It all started August 2002 when I stumbled across Hondachopper.com while searching for pictures of customized metric bikes. I was instantly smitten with the looks of the SOHC 750 motor and all the chops that were in the gallery.  Fast Forward about 3 months, I found a beat up chop on E-bay and contacted the seller, worked a deal and it was mine all mine.  Work began immediately, I tore the bike down and started making frame mods. Then BAM! life through me a curve ball, my wife (x-wife now) say she has found a job in another state and was moving with or without me. Well being an idiot I put the project on hold and in storage, quit my career, and moved with her.

Tic-Toc, before I knew it 2 years had passed and the bike had not been touched. I decided then and there come hell or high water the bike was going to get finished as fast as the budget would allow. And I was off and running. I am a perfectionist and as usual my ideas of what I want change.  So, many times progress was abandoned to go in a slightly different direction. This is why the bike took me over 8 years from the date of purchase until my first ride. But I think the final product speaks for itself and was worth the wait.

Here is a rundown of what has been done to the bike

The frame is a heavily modified C&G - Done by Earl “Oil” Surrency A local frame Guru.

• Rear axle plates lowered 1.5” to increase ride height
• Motor mounts raised 1.5” to increase oil pan clearance
• Backbone cut out, and replaced with thick wall tube, stretched 4” out
• Converted to single down tube with goose neck
• Raked to 50 degrees, with Harley neck

Probably the Coolest item on my bike is the front end, It is an improved Harmon Style Girder designed and built specifically for my bike, By my Good friend Jack “Jaxon” Davis. He is a true mechanical genius and build the worlds finest Chopper front end. The front ind works exactly the same as a Harmon, but has the added feature of adjustable pre-load on the springs. And they are in cartridges that can be removed for maintenance and lubrication. The front end has a rake of 10 degrees for an overall rake of 60 degrees.  I had him add a few options to which included the internal routing of my brake line, the performance machine caliper and the ever so dangerous knife blade rockers.

The tank is a Cole Foster, the rear fender is an e-bay special with a nice rib down the center. Everything was painted Constellation gray with Savanna red graphics By Chris Johnson, a Local Artisan

Here are some specs on the wheels. The rear wheel is a 75SS disk hub mated with 78 cush drive and laced to an Excel 16”x5.5” aluminum rim. The rear disk is a Honda unit that has been milled to Harley dimensions to facilitate the use of a performance machine caliper and mounting bracket.  Front wheel is Harley Wide Glide wheel that I found on E-bay mated to a Pro-One Sinistar II rotor. Both wheels are powder coated gloss black with chrome spokes. The Shoes are Metzler ME880 Marathons. 180/60-16 rear and 90/90-21 front

The really neat thing on this bike is the electronics. I have a degree in electronics and I pride myself on being quite handy with a meter and soldering gun. So I really went to town on this bike. I started with the want for the bike to have all the modern safety equipment, blinkers horn etc, and I wanted a system that was proven, that would not leave me on the side of the road chasing wires and/or blown fuses The heart of it all is a  Thunder Heart micro harness controller. It gives every convenience that a modern bike has in one box with circuit breaker protection for every attached system. The majority of the electrical components are hidden in what was advertised as a battery box in my oil tank, so I could do away with the need for a bulky looking Sante or Finch electrical box  I also added a Dakota Digital Speedometer/Tachometer that included indicator functions. I hid its control box on the backbone inside the tunnel of the fuel tank The speedometer picks up its signal from a sensor reading the teeth on the front sprocket. Lighting is a bates side mount 5.75” in a custom bracket flanked by a set of Harris specialty amber turn signals. Rear signals are also Harris specialty units in bright red.

The motor, well not much to say about it, I spent a weekend in Houston at CB750 Bobber's house and we pulled it out of a wrecked 78f. Pulled, and replaced some covers and seals. Did a little cleaning and painting and it was ready to go in. The pipes are Cycle-Exchange lowboy super drags, that have been shortened and mated to some stainless turnouts, mounted at a upward 45 degree angle (does a good job of lifting skirts), then they were painted, wrapped, and painted again to seal the wrap. I also went with the cycle-Exchange dual carb system and a Dyna ignition to light the fire.

I also forgot to add, I cant weld. I cut, formed and positioned just about every piece and bracket for this bike and had my buddy Jaxon weld everything together. He is by far the person who has contributed to the completion of this build more than any other. Along the way he has taught me many fabrication skills that if I ever do get a welding machine I will put to practice.

Wow, I still can't believe its mine to ride. It's the most fun bike I have ever ridden, And being a motorcycle mechanic now, I can say I have rode a lot of bikes. There is probably things I left out, but I'll just let the pictures tell the rest of the story

Ray Mitchell
AKA Chopperfreak

P.S.  a little explanation about the name. My Girlfriend looked at it and said if she rode on the back it would wreck her snatch. I looked at the sissy bar and it reminded me of the boom on a tow truck, which are sometimes called “Snatch Wreckers”.
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