Low Rider Custom Choppers

Choppers have long been a part of the American motorcycle mystique. Ever since the movie "Easy Rider" pulled choppers out of a local underground scene and into mass consciousness, they have symbolized freedom, rebelliousness and the open road. The one rule with choppers is that the more extreme they look, the better. There are plenty of different philosophies behind these choppers--for example, Indian Larry always designed his choppers to be able to corner well. His were never as low or as long as the choppers built by the Teutels or Billy Lane. Your first step in finding a custom chopper is to decide on the style and features you're looking for.

Extreme Lowrider Choppers

The original idea behind the chopper was to simplify the motorcycles that were being produced by American manufacturers like Harley Davidson and Indian. Things like fenders and engine covers were stripped away, and other parts like seats, gas tanks and headlights were shrunken as much as possible. What was left was a motorcycle that was bare-bones and beautiful.

An ironic twist to the chopper story is the fact that many contemporary choppers are more extravagant--and even larger--than stock Harley models. They still retain that bare-bones look, however, even if they have shiny chrome exhaust pipes that snake and loop from the front of the bike to the back like some kind of robotic boa constrictor. The key to designing a chopper is to make it look raw and dangerous. This love of design fuels the creation of pure American choppers (as opposed to less expensive, imported imitation choppers).

Lowrider choppers are some of the most extreme-looking models out there. Designed with the seat and engine as low to the ground as possible, they usually feature stretched-out front forks and an oversized back wheel that sometimes sits higher than the seat. Lowriders usually have drag handlebars, which are basically a necessity since you're sitting so low and far back from the front of the bike.