Dave's Chopper

DAVE’S CHOPPER

American FLYERS

Flame-keeper’s flame

YOU COULD CALL DAVID Freston immersed. Totally. Better known as “Chopper Dave,” the 33-year-old is one of the chief fabricators at West Coast Choppers, the Long Beach shop made famous by Jesse James, star of stage, screen and “Monster Garage.” In his spare time, Freston runs a tidy little home website (www.chopperdaves.com) dedicated to the bob-jobs and customs of the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. In his other spare time, Dave tools around on this longtime ride, a chopped (duh...) 1957 Harley-Davidson Panhead.

Actually, Dave does more than tool. You’ll note the well-worn Goodyear dirttrack tire out back, souvenir of a third-place finish in the Hooligan class at the Ventura short-track. And several times the bike has tripped the timing lights at the Antique National drags in Palmdale.

“It’s a period piece, an early ’60s SoCal type of thing,” says Dave of the stripped-down hard-tail. “It’s functional, built to ride.”

Paint schemes, handlebars, telescopic forks, front brakes, upholstery and exhaust systems have come and gone in seven years of ownership. The current setup-metalflake paint, apehangers, shotgun pipes, spool front hub, suicide clutch-seems like a keeper. Some neat, of-the-era items are sprinkled about, like a cast-aluminum primary cover, the “bird strainer” carb horn (actually the prototype of an item Freston is thinking of reproducing) and a 7-ball hand-shifter-hey, everybody else goes with an 8-ball, why follow the mindless herd?

Nor was Dave a stickler for strict authenticity when it came time for an engine rebuild a few years back. The two 600cc cylinders were stuffed full of 10.5:1 forged Wiseco pistons equipped with Total Seal rings. Fuel and air flow through an S&S carb, admitting its charge only when an Andrews cam tells the intake valves it’s okay.

A four-speed, close-ratio gearbox, also from Andrews, moves horsepower down the line.

Don’t even look for an electric starter, though.

Dave applies Converse AllStar to white “popsicle” kick lever and heaves-ho. Whaddaya expect?

The man who handcrafts $75,000 neo-choppers for the rich and famous (and who is fabbing his own WCC bike) thinks some of today’s customizers could take lessons from the past.

“It was more pure back then,” he says. “Bikes weren’t built simply for prestige-they were done for the style of it. Builders made stuff with their own hands, not pulled from the wall in some dealership.”

Oh, in case you’re wondering, the Pan ain’t for sale. Freston’s turned down goodly sums several times. After all, he’s got a name to uphold, and “$20,000 Dave” just doesn’t have the same ring. -David Edwards >