How to Build a West Coast Chopper Kit Bike (Motorbooks Workshop) [Paperback]

Mike Seate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2004 | Series: Motorbooks Workshop

This book presents a step-by-step guide to building a West Coast Chopper's C.F.L. kit. Kit choppers are hot commodities. While few people can afford to buy a custom-built chopper from one of the high-end builders like Jesse James-bikes that often sell for $100,000 or more-many can afford to buy such bikes in kit form. Because of this, all the high-end builders sell their creations in kit form. For example, while Jesse James might build perhaps a dozen custom bikes per year, he sells hundreds of chopper kits. The same is true of any number of other builders like Matt Hotch, Cyril Huze, and Paul Yaffe. Authored by Mike Seate and featuring the photography of Joe Appel, this book is a step-by-step how-to guide for anyone building a kit chopper.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mike Seate is a journalist living in Pittsburgh, PA. He began riding motorcycles at the age of 16, and 26 years later, has still not bothered to learn how to drive a car. His columns on city living appear three times each week in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and he has written hundreds of feature stories and opinion columns for motorcycle enthusiast publications, including Cycle World, Motorcyclist, Super Streetbike, Street and Strip, Classic Bike, Motorcycle News, Long Riders, and IronWorks. Mike has written a number of books, including Choppers: Heavy Metal Art, Technochop, How to Build a West Coast Chopper, Outlaw Choppers, Jesse James: The Man and His Machines, Suzuki GSX-R, Choppers, Streetbike Extreme, and Two Wheels on Two Reels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; First edition (October 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760318727
• ISBN-13: 978-0760318720
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #32 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Cycling > Bike Repair
  • #68 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Motorcycles > Repair & Performance

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wow, this is a joke. It's not a how to, April 5, 2005

By 

R. Cook "give me a beer" (WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Build a West Coast Chopper Kit Bike (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

This book is not a how to, it's a 143 pages of telling you that you should only buy West Coast Choppers parts and a list of other high dollar parts from suppliers.It tells a little about paint prep, but nothing about the things a person will encounter building a bike.Nothing what so ever, read this and you will think lay the parts on the floor and they will just jump into one piece. Wow,this is BS! Watch the bike build shows on TV and get 100 times more info.This was publish to take atvantage of the jump on the Jesse train. I would love to hear his true thoughts. Don't waste your money.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A chopper builder gives it a thumbs up, December 3, 2004

By 

Spike the Biker "Spike" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Build a West Coast Chopper Kit Bike (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

I've built choppers from scratch, and I've built a chopper kit bike. Both projects would have been much more successful had I had a book like this. This is a useful book whether you are building a kit bike from Jesse James or if you are building any other kit, or even if you are building a chopper from scratch. there is tons of useful information here, and the photos show you how not to make a lot of the mistakes I made.

3.0 out of 5 stars Can't afford a real WCC? Then build your own WCC replica!, July 17, 2011

By 

student teacher - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Build a West Coast Chopper Kit Bike (Motorbooks Workshop) (Paperback)

Is having a WCC frame REALLY that important to you? Ready to spend $35,000+ on a WCC replica??? This book implies that it will show you how to build a WCC clone. First, the title is misleading. The guy doesn't build a WCC "kit bike" (WCC NEVER offered a "kit bike")...he PIECES a VERY EXPENSIVE (about $34,000 in parts) "home-built" WCC together by buying a genuine WCC frame from the Custom Chrome catalog along with some WCC parts (tank, fenders, Magnum 44 handlebar risers) directly from the now defunct WCC Long Beach shop, and some non-WCC parts from various vendors (an El Bruto motor, a Perse fork assembly, Weld wheels, etc). Furthermore, the guy doing the build is a professional builder doing the build in his shop. If you've NEVER built an MC and buy this book thinking it will walk you through the entire process, including all the intricate details, then be prepared to get totally frustrated when you run into problems and don't have a CLUE on what to do next. In plain English: if you have NEVER built a bike before and plan to use this book as a how-to assembly manual for building your own WCC replica, DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK. Again, this is NOT a step-by-step assembly manual; it's really nothing more than a general overview. A summary. As a result, the bike building process is glossed over VERY quickly & simply. There is no "meat." Can you say "broad brush-stroke"? The author implies that "how-to" instructions are included with the various parts (i.e. fork, tranny, primary drive, etc) and therefore, does not cover any part of the assembly process with any depth. It only gives you the big picture with very little/no detail. For example, he says getting a wiring harness makes doing the electrical connections much easier, and if you get stuck, take the bike to an H-D dealer! How's that for "how-to"??? Bottomline: All this book is really saying, is that if you want a WCC but can't afford to buy the real McCoy, piece a replica together yourself from the Custom Chrome catalog for about a third of what a "real" one would cost you. If you really want to build your own MC but never put one together, forget the WCC hype & go buy a (generic) "bike in a box"...A bike-in-a-box has EVERYTHING but paint & gas already selected & boxed up for you. Bike-in-a-box is a true "kit bike" and most typically come with assembly instructions. It won't be a WCC clone, but who cares? Google "bike-in-a-box". Then pick a model you like, fork over the 15 grand or so, follow the bike-in-a-box assembly instructions, and build your own MC! On the other hand, if you simply like choppers & reading about them, this is an enjoyable read-only-for-pleasure book.