Top Chops: Master Chopper Builders

Description

Profiles and pics of the hottest builders working today. Several of the most popular custom bike builders featured on the Discovery Channel TV show "Biker Build-Off" are featured in this book. These fascinating builders are profiled with a particular focus on their passion for creating rolling works of art. The book features stunning photography by leading shooter Michael Lichter as well as photos from the builders' personal photo collections. Profiled are Yasuyoshi "Chica" Chikazawa of Huntington Beach, California, who came to the United States from Japan, where he perfected the craft of building old-school choppers; Jerry Covington of Woodward, Oklahoma, who is known for his sleek designs of a wide variety of bikes; Jesse Rooke, owner of Jesse Rooke customs in Phoenix, Arizona, and has gained a huge following for his bicycle-themed choppers; Northern California's Cory Ness, the rising star and son/business partner of legendary builder Arien Ness; Californian Roland Sands, a racer and one of the hot young guns of motorcycle design; Dave Perewitz of Brockton, Massachusetts, who is a true king of customizing; and Mondo Porras, who has created hand-built custom choppers the old-school way since 1967 at Denvers' Choppers (currently in Henderson, Nevada).

Author Dave Nichols is the Editor in Chief of Easyriders and V. Twin magazines and was instrumental in getting most of the builders featured in this book on television. He lives in Edmonds, Washington. Michael Lichter's motorcycle photography has been featured in Easyriders magazine for a quarter of a century. He has contributed to several books by Motorbooks, including Sturgis; Billy Lane Chop Fiction; Choppers: Heavy Metal Art; and Arlen Ness: The Godfather of Choppers. Lichter lives in Colorado.

"American Iron, " February 2006 (circ.: 134,000)"Packed with Lichter's superb photography and enriched by Nichols' colorful and informative text, "Top Chops" is more than just a 240-page coffee-table gem. Delving into the builders' pasts, this publication could easily be mistaken for a history book, albeit an awfully colorful one. No one ever studied a manuscript like this in school."