Can You Go Touring on a Chopper?

This is a question I have heard people discussing recently, plus they were saying choppers look uncomfortable and are torture to ride.  I thought I would write about my views.

Yes, of course you can go touring on a chopper, if you build your chopper correctly. You have to think about suspension, handling, handlebar height and how to carry your gear, but it can be done.

Here is a chopper that has won a few custom bike shows. You couldn’t go touring on that show queen, could you!

This picture was taken for a magazine feature about the bike

Well, yes you can. This bike has been ridden from London in the UK, to the south of Portugal, to St Tropez in southern France and right across the Alps mountains (including Stelvio Pass and Grossglockner Pass) all the way to the Harley-Davidson Rally in Rome, and back again. I know, because I rode it to those places.

This is my custom chopper and the bike was built specifically to go touring on. This is how we did it.

Below is a picture of how the bike started out.  It was a  second-hand Harley-Davidson FXSTC softail. From this bike, we only kept part of the frame and the lower half of the engine.

How the bike looked before the modifications

We did these things…..

New springer front end forks, yokes etc
New wheels, larger, wider
Modified the frame to raise the top tubes and accommodate the longer forks
New rear fender
Stage 4 mods to the engine. It is now a 110 Cu Inch engine, or 1800cc
New exhausts
New hand made seat
New controls
New paint job
Extensive hand engraving
Plus lots more

Here are some build pictures….

This is the bike being ridden, in St Tropez...

Taken at the Harley-Davidson European Festival, St Tropez

Okay, so what makes this chopper be able to be ridden such long distances on some of the more twisty and challenging roads in Europe? Well, first of all, you need saddlebags, which have to be completely removed when the bike is being ridden locally, or put in custom bike shows. Here is the bike being ridden on tour and note the saddlebags and you can just see another bag behind me.

I think this picture was taken in Austria

The picture above shows the early saddlebags we fitted, but we soon went to the much larger stiff leather saddlebags. This video shows how we integrated fixings into the rear fender struts to allow saddlebags to to fitted….



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Good suspension is vital for long-distance touring. But, it also has to look good. So, we went for DNA springers for the front-end. What is even more important to get right is the geometry of the frame right, so that the bike handles well. For this bike, we temporarily built the bike (held together with gaffer tape in places, I kid you not) so that we could check the handling before the bike was painted and engraved. Thanks to the guys at P&D, it was perfect and we didn’t need to change anything – their calculations and fabrication had been fantastic. Here is the bike in its temporary mock up form, just before we test-rode it.....

The bike ready to be test ridden

Handlebar height is crucial. If you get it too high, then your arms will ache. The rule of thumb is your hands should not be higher than your shoulders. Again, we got than just right.

So, can a chopper be used for touring? Yes, of course it can. Here is the proof…..

This is a video of the bike being ridden with a group of friends to Rome, including across the Alps. The roads get interesting from about 2:15 onwards. For most of the on-bike video shots, the camera was mounted on the chopper. From about 4:00 the video shows two of us, both riding choppers, on the 2,000 mile journey back to London. The route back included one of the highest and most twisty roads in Europe, Stelvio Pass (4:50). You will see a lot of snow next to the roads – this was in June!




This is the same bike, just before I set out to go touring in the UK, complete with a tent, sleeping bags and everything else I would need while camping…..

Well laden-down with gear

Then, when you have finished touring and camping, you can go for a ride with a few of your freinds.....  

What a great and versatile motorcycle!

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Trip to the Champagne Region, northern France

What better way to spend three gloriously sunny days than to jump on your motorbikes, take the Channel Tunnel train to France, ride to the Champagne region and drink fantastic bubbly with some friends?

That is precisely what seven of us did last weekend.

05:30 and the alarm shook to life, but as before many long riding trips, I was already awake.  30 minutes later I was loading my new custom bike, Amelia and trying very hard to ride it down my street as quietly as possible, in order not to wake the neighbours.  I probably failed. 

It was chilly as I rode the almost 100 miles to the train terminal and I was glad to get there and warm up while waiting for the train.  Nick (HD Street Glide) and his wife Jane (HD Sportster 883 Superlow) were already there.  Sumit and Raj (HD Sportster) and Keith and Sue (HD Road King) all arrived soon and we were soon speeding through the tunnel on the train to France. After arriving at Calais, we then rode about 200 miles to get to our base, in Reims.

This is Sumit and Raj on some picturesque French country roads....

We spent Saturday riding around looking at the region, the centre of Champagne production.  Only wine produced in the region can be called Champagne, which has been produced here since 1531.  From everywhere else, it is called sparkling wine.  It was pointed out to me that each field is marked with stones, showing who the grapes belong to....

