THUNDER BY THE BAY’S CHOPPEREOWN LIVE – CREATIVITY CENTRAL
Aside from the old chrome and stainless-steel components securely attached between welded and painted structural tubular steel, I saw an old shovelhead engine with slight wear pocks and a cast iron texture that spoke of the fifties carefully polished to a mirror sheen. The only color on the machine other than chrome and black was the color of the spark plug wires.
“Make the design yellow,” My bearded customer commanded, “to match the wires.” Then he added, “with a little bit of gray.”
A small bobber with apehanger handlebars and a coffin gas tank echoed old school fun. I would make this home spun building project complete with my retro pinstripe design. Many others came through the din of engine noise, dust of the festival grounds and the glare of polished metal to stand, stare and appreciate yet another nice bike.
While creating pinline designs and hand-painted images at Thunder by the Bay, we couldn’t help but notice the creativity that exists on many of the bikes visiting the new feature called Choppertown Live. Others noticed too. While these admiring bikers feasted on the smorgasbord of two wheeled apparatus on display, they named the essential ingredients that made these bikes popular.
Innumerable combinations of parts, both custom made and off the shelf, is what makes the variety of what is on display immense. The congregation standing in the middle of all these choppers attracted other like-minded motorcycle aficionados. One corner of the venue became a pivotal place for the allocation of motorcycle revelations.
Choppertown Live became Creativity Central for the backyard builders. Unable to compete with the high-profile chopper builders who attend big money functions to sign autographs and share the lucrative corporate limelight with huge sponsors like Budweiser and Dodge, these underdogs none-the-less, accumulate a following, albeit much smaller, in the midst of the throes that seem to be everywhere at Thunder by the Bay.
With bikes being wheeled in and out of the Letterfly pinstriping area, personal painted touches often qualified as the task that brought about the magnum opus and the completion of a truly unique combination of mechanical components that states American ingenuity all the way.
We at Letterfly salute the dedication, precision, passion and creativity that the unsung basement bike builders possess in admirable quantities. We thank those who found our friendly think tank as a haven to congregate, dream and connect. I feel privileged to be included as a contributing brush-holding member of this elite group; those who build and ride the endless creativity of Home Built USA.
—Letterfly
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