JavaChopper Blog

I loaded the Javachopper on the truck to Austin today. This was an idea some four years in the making and we are going to knock their socks off at SC08, baby!

Sun hosted a BBQ and CoolRides car show today with our corporate neighbors at our facilities in Hillsboro, Oregon. It was a nice event and it was great to see the smiles on everyone's faces after all the recent unpleasantness.

Click on the image above to see the Picasa gallery.

After many months of international travel and other delays, I picked up the JavaChopper from the shop this week. It's riding well and I have to say it was worth the wait.

The Java has been modified a bit since October when you saw it last. For starters, I had them put a front fender on the thing. Now I can ride when the road is wet without getting a face full of sludge.

The other mods are more about comfort. The new seat is more a traditional king/queen design with lots of space for the umm, you know, biker chick type humans. The soft-tail suspension has also been beefed up because the last lady in the thing had sufficient mass to make the rear tire to rub against the fender.

I asked her to go on a diet if she ever wants to get back on the thing. I think she knocked my tooth loose, but now she's bragging about wearing her "skinny jeans."

I also had them bring the custom handlebars back a couple of inches. These things are essentially ape-hangers and being 5'6" I don't have the longest reach in the world.

Like most custom bikes I know of, the Java is a work in progress. I'd like to install a SunSPOT in the bike so I can have some real Java in there. Since it doesn't have a speedometer, I'm hoping such a device can help me log my trips.

The JavaChopper premiered at the Easy Riders show in Portland this past March.

Is there Java in this thing? I'm hoping to install a Sun Spot this Winter.

Copper-braided hoses are a unique feature designed to fit the coffee color theme.

I got one of these Xena disk locks this weekend. Not only does it keep thieves from driving the thing away, it sets off an alarm if they so much as move the bike.

What I really like is that this lock fits right in my jacket pocket.

Up here in Oregon, we tell the California people that it rains here all the time in the hopes that they won't move here. In reality, it's downright arid here from July through September.

Well, looking at the forecast, you wouldn't need a calendar to know that September is over. I got a ride in Saturday, but it was cold.

I guess the good news is that the JavaChopper will stay shined up for a while.