Do people ride custom choppers?

My neighbor bought a custom chopper. Rode it from the shop to the garage, parked it, covered it. Has not touched it since. Must have been an impulse buy.

I see a few custom choppers on the road. But they aren't the really exotic machines I see at shows. Some choppers are made to be ridden, others are made just to look at. (And though I wouldn't own one in a million years, I have to admit I do enjoy looking at them!)

Up in the mountains near where I live there is a crossroads with a restaurant and a convenience store, and on nice Summer weekends you might see 100 bikes parked there. All kinds of bikes, including some choppers, that apparently people bring up there just to show off. I see them more here, and parked in front of bars, than on the road.

custom choppers are just like any other bike, they are meant to be ridden. why would anyone pay $35,000 or more just to look at it? as for if they run strong, most do because they have much larger motors then the average stock engines. they come in "soft-tail" and "hard-tail" versoins. hard tails do not have shocks and usually called "bar-hoppers" because thats about the distance your body can take without taking a break, from one bar to the next. softtails have full suspensions and are more comfortable to ride for longer distances. if the front end to way too long or "raked" then handling becomes a major problem but only because of the length and not because the front end is unstable.

There are several varieties of customs. Some are not at comfortable or easy to ride and some are. If you want to buy one, you need to do some test riding or at least test sitting to figure that out. Anything with a lot of rake and stretch will have a "floppy" front end.

Yeah, check out my pic, totally custom 1948 Harley Panhead, rigid, aluminum seat with no padding, 12 inch over stretched springer, 8 inch stretch in frame, 38 degree neck, best of show winner too. I ride this baby everywhere, all day long and I love it !

there is a guy in my town who has a custom chopper. like, this thing is decked the hell out, custom paint, chrome everything, special pipes, all sorts of stuff. and when its not cold and dreary like it is right now, he rides the hell out of that thing. we've seen his bike up to an hour north of us (very distinct paint job/license plate).

most people in my town are content with stock bikes but the one guy i know who has a custom rides the hell out of it as long as the sun is shining

I see a few around town, hardly ever see one on the road. I have a friend who owns three and they each cost over $25K in parts alone, only one is even lisenced and he may have ridden it 100 miles in the last 5 years. Metal on metal construction is good for mobil sculpture but not for a rideable motorcycle.

California: Yes, people ride them.

I used to ride choppers, but gave up on them as I finally grew tired of the upkeep and breakdowns.

The first chopper was I suppose what one would call a factory custom, as it was made by Big Dog motorcycles. I purchased the 2005 chopper, and put about 87,000 miles on it in 5 years. Loved the bike, but it had numerous issues and breakdowns. In a nutshell:

- Electrical issues with the bike completely losing power

- Headlight bolt would constantly break

- Swing bolt broke twice

- Front fork seals developed leaks twice

- Around 57,000 miles a valve guide broke causing oil pump to jam

- Engine needed reboring at about 58,000

- Within 1000 miles of engine rebore, the transmission counter shaft bolt came loose, causing second gear to break in half.

- At around 87,000 miles the rear head gasket began leaking

Sold the bike and purchased a slightly used (had 800 miles on it) chopper made by a company called Proper Chopper. The issues were:

- Within a few months the transmission seal leaked

- Regulator bracket cracked in half causing regulator to fall off

- Front fork seals leaked

- Insufficient clearance between wire going into rear tail light and the tire caused it to get worn thru by the tire, causing it to short to the frame

- Poor starting as it would occasionally stop with a loud clunk sound

- Engine pinged like crazy under load

- At about 28,000 miles it developed shifting issues, then the transmission trap door developed leak. During repair of this, pieces of the shift dogs were found in the tranny, thus the tranny needs either rebuild or replacing.

The last issue was the clincher for me with this absolute POS of a bike!!! I mean, seriously?!??!? A bike with only 28,000 miles on it needs a new transmission?

As much as I love choppers, with the looks of them and the feel of the ride, I GIVE UP ON THEM!!!

I'd rather have a bike that is reliable, will not break down with parts falling off and major work needing to be done with a few years of riding, is not vibrating like a paint mixer, and yet still has a nice look to it. I now have a brand new 2014 Victory Jackpot, and am loving it!

Currently my take on choppers is that you might as well hang the thing on the wall and just admire it as you would a painting, as they are obviously NOT meant to be ridden, unless it's to the corner bar and back.

Or buy one, and have it as a project bike. One that you can tinker with.

idk