The story begins when California Highway Patrol Officer Sean Roby championed a one-man crusade to create a memorial for his fellow officers fallen in the line of duty and in particular his friend Officer Thomas Steiner of the CHP’s Santa Fe Springs Area Office who was tragically gunned down in front of a Pomona courthouse April 21, 2004. Sean’s dedicated efforts would see Kevin Alsop and his crew at Big Bear Choppers in Big Bear City, CA teaming up with a Van Nuys, CA company called Hybrid Technologies, designers of lithium batteries, strange bedfellows to say the least, as in thundering hotrod choppers meet whirry electric cars kind of thing.
Says Officer Roby, “We had no way for the department to pay for the memorial and the state had no money and every bike builder I talked to wanted a big paycheck except Kevin at Big Bear. I had seen one of the bikes he built on the cover of a bike mag so I gave him a call. He and his wife Mona and I sat down over lunch and he was willing to do it for all the right reasons, to honor a fallen officer. He basically told me he would build that bike whether he got paid or not.
It turns out that while the CHP is not exactly into the chopper scene, Shawn’s dad has been riding for over 40 years. “I took my chopper background with my father and the history of the CHP and combined the two. I thought it would be a cool memorial and show a different side of the Highway Patrol beyond an image of a bunch of cops writing tickets.”
Hybrid Technologies sent a check to get the project going and Kevin found himself facing several challenges. ”The idea was to build a motorcycle that looked like a full-blown chopper but powered by an electric motor to showcase HT’s capabilities and to give the CHP a special bike.
” I thought it was a neat idea, something never done before,” Kevin said. “The project was on but then we had to build it in record frikkin’ time, like six weeks. This is an electric motorcycle, something I had never attempted before. We had to make the frame by hand, design in battery packs, and install an electric motor…it wasn’t easy. It was like a Biker Build-off without the TV coverage.” Kevin laughed.
Now you’re probably saying, wait a minute, there’s a big polished V-twin motor sitting in that chopper. And you’d be right. “That’s a 124-inch S&S that we gutted,” Kevin said. “Its insides were replaced with an electric motor from Hybrid Technologies.”
The electric motor drives a BDL primary which drives a six-speed Baker transmission. Asked how fast it would go, Kevin replied, “80 mile an hour.” And what does it sound like? “Shhhhhhhhh,” said Kevin. “It’s really weird when you’re riding it, because all you hear is the chain and the road noise coming off the tire. When a car comes up beside you, it’s freaky. It’s like riding a bicycle at 80 mph. It’s even stranger to see the CHP guys in their blue and gold helmets riding this thing. They gave me a CHP helmet with a microphone and I’m riding the thing down the state highway with all the CHP brass cheering and clapping.” And yes, while Kevin was having a chat with the Commissioner of the CHP, Gov. Arnold who was nearby saw the bike and was heard to comment, “Cool chopper.”
The hybrid engine was bolted into a stretched and widened BBC Sled frame to accommodate the six 48-volt lithium cell batteries. “The batteries should allow the bike to run six hours at 80 mph. There’s a cord and you just plug it into the wall for a recharge,” said Kevin. The bike is basically street legal, complete with mirrors, although technically it does need turn signals.
Along with the custom CHP paint job by Seth at Aggressive Designs, you’ll notice some very trick wheels that were modeled after the CHP badge and built in-house by Big Bear Choppers. When told people would probably be wanting them, Kevin says, “I don’t think I can sell those. I’d have to get permission from the CHP.” So maybe if you’re a CHP guy or a member of the Blue Knights you can order up a set. Speaking of badges, that’s a real one attached to the bike’s gas tank. As for the silent running exhaust pipes, Kevin explains that while real pipes, they never get hot since there’s no exhaust because there’s no pistons or valves. In fact the carburetor itself is gutted and designed so that air flows through it down the barrels to the electric motor where holes in the bottom of the cases help cool the motor.
Asked if the CHP guys liked the bike, Kevin says, “A bunch of great guys, they loved it. I’ll probably never get another ticket in my life. We also need to remember what the bike stands for, that’s the most important part of this whole deal. Fortunately we were also able to have 201 registered as part of the bike’s VIN number. Officer Steiner was the 201st Line of Duty death in the 75-year history of the CHP.”
(Contributions can be made through California Highway Patrol Widows and Orphans Fund, 2030 V Street, Sacramento, CA 95818.)
Donated by Hybrid Technologies, the electric CHP Chopper is owned by the CHP’s union and after a series of appearance at shows and fund raising events will be placed on display at the California Highway Patrol’s museum in Sacramento. Meanwhile after the BBC/CHP chopper appeared on television, another company has approached Kevin. “They want us to build a bike powered by hydrogen,” Kevin said. After this bike, now the sky’s the limit for Big Bear.
As for Officer Sean Brody, it was a job well done. “I’d like to thank all involved with the bike,” Sean said, “Kevin, Big Bear and Seth at Aggressive and Hybrid Technologies and all the others who made it possible.” After several years with the CHP, Sean’s recently become a member of his hometown Los Alamitos PD.
Meanwhile Big Bear Choppers is moving into their new bigger facility and launching a line of fully assembled BBC bikes going to retail dealers. You can reach BBC at 909-878-4340 or log onto
