The Editor and person responsible for the conception of this Online Magazine Is Angel. Having known him for about 10 years now, I feel I can call him one of my dearest friends. I first met him at a Dennys restaraunt. He had this really sharp Shovel with a righteous flame paint job, swing arm frame, and really high ape hangers. A good looking scooter to say the least. He has owned this same scooter for many years, and is now in the process of making it into a truly beautiful raked, rigid chop. I admire him for his ability to thumb his nose at convention and actually cut a 57 straight-leg Harley frame. Not many of the people we know would do that. And as a topper, he actually had our friend Packrat WELD the tank to the frame. Now many of you will remember the wonderfully obnoxious customs of the 70's so you won't be too surprised by this, but to the purist, it is almost sacrilige...f*** em, it is his bike and he can do what he wants with it. When asked why he did this or did that, he simply replies....."Because I can". That pretty much sums up Angel in a short sweet little quote. He lives by his own rules and morals, and he does so consistantly. I suppose that is one of the reasons I like him so much. There are so many posers with non-existant morals and wannabe attitudes out there, that to find a person with the traits that all my biker heros had way back when is a rare thing indeed. I consider myself lucky to have a bro like him as a friend.
The next person I want to mention is Badger. I have known him a little longer than I have known Angel, as a matter of fact, I met Angel thru Badger. I guess that same Dennys has a special place in my heart cause that is where I first met Badger also. It is a funny story about a cool BSA and an ex room mate, but it is too long to go into at this point. Maybe at a later date we will expound on it.
Badger is a huge man with a huge heart. At well over 300 lbs and I suppose about 6' 6" or so, he is a presence anywhere he goes. But his outward size is tiny in comparison to the size of his heart. During an exceptionally trying time for me, he allowed me to stay with him. I lived with him for quite some time, working on my scooter, and working on his bike and just generally keeping busy so I wouldn't think about the things in my life that had gone terribly wrong. He has always been there for us bros, and I know he will continue to. It is his nature.
He and I work a few swap meets together, and have been for years. We have accumulated a buttload of motorcycle parts and accessories all in the name of assembling our own rides. You know how it goes, buy this to trade for that etc. Before you know it, you have a whole shed full of stuff. We both believe that a nice scooter needn't cost an arm and a leg and you should never have to mortgage your house to have a righteous scooter, so we scrounge and dig in the most unlikely places for bike parts. In doing so, Badger now has a really sharp 53 Pan that was built for a very small chunk of change(by today's inflated standards anyway) You will see some pictures of his ride along with some of the pictures taken during it's build up stages in the first issue of Chopper Riders Online.
Now I want to introduce you to my friend Freeway. Freeway is a strange and very wonderful person to know with wierd tastes in food, and a penchant to be a bit bizarre in a very republican sorta way. Hell, the boy listens to Rush Limbaugh for petes' sake.
Again, my long time buddy Badger introduced us, and from the first, I could see that Freeway and I were very much in tune with each other. Living the sort of lifestyle he and I have through our younger years, we have a bond that very few people will ever understand. Now thru all the years I have known Freeway, I have yet to see him actually RIDE a motorcycle. (well, I did see him ride once...at Badgers' wedding) He has owned a buttload of really cool bikes, I can verify that cause I have worked on them myself, but to see him ride again, I believe will be a miracle. I love him dearly, but dammit boy, get off yer ass and get that damn chopper runnin. Freeway has a rowdy 650 Triumph chop with an aftermarket frame from the 70's and a coffin tank (remember those?), and a mile and a half long springer front end. I can hardly wait to see it up and running. I rebuilt the top end a couple of years ago...so it should be on the road by at least the year 2000. We tease him a lot about having sold a really sharp "Death Chopper From Hell" for T-fal and tupperware cause that is what his ex used the money for. It was quite the joke for years, but it has grown old. The bike was a very cool rigid with a coffin tank and all sorts of death related graphics painted on it.
I think that of all my bros, Freeway has owned the coolest bikes of all of us. He had that old pre-unit Triumph, his Death Chopper, the Rice chopper that you will see featured in the first issue of Chopper Riders Online, and the Long Low Beast he has now. Now if only he would finally get one running and ride the damn thing...I love ya bro, but ya gotta get yer head outta the snatch long enough to get that beauty running.
I am going to tell ya a little about Ferret now. Ferret is one of a kind. There are few people in the world that I have met that are as diverse as this guy. On the one hand, he participates in those Renaissance fight things (SCA), then on another hand, he loves to ride his relatively new Triumph triple everywhere, then there is his party throwing skills. Hell, how many of you would (if you lived here in Texas) throw an annual party to commemorate the Waco incident? Well, our buddy Ferret in all his strangeness came up with the (blank) Annual David Koresh Memorial Waco Baco Bar-b-que and Hot Tub Party. Now if that isn't a bit twisted. But I see your little minds whirling..."that aint such a big deal"...well, would you formally invite the President of the USA and his secret service guys to one of YOUR parties?...he does. Of course the secret service guys have to bring their own booze. Funny, but he never even gets an RSVP from the people in Washington. I wonder why? If I can get my hands on Brother Eddie, maybe we can come up with some pics from the Waco Baco from this year.