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August 2000 V-Twin Cover Bike...
99' Rigid Chopper

Dominican Flyer,
From Paper Napkin to Reality.

The seeds of this radical chopper were formed in the minds of two boyhood friends almost three decades ago and finally took form on a paper napkin two years ago. Talk about a long gestation period! "Back in the seventies, my best friend, Greg Zack, and I always dreamed about big bore Panheads and how one day, we would build one," says Jacques Charton, the owner of this dream come true.

Fast forward a good 20 years, and the scene is a different one. Greg has since died, and after many years of riding and slowly graduating from rice grinders to Brits and finally to an old Shovelhead, Jacques ended up at a fork in the road most of us eventually come to and where we have to decide what our first custom bike is going to look like. He enlisted the help of two friends to come up with his stunning silhouette. "One day, two years ago, I was sitting around with my friends, shooting the breeze. One was the bike's painter, Kirk Taylor, the other was the engine builder, Norman Boeck, and together we started drawing on paper napkins."

Presumably fueled by several glasses of foamy brew, the trio soon gave birth to what would truly become Jacques pride and joy. "We built it mostly in my garage." says Jacques of this, his very first ground up project. "Whatever I could not do, or didn't have the right tools for the job, I farmed out to the pros. But everything on his bike was designed by us. And Kirk did an outstanding job with the paint too. You might not see it in these pictures, but under the flames, he put some skulls and skeletons and such, and in the light it truly looks awesome."

Apparently the judges at this years Easyriders Bike Show in Sacramento, California, were equally impressed, as the chopper ended up taking home the second prize in the Best of Show category. But Jacques also ended up going to the big one in Columbus Ohio, were he placed third in the In The Wind category. Not a small feat for a beginning builder.

"To me this bike actually represents the love of the individual, but it takes many individuals to accomplish something like this," Jaques explains.

"A lot of my friends jumped in to help." Even at his job in facilities at nearby Dominican College, his coworkers assisted in various degrees, and as a sign of his appreciation, Jacques has placed the trophies he won at bike shows right on his desk. No, they apparently are not going to replace the friar's crosses.

Now that I'm done with the bike shows," he says, "I'm riding it a lot. That's what it's all about: having fun." Surely Greg Zack would wholeheartedly agree with that and give his old buddy his blessings from Harley Heaven.

 

Owner: Jacques Charton  
City: Novato, California  
General   Transmission
Fabrication: Custom Design Studios   Year: 1999
Year/Make: 1999 Chopper   Shifting: Suicide Clutch
Model: Rigid   Paint
Assembly: Custom Design Studios   Molding: Kirk Taylor
Chroming: Delta/Pilgram   Painter: Kirk/Custom Design Studios
Engine   Color: Ferrari Yellow
Year/Model: 1999 Generator   Special Paint: Candy Purple Skulls
Rebuilder: Norman Boek   Frame
Ignition: Twin Power   Year: 1999
Displacement: 96 Cubic Inches   Type: Rigid
Lower End: S&S   Builder: Chopper Guys
Balancing: Jim "Bubbles" Powers   Modification: 30-degree rake
Pistons: S&S   Accessiories
Cases: S&S   Bars: 16 inch apes
Heads: STD   Risers: CCI, 3 inch
Cam: S&S   Controls: Internal throttle cable
Lifters: S&S   Fender: 9-inch flat
Carb: S&S with Thunder Jet Headlight: 5-inch flamed
Air Cleaner: S&S Taillight: "Dog Dick" custom
Pipes: Custom Made TT Style Pegs: Performance Machine
Forks:   Electronics: Generator
Type: Wide Glide   Foot Controls: PM Foot Clutch
Builder: Custom Design Studios   Gas Tank: Rubber mounted Sporster
Mods: Lowered shaved legs   Oil Tank: Exile Custom
Wheels   Oil System: S&S/Goodyear lines
Front   Primary Cover: 3inch guard with flames
Type: Spool   Seat: Custom with Maltese Cross
Size: 21 inch   Grips: Billet/ internal throttle
Tire: Metzeler      
Brake: None  
Rear  
Type: Exile  
Size: 15 inch  
Tire: Metzeler  
Brake: PM 6 piston   Photos: Michael Lichter