About choppers & ratbikes...
This site is about home-made bikes. factorybikes are all the
same, but there is a option: do the chop- or ratjob!
Home-made bikes are a piece of art, a form of individual expression.
Sometimes people tell me they think it's a pity to put a saw in a original bike. Most
factorybike-riders
think that chops & rats are disgusting because they would not be safe, leak oil, are loud and very
ugly. Hey, those people drive a massproduct, we drive art!
Choppers
Choppers are mostly stripped down bikes which look fast and mean. Parts which are not highly necessary are removed. Frames are made as low as possible. Choppers are ever involving, so there are a lot of different styles. There are bobbers (minimalistic, old-school), apehanged choppers, '70 radical choppers with prismatic (coffin) tanks, Swedish-styled bikes with extended forks, high-performance bikes and many more.
Some examples: (Click for large picture)
Springed bobber apehanger chop Swedish chop
Ratbikes/survivalbikes
Ratbikes/survivalbikes are trashy looking motorcycles. Ratbikes are ridden instead of cleaned. Rats are dirty bikes without shiny chrome and plastic bolt-on parts. Rats can be fixed with any part.
Mostly ratbikes are flat-black, but I’ve seen them with other colours.
Some trashy examples: (Click for large picture)
trashy ratbike survivalbike skelettonrats (pics. Ratbikezone!)