Custom Choppers, How Hard?

[BeerBaron89]

Aye guys

I have been watching a lot of that T.V. series 'American Chopper'. For those unfamiliar it's about a father & son(s) team of bike builders, and they build really fantastic bikes from scratch (Frame debatable).

Anyways it got me thinking, about building my own chopper (We all get those really out of league ideas).
Now it's all fantasy, and the chances i could/would ever pull it off would be 1 in a 1,000,000,000.

But out of curiosity has anyone had any experience in the metal fabrication business, or any area where they would be able to contribute to this idea. Like tools needed, costs and stuff like that.

My dad is planning on building a bike, but i have this pretty cool idea in my head for a bike...

Anyways... I know this is probably not the best forum to start with, even if its in the off topic section... But I'm sure there are at least one metal worker or fabricator here somewhere.

Like i said, not a serious thought, just feeding my curiosity.

Ciao!
The Beer Baron

 

[newguy]

I'm not into metalworking at all, but I have a few friends who are. I've asked them some similar questions because it would be nice if I could weld up a brew stand or saw stand or something like that. Most have recommended starting with an evening welding class from a tech school. You learn how to weld properly and get a feel for the necessary tools for a few hundred $. A pretty good investment, actually. I haven't taken such a class yet.

 

[joshuahardie]

Not a metalworker myself, but I have a mate in the game.

There are 2 places local to me that make choppers. Guys with years of fabricating experience, metalworking skills and pretty good mechanical knowledge. Even with all of that know how, more often than not, they are buying in most of their parts, such as frames, engines, fenders, rims etc, as the cost to buy the specialist equipment / jigs to make them are too prohibitive. They then customise from there, assembling, adding finishing touches, accents etc. Their most simple bikes are costing around $50k and if you want something truly bespoke, the cost will be double or triple that.

For a one off application the cost in equipment would be massive, just staggering. Not to mention that it all has to be approved by an engineer, so if you do it wrong, all the effort could be for nought

My guess is that a project like this would come under the same classification as a kit car, so i would say you would want to know the RTA's guidelines inside and out.

Personally if I was doing it, I would be amassing parts and be more of a bike assembler, rather than builder.
Nevertheless good luck with it, and if the project gets off the ground, we would love to see a build diary.