At one point, we saw a huge sign showing the maker of one of the most well known Champagne producers and of course, had to park the bikes right under it....

With the exception of a few crops, almost nothing else is grown or farmed here but grapes.  There are certainly a lot of grapes.....

Overlooking the fields is a strange sight.  At about 150 miles from the sea, stands a 200 foot tall lighthouse, built to celebrate and promote the champagne region.  We climbed its narrow steps and looked over the straight lines of grape vines....

We went to see the Abbey of Saint Hilaire, where Benedictine Monks made the first champagne.  Dom Perignon stayed at the Abbey and gave advice to the monks to improve the quality of the wine.  This is Nick and I, leaning against the wall of the Abbey....

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, we went to see the Cathedral in the centre of Reims.  Rebuilt after a fire destroyed the original building in AD 1211, the ‘new’ Cathedral is a marvel of design and construction....

At 455 ft long, 98 feet wide and about 125 feet high, the interior of the main Nave is huge.  Dark stained glass windows do not let in much light and so the Cathedral is dark and somewhat gloomy, but the side aisles are much brighter....

It was all too much for a couple of elderly oriental gentlemen, who made the most of the quiet and grabbed a quick nap....

Trams run on rails through large parts of the city.  Not good on a motorcycle on a wet day, as the rails become very slippery.  Thankfully it was a screaming hot day when we were there....

This is Nick, the guy who organised our short trip.  Here he is considering the purchase of a new bike....

A graffiti art competition was taking place in the centre of Reims....

We had great food....

.... and even better company....  Sumit, Sue, Raj, Keith, Nick, Jane and yours truly.....

Sunday saw us riding back through France on mainly quiet country roads, arriving back at the tunnel just in time to get the train back under the sea. 

A great trip all round.

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Cool Picture from St Tropez

I was looking on the Harley-Davidson HOG website and found a cool picture of yours truly riding my Amelia bike in St Tropez.....

Also, in an e-mail HOG sent out to it's members, there is a video form the recent rally in St Tropez and somewhere near the beginning, is Amelia parked up in the marina....

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Introducing Amelia, my new Harley-Davidson chopper

Many of you know a new custom bike has been built for me recently. I have posted a few pictures of the progress of the bike as it developed and of some of the details of the bike, but it is now time to reveal the completed motorcycle.

Called Amelia, the bike is based upon what old school choppers used to look like, with long forks and high bars. The bike looks amazing with its stunning engraving and paintwork. Here is the bike as it was rolled for the first time, ready for its first ride....

I didn’t post any pictures at the time as I didn’t want to give away the overall shape, but here is the bike a few weeks ago in its full mock-up form. Pictured by the bike is Charlie Stockwell, of Warrs Harley-Davidson, who built the bike. He did an amazing job and full marks must go to him for creating a wonderful motorcycle.  Some of the parts were made by Charlie....

Due to its unusual form, Charlie and I wanted to ride the bike as a mock up before it was painted in order to check out the handling. We needn’t have worried as Dave Batchelar of P&D Custom Bikes did a terrific job of modifying the frame. The bike rode like a dream and took the bends with ease. Yes, I know the bike looks odd and yes, that is tape holding on the temporary instrument panel, as yes, the seat isn’t covered yet....

Here is the bike being assembled after painting and engraving. The engine had stage 4 modifications to give it much more power....

The engraving and paint is simply incredible. Here are a few of the details of the front end....

A view looking up at the front brake pedal, reservoir and engine....

The paint was done by Keith of Classic Cycle Works and I have to say he did a fantastic job. The paint scheme just leaps out at you, with big metal flake, pinstriping and glorious colours....

The engraving just makes the whole bike gleam in a riot of chiselled metal. It is difficult to remember that this engraving was all cut by hand with a hammer and chisel. Remarkable!....

Here are a few shots from last weeks custom bike show at the HOG Rally in Grimaud in the south of France. Amelia was awarded second place in the Custom Bike category....

A few more shots from last weekend in St Tropez....

Wherever I parked the bike in St Tropez, it seemed to get quite a lot of people looking at it....

Finally, a couple of pictures of the guy that owns the bike. Most of the time, he has a big grin on his face....

Along with a few friends, Ian, Paul, Preben and Andy, I went riding to Cannes and then back to St Tropez. From the back of a bike, Ian used his phone to capture a short video of me riding Amelia.... its not a great quality video, but you will get the idea.... oh, and the sound of the bike is wonderful......




It is fair to say, I am deligyhted and very happy with the new bike. In just a few weeks time, I am going to ride it to Portugal on a 2,000 mile round trip. I can’t wait!

Thanks to everyone that helped to create such a fantastic motorcycle!

Expect more pictures soon......

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