I watched “Easy Rider” last night, and got to wondering about those choppers they were riding. Is it purely a style thing, or is there a reason pertaining to riding?
It’s got to change the way it rides in some way, right? Is it more difficult to ride one than a regular bike?
Peter Fonda built the motorcycle he was riding in the movie. He said that after a day’s filming, his arms were completely numb.
A chopped frame and ape hangers provide just as much improvement in motorcycle handling and performance as the suspension modifications favored by low riders provide for their cars.
The idea started back in the post-WWII era, or thereabouts, possibly as an extension of dry lakes racing or as spinoff of the custom car craze (think of what a chopped '49 Mercury looks like.) Basically the bikes were stripped-down versions of the full dress motorcycles offered by Indian and Harley. Riders would take all the garbage off, remove the front fender and chop the back fender, then add paint and chrome to pretty things up. The bikes lost a few hundred pounds of weight in the process, and the bikes were personalized to put it mildly.
Longer front forks gave the bikes higher ground clearance for cornering, but choppers need that clearance as the longer wheelbase gives the bike a lot wider of turning radius.
I used to ride a chopper (a Honda single-cam 750.) While I’ve never ridden the stock bike and a Harley or Indian would handle differently, the stretched out frame and fork made turning in the city hard, but the bike tracked great on the open road and gentle curves on country roads were a dream. Mainly though, it was my bike that I had built myself, and if it isn’t obvious, I’m still proud of that bike.
It’s purely a style thing. Similar to putting spoilers on (street) cars or many many other things that people do to personalize their vehicle of choice.
A long wheelbase and kicked out forks make for a bike that lacks agility.
If the bike is not going to be agile, then there is no need to worry about lots of weight or lots of power, the geometry would not be able to make use of it.
This then leads into designing an entirely differant machine, suited for a differant riding regime, where smoothness is important, style just as important, and it also allows lots of customer modifications since there are many ways of achieving these objectives.
Contrast that with the sports machines, short wheelbase, high power, agility, low weight, and often not very comfortable to ride unless you are going at over 90 mph(the airflow then pushes against the rider and reduces the stress on the wrists)
Modifying thse bikes usually consists of better brakes, suspension, and maybe some work to the engine and exhaust. The scope for dramatic changes to the shape of the machine is much more limited than on a custom machine.