By James “Hollywood”Macecari
Ok, all you that live in warm climate states in the winter suck ass lol. Here I’m typing this article with a foot of snow on the ground in Chicago, drooling at the mouth looking at all the Pan Heads Hot Bike Magazine photographed at the David Mann Chopperfest. Must be nice to ride all year long lol. I once wanted to move out west, Arizona, then when I got off the plane and felt that heat, that changed my mind real quick. “Dry heat my ass”. Besides that, I get homesick when I can’t see the Sears Tower in the rear view mirror. So, I have no one but myself to blame for sitting in this winter hell hole while all you West Coast boys have all the fun.
Looking at the Panheads, one of those light bulbs came on, trust me that don’t happen all to often. Harley Davidson is having all these problems with sales, getting the next generation into the lifestyle, maybe they should do what all the car makers did, go retro. Yea I know, S&S makes a replica Panhead engine. But if Harley Davidson would come out with an upgraded production model, instead of these other bullshit lines they are putting out there, maybe the company might see some growth.
One thing that defined Harley Davidson as a company was the Panhead and Shovelhead era. When you look at the 2018 line it’s nothing but overpriced RUB candy, nothing for the hardcore everyday biker to be proud of. Shit, you have to spend an extra $5,000 on one of these new models just to make them look decent, whatever happened to Harley being a Harley? Half of Harley Davidson’s 2018 model lineups I wouldn’t give a second look. Especially that ugly ass Fat Bob. What was Harley Davidson thinking when they designed that thing?
My advice, go back to the basics or get some better designers to work for the company. But back to Chopperfest. The reviews from all the magazines were fantastic. The rally had plenty of hot name builders. Russell Mitchell, Cole Foster, Scott Huffman to name a few. Gethen Jenkins and Awesome Blues were just some of the acts that kept the party rocking and the vendors rounded out the whole event.
If you were able to make the Chopperfest, send Insane Throttle some pics and we will put them up on the site. Send us a little note with them making fun of all of us in Winter Wonderland because lets be honest, if I were you I’d do the same thing.
The history of Chopperfest in Ventura California is really a snapshot of America at it’s finest. Real people who think outside the box and who can translate those thoughts into visual beauty both functional and artistic. Originally the brainchild of David “Huggie” Hansen, Chopperfest became much more than a showcase for futuristic Motorcycle design when famed artist David Mann died in Sept of 2004. The grief felt by the entire two wheel world found expression as those who loved and respected David lined the stage with his wife to honor him just three months after his death. The love for both the “artist” and the “lifestyle” he envisioned blended perfectly through a huge showing of his original art and an equally huge showcase of custom motorcycles. Bike Builders from across the nation came to both honor David Mann at his passing and welcome the birth of his signature event. Chopperfest is forever dedicated to the design, function and art of the motorcycle through those talented enough to create and those creative enough to appreciate talent.
Source : Hot Bikes Magazine
Every year we trek to the shores of Ventura, California in search of one thing: choppers. And the David Mann Chopperfest always delivers the goods.
Now in its 14th year, the Dave Mann Chopperfest event brings some of the most talented and creative bike builders to California from across the nation in order to honor David Mann, the talented and beloved motorcycle lifestyle artist who passed away in September 2004. Because of his love and passion for the two-wheeled lifestyle, Chopperfest carries on his legacy today. As for the show itself, we’re always blown away at the amount of creativity that goes into all of the builds on display at Chopperfest, and look forward to it every year.
There’s definitely no shortage of vintage iron as well as some of the latest and greatest works of rolling art at the Ventura Fairgrounds for Chopperfest. We sent Ryan Loughridge to grab a handful of the best Harley-Davidson Panheads that he could find at the show, and he definitely came back with the goods.
Choppers ain’t everyone’s cup of tea – I get that. In a lot of ways they represent the rebellious, non-conformist or even outlaw side of motorcycling, as choppers were typically the ride of choice for many bikers and club members during the post-WWII era extending into the ‘60s and ‘70s when outlaw motorcycle clubs were most prevalent in the U.S. I like to think I was lucky to be raised around choppers and the culture that came with it while growing up as my dad and uncles all had choppers and ties to different MCs, but I’ll leave it at that…
On the other hand, choppers are also a completely unique way of expressing your own individual style and creativity. No two choppers are alike, which can’t really be said about the majority of bikes you see on the road today. Sure, some might be wild or even impractical in a lot of ways, and most can pretty much only be ridden comfortably by their owners / builders, but believe it or not, they’re often a lot more comfortable and road worthy than they might look, and easy to work on, too.
There are basically two types of choppers: There’s the ones that actually get ridden, which I prefer, and then there’s the show bikes, which are often the wilder creations that see fewer road miles. I by no means dislike show bikes – I like them just fine – but it’s the unique utility and functionality of certain parts or the way certain things are put together on a daily rider that make you think, wow, I never would have thought of that, that’s a great idea! Chopper ingenuity.
Regardless of the type of chopper, there’s countless hours of labor that go into building each one of them. All the cutting, bending, welding, grinding and machining of parts to make them all fit together like pieces of a puzzle helps a rider really get to know his or her bike, and this helps tremendously when you ultimately have to work on it again, which could be on the side of the road… But that’s all part of the fun if you ask me. It’s a labor of love.
This past weekend I attended the 14th annual David Mann Chopperfest in Ventura, California, where there were hundreds of unique choppers on display. By the way, if you don’t know who David Mann is, you should definitely look him and his artwork up. He’s illustrated some of the coolest and most iconic biker and chopper paintings of scenarios a motorcyclist in the ‘60s and ‘70s might have found themselves in. At least a dozen of them can be found on the walls of my living room and garage.
Anyway, below are 10 choppers from the show – some from the parking lot – that I thought were pretty darn unique and cool each in their own way. There were plenty more that could have easily made the list, but 10 is a round number so… enjoy!
Click Here to go to Motorcycle.com to see top ten choppers
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