Born To Ride Presents CHOPPORAMA Chopper Show

Held in conjunction with Gibtown Bikefest on January 17th, 18th 19th 2020, Born to Ride Media presents the Chopporama Chopper Show! A three-day chopper extravaganza of some of the most talented known (and unknown) builders around the U.S. This ain’t a competition, just a gathering of chopper lovers young and old alike dedicated to those carbed custom machines of years gone by. Don’t worry there will still be Ride In Bike Shows Saturday & Sunday.

You ask who are these Builders? For the most part, these builders are what I call the ‘new generation of builder’. The thought process of most of the new generation builders and riders is completely different than it was 10, 15 or even 20 years ago. Back then, a whole generation of builders were influenced by the $50,000-$100,000 bike builds seen on build-off’s and series aired by the Discovery Channel. Today’s builder, rider seems more content to build and ride what they can with what they have available to them. If that means buying a 15 year old Sportster for $2500 and turning it into an awesome home built custom build so be it. In my opinion there is a sense of history that these guys (and girls) connect with and inspires them to keep things simple, stylish and connecting them to the past. ‘This’ is the new generation, and Im hoping to bridge the gap at this event. From the older enthusiast decked out in black leather drinking a cold brew to the enthusiast wearing khakis and Converse All Stars drinking a Latte, this should appeal to everyone. * For a chance to have your chopper build included contact me, Erick Runyon at Erick@borntoride.com or call: 888-795-5779

Now it’s time to learn a little about some of these very talented builders that will be part of Chopporama.

BILL DODGE
Builder Profile Bill Dodge: All around great guy and prolific bike builder Bill Dodge has been riding and building bikes since he was a kid in Compton, California. His passion was strong at a young age, and his hard work ethic and talent eventually ended up working as shop foreman for Jesse James at West Coast Choppers. In the ‘hey day’ of the West Coast Choppers era, if you did business at WCC, you came into contact with Bill. It was there that he became widely known for his easy-going ‘what can I do for you’, ‘how can I help? After spending 8 ys at WCC Bill packed up and moved to New Jersey where he opened up Bling’s Cycles.. Bill spent some time in Jersey, then met a girl in Kentucky and moved Bling’s to the Blue Grass state. The two fell in love and decided Kentucky was too damned cold. They packed up and headed to the promise land of bike builders, Daytona Beach Florida.

Bill has established himself as one of the premier bike builders in the industry. His work is precision like, and if you’re familiar with Bill’s work, you can spot a Bill Dodge bike as easily as you can spot a Picasso. Like Picasso, his builds have similar traits.but are all glorious works of art to be respected by peers and connoisseurs alike. We’re lucky enough to have him join us as an invited builder to Chopporama. You can see his bikes as well as the work of many other talented builders at the Chopporama experience by Born to Ride during the Gibtown Bikefest January 17th, 18th and 19th.

BRIAN BUTTERA
Brian Buttera of Buttera’s Metal Werx, Lakeland, Florida has spent most of his life doing metalwork and fabrication.

All the way back in 2017, (and I say that tongue in cheek) Brian was motivated to build his first custom bike by his friend and accomplished bike builder Ryan Gore of Paper Street Customs. The bike, a red shovelhead was taken to The Rats Hole Bike Show in Sturgis where it won ‘Best in Show’. From Sturgis, the bike went to Swiss Moto Zurich where it won 1st Place Radical Class and Best in Show. His next stop was in Abu Dhabi where his bike won Best in Show at Custom Show Emirates where he won Best In Show. You’d think that would be enough for the average builder. First bike, and it takes the world by storm. Nope, Brian recently took his second build to Los Angeles for The Golden Bolt Competition. Unlike many of today’s shows, this competition wasn’t only based on cosmetics, but also on performance and reliability and the bikes were put through the paces throughout the LA traffic, etc. The grand prize winner would go home with $30,000. Brian took top honors and headed back home to Lakeland with a second great show-stopping motorcycle and a pocket full of cash.

We’re excited that Brian accepted our offer to be a part of Chopporama! He may be a ‘new kid on the block’ but his work is timeless and in a class by itself. All of the builders have something unique to bring to the table. We’re looking forward to seeing everybody come together for the sake of ‘the all mighty chopper.’

 

JEFF LOVELADY
Today we wanna highlight another great dude bringing a couple of nice builds to Chopporama, Jeff Lovelady of GraySpeed Cycles! After 12 yrs of working for the city, he quit his 9-5 and went to MMI. He would come home to his wife and kids on the weekends then do the MMI thing during the week… After he graduated MMI, the next item on his list was to open up his shop. He did it big by purchasing a former church in the Grand Central District on 1st Ave in St.Pete and converted it into a beautiful space so nice that it would make the designers on HGTV jealous.

His first chopper build-out of the shop was, a beautiful ‘59 pre-unit Triumph he named ‘Snowblind’. The bike was photographed and published for issue #77 of Dice Magazine. Jeff explained that he couldn’t have achieved any of his goals without the love and support of his family and that Snowblind wouldn’t have happened without the support and help of his friends. Jeff is a great example of a family man and a businessman who followed his dreams to success. We’re excited that he accepted our invitation, and we’re looking forward to seeing the bikes he’ll bring to the table at Chopporama.

 

ERIC ALLARD
Eric Allard of FnA.Custom Cycles.

Based out of Lakeland Florida, Eric has a reputation for being relatively quiet and unassuming. He’ll give you the shirt off his back, but prefers to keep to himself and let his builds do the talking for him.

Prior to getting his first street bike in 2006, Eric was into dirtbikes and four-wheelers. Once he acquired that first bike, a ‘77 Shovelhead, his view of the two wheeled world changed forever. He worked on friend bikes, and builds of his own for a couple years until he came to the decision in 2009 to open ‘FnA Custom Cycles’. His work can be best described as ‘stylishly unique’. Whether taking a classic BMW and creating a steampunk style monster that you could see in a ‘Mad Max’ movie or taking a Kawasaki 750 H2 powerplant and turning into one of a kind digger style chopper, he has a flair for the unexpected.

Eric also has the mind of a scientist that never sleeps. He is constantly coming up with ideas and designs to help improve upon the reliability of those Harley and Triumph Motors of yesteryear. He’s developed a seal kit that people can’t get enough of, and he’s also come up with a couple unique magneto systems for Shovelheads etc. that will keep you running down the road with more dependability than ever.

We’re excited that Eric along with amny other talented builders accepted our invitation to join us at Chopporama. It will be a great event highlighting some of the industry’s most creative, and artistic builders. It’ll be fun for all ages thrill ride, and we look forward to seeing you there!

For more information on Chopporama go to: www.Chopporama.com or Call: 888-795-5779