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East Bay Style

I love this low slung style that came about in the East Bay in the early 70's and so does Vilmino of Loser Rules..so here ya go brother..

Hayward, Cal. Cycleolgy single downtube frame

Little did I know as a kid at my Grandfathers place in San Lorenzo that I was surrounded by so much chopper wizardry in nearby San Leandro, Hayward, and Oakland.

then the style moving North to Portland,Or.

BC Choppers, Portland Or.
.. it seems Portland girls ruled even back then.

Previous owner had replaced the original speedometer with an aftermarket one when the dial came off. Luckily for me he kept the old one .. eventually I'll get it fixed but for now I'd much rather have original over function.

3 speed

My early 70's Phillips 3 speed has been my around town bike for 15 yrs. Complete with original Sturmey Archer 3 speed internal hub. Fully equipped with one painful feature; when cable adjustment is off, the hub will freewheel forward while your applying pressure to the pedals. I've found myself kissing the pavement a few times because of this James Bond like ejector feature. I wonder if this was a cruel and diabolical British export only feature of the Nottingham made hub.

When the original British Raleigh was sold off. Sturmey Archer name and patents were bought by a Taiwanese company and the first thing they changed was the forward freewheeling rider jettison feature. God Save the Queen ...

don't mess with your only runner..

Haven't been home much lately and consequently haven't done much
customizing to my shovelhead. It's running and I'm riding it. I have a whole other chassis but the bike has grown on me and I haven't had the heart to change it. I like it how it is. Especially the abilty to have a passenger in comfort.

So the little I've done to it...

new tires..

cut a couple inches off the bars..

cut down the huge front brake lever so it's a one finger deal when I was at BCM/Benchmark 70moto last week.. thanks for letting me use the tools guys ..


The upholstery guy next to the Avalon Bar in Costa Mesa narrowed my king and queen seat for me. Was talking to him about it at the bar at around midnight.. he said give it to me, I'll have it for you by 9 am.. and he did. That's some quick turnaround!

Other than change the oil.. just been riding it everyday..

DTMC