: BDL 3-inch Street Belt Drive
Trans Sprocket: 24T w/ 1/2-inch offset
Wheel Sprocket: DET BROS combo sprocket/rotor
Jockey Shifter: Crystal door knob, lathed brass rod, s.s. pivot by B.E.O.S.C.
Suicide Clutch Lever: B.E.O.S.C. version of Billy Lane's how-to article

PAINTING

Molding: Dave “Big Ox” Glover
Painters: Dave G. and Tommy Hawkins (Hawkins Signs)
Color: red oxide, basecoat black, clear, rubbed for barn fresh affect
Belt and Oil Tank Logos: Tommy Hawkins, 812-752-9711
Powdercoating: Shawn Hayes (So-Kool Custom Coatings 812-752-9711)
Extremely Extensive Frame Molding: Tommy and Shawn

FRAME

Year: 2004
Builder: Big Daddy and Charlie at B.E.O.S.C.
Type: B.E.O.S.C. Bounty Hunter
Other: integrated double barrel shotgun, spade/club axle plates, pitch fork down-tube

ACCESSORIES

Bars: Stainless Steel Broomsticks by Bitter End, Old School Choppers
Risers: 9-1/2-inch Billet No-Fastener Stainless by Bitter End, Old School Choppers
Fenders: $20 trailer fender w/hand-cut plasma-ed flames by Big Daddy at B.E.O.S.C.
Headlight: Chrome Deco 4-inch by V-Twin Mfg.
Taillight: Tombstone w/chrome skull cover
Speedo: Feedback from law enforcement officials
Electrics: Absorbed Glass Mat battery under tranny, alternator, & 10 wires
Gas Tank: Flipped Tunnel '75 Sporty w/Beverage Neck by Bitter End
Oil Tank: Pine Box w/Stainless Cross by Bitter End, Old School Choppers
Seat: B.E.O.S.C. 16 ga. Steel pan w/leather by Bob's General Service

FORKS

Type: 4-inch over wide glides with billet trees and used Heritage lowers
Builder: Bitter End, Old School Choppers
Special Features: Machined off the bosses like real men do

WHEELS

Front
Size: 3.00 x 21
Rim & Spokes:closeout sale cheapy

Rear
Size: 7.00 x 15
Hub: Bitter End, Old School Choppers' car and cycle fusion madness
Rim: Cragar SS
Tires: Avon Speedmaster (front), Avon 230 (rear)
Brake: DET. BROS.

Big Daddy, Al Wilkerson, da owner, welder, machinist, writer, photographer and janitor.

Big Daddy Al Wilkerson
Bitter End – Old School Choppers
3004 S Lake Rd S
Scottsburg IN 47170
www.bitterendchoppers.com
Phone:812-752-5182
email: bitterendoschops@insightbb.com