The lowriding community has been building motorcycles for many years now and in the last two years Lowrider Magazine has started to feature them. Almost all of the bikes that we've featured have followed the gangster bike style. Spoke wheels, whitewalls and "apehanger" bars are but a few of the things that define that style, but there are quite a few lowriders building chopper-style bikes, too.
We wanted to feature two of these chopper-style bikes that have been brought to our attention. Just like lowriding isn't all about just the six-fours, here's a little taste of another genre of motorcycles. Mundo Perez of Baldwin Park, California, and Gil Gerk of Richmond, California, both chose to ride down the chopper road.
Mundo's bike, "Barrio Special," was a two-year project funded by money that he hid from his wife. She once found the money and that brought the project to a crawl for a moment, but the 2000 Harley-Davidson Softail got finished anyway. A Legend air suspension system raises and lowers the rear in addition to giving the bike a smooth ride. The frame received a 3-inch stretch and 38-degree rake.
Dave at Motorcycle Goodies in Pasadena, California, handled most of the mechanicals, including the 100-cubic-inch S&S motor featuring a D&M exhaust. Danny, Steve and Abel of D&D Designs in Baldwin Park were responsible for the flawless paint job. The gold pearl yellow finish with graphics makes the bike a stand-out when it's rolling down the street. Barrio Special has garnered its share of Best Paint awards at numerous shows.
Gil's bike, "Aged To Perfection," was a labor of love and was built over a six-year period. Gil is a custom fabricator and painter by trade, and the shop that he works at, Tekni-Color, did much of the body mods and paint. Gil's '05 Harley was built by Richmond Custom Cycles, where they were responsible for assembling all of the fine components from various manufacturers, including Arlen Ness, Wicked Image and Corbin, just to name a few.
The 96-cubic-inch S&S motor attached to a Rev Tech six-speed tranny releases its combustive by-products into a Rich Products exhaust. The candy red paint received some tasty licks from the pinstriping brush of Rory that complement the silver flake and murals that adorn the tank, fenders and covers. Sherm's of Richmond handled all of the blingy stuff called chrome to complete the pretty picture.