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Choppers are custom-made motorcycles that often feature a longer frame and stretched out front-end. They can be customized in a variety of ways so that riders can make their bikes stand out from the off-the-shelf vari- ety. Choppers first began to appear in the middle part of the 20th century and gained popularity with movies like 1969’s “Easy Rider.” Some key features of a chopper are the stretched handlebars and the tall “sissy bar” located behind the seat.
In the early 2000s, the bikes again garnered atten- tion with reality television shows like “American Chop- per,” which followed a family of bike builders in New York. However, while shows like that brought choppers back to the mainstream, it also brought demand and increased prices, according to Morrison.
Morrison and Zarn were both working at Sonju In-
dustrial a few years ago when the two men started talk-
ing about their dream jobs. Both of them had previously
worked on motorcycles but never had the capital to own
sleek, shiny choppers they saw on television and movies.
That’s when Morrison said his dream job would be build-
ing motorcycles. When he brought the idea home to his
wife April, she scoffed at it. After all, none of them had the
time nor the money to take on such an endeavor. But Mor-
rison and Zarn began working nights and weekends on de-
signs and frames and eventually formed the company. But
they didn’t actually finish their first bike until recently.
Building a bike from scratch is an expensive process, but
another reason for the lengthy process was they wanted to get it right. Zarn said they made about five practice frames before actually building a bike.
“It took a while before we felt comfortable slapping an engine on one of those frames and making it a 700-pound reality,” he said, gesturing to their first custom cycle, called the “brass knuckles” bike. “It looks mean and it sounds mean.”
The first bike is currently priced at $35,000, although future ones will be marked about $10,000 less. One of the reasons for the higher price is they don’t want to sell off the only example of their work just yet.
When someone does order a bike from High Plains Custom Cycles, Morrison, who serves as the head designer, will sit down with the customer and talk about what they want to include and design it with a specialty computer system. Once they come up with a design the customer likes, the building begins.
“We want people to get exactly what they want be- cause they are dropping a big chunk of change on this,” Morrison said.
Morrison and Zarn also said they plan on using lo- cal vendors and suppliers whenever they can.
“We want to try and keep it in the valley,” Morrison said.
For more information visit www.highplainscus-
High Plains Custom Cycles’ Brass Knuckles Chopper.
GREG LINDSTROM FLATHEAD BEACON
tomcycles.com.
[email protected]
Welcome Dr. Joseph Bergman to North Valley Hospital
Joseph Bergman, MD : Total Joint Replacement Surgeon
North Valley Hospital is pleased to welcome Dr. Bergman to our medical staff. Dr. Bergman is a fellowship trained orthopedic surgeon with Flathead Orthopedics. He specializes in total joint replacement and reconstructive surgery and has a special interest in restoring the function and mobility to patients with knee and hip arthritis.
Dr. Bergman utilizes less invasive techniques in combination with several peri-operative pain relieving modalities. He performs direct anterior total hip replacement and muscle sparing total knee replacement, in addition to treating trauma and sports related injuries.
Welcome to the North Valley Hospital team!
The Center for Orthopedics
A different kind of hospital. A different kind of care.