Choppers: Heavy Metal Art [Hardcover]

Michael Lichter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 21, 2004

In MemoriamWe all were saddened to learn of the recent death of master chopper artist, Larry Desmedt, or "Indian Larry" to all knew him. As fate would have it, we at Motorbooks had decided months ago to feature one of his beautiful creations on the cover of this new book. We are honored to be publishing a book that celebrates his life and work, both so sadly cut short. Our condolences go to his family, friends, and to anyone in the chopper community lucky enough to have known and worked with Indian Larry. When a motorcycle has been built from the ground up, stripped of anything not needed for speed, power, and striking looks, and draped in rich colors and chrome, it has been transformed into a chopper. What was once considered an outlaw ride has now become a luxury item and a mainstream obsession. In Choppers: Heavy Metal Art, author and biker Mike Seate explores the many styles of choppers and bobbers and the builders behind them. The book is divided into several sections based on style or type of chopper, with each section devoted to the builders who follow a similar style and philosophy. Some builders are established names in their field, while others are up-and-comers rocking the chopper world with their far-out ideas and new spins on a classic style. Photographer Michael Lichter, who has photographed choppers for Easyriders and several other magazines for nearly three decades, provides stunning studio images of the featured machines as well as portraits of their creators.Featured Builders Include:- Matt Burris- Larry Currick- Arlin Fatland- Al Gaither- Roger Goldammer- Don Hotop- Jesse James- Kendall Johnson- Kai- Brian Klock- Billy Lane- Indian Larry- Donny Loos- Rick Sairless- Russell Marloe- Pat Matter- Arlen Ness- Corey Ness- Mike Pugliese- Kim Suter- Mark Warrick- Paul Yaffe- Hank YoungAbout the AuthorMike Seate is a journalist living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began riding motorcycles at the age of 16, and 24 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 various motorcycle enthusiast publications. Mike has written a number of books for MBI, including How to Build a West Coast Chopper, Outlaw Choppers, and Jesse James: The Man and His Machines.About the PhotographerMany factors make Michael Lichter's photography distinct, such as his technical mastery, his attention to detail, and his drive for perfection. Few other people see the world as Michael does, and no one else captures that vision on film the way he does. Michael began taking pictures and working in the darkroom at the age of 13. In 1978, Michael started doing commercial photography in Boulder, Colorado. By 1980, Michael had worked his passion for motorcycling into his photography career. His work began to appear in Easyriders magazine. Soon Michael found himself in the beds of pickup trucks during rainstorms, photographing packs of bikers on the roads around Sturgis, South Dakota. Michael is the author and photographer of the best-selling book Sturgis, and is the photographer of Billy Lane: It's Not a Motorcycle Baby, It's a Chopper!

Editorial Reviews

Review

Military Writers Society of America Web site, May 2006 (circ. unavailable)

“Sometimes you see a book cover that jumps right out at you and grabs your fullest attention … This is the case for a great book for teenage boys called Choppers.”

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Since the early 1980s, Michael Lichter has been photographing custom motorcycles, often hanging from the beds of pickup trucks during rainstorms, photographing packs of bikers in places like Daytona Beach and Sturgis, South Dakota for the pages of Easyriders magazine. He has written and photographed a number of books. He lives and works in Boulder, Colorado.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; 1st edition (November 21, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760320535
• ISBN-13: 978-0760320532
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 10.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,718 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars absolute dreck, December 3, 2003

By 

mark mcdonald (Connecticut, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choppers (Hardcover)

This book is god-awful, plain and simple. Anyone who knows anything about seate's alleged "journalism career" understands how much he knows about motorcycles, and would avoid it like the ebola virus. sadly, you can actually learn more about choppers from watching the discovery channel--and that's not saying much.

there's nothing new in the book. It's a marginalized version of stuff that's already been done, and done much better. it's a cheap attempt to cash in on the recent mainstream popularity of choppers and is chock full of historical inaccuracies, lame generalizations and overall weak writing. off hand, I can name 10 people who could have written a better version of this book...some of them could have done so in a coma.

this is a great book fr groupthink moron's who need to be convinced that their softail is a chopper, or that they're 'hardcore' or 'old skool', and all the 'bro'-mosexuals who use these terms in regular conversation, get all leathered up on weekends and pretend they're one-percenters at the dairy queen. it's the perfect holiday stocking stuffer fr the "bikerless biker" in yr life...you know the guy, 20 harley tee shirts, chain wallet...but no motorcycle. trust me, he'll love it, and swallow every word as truth. he might even high-five you with his fingerless gloves on. yee freaking ha!

it's really a terrible book, and I'm actually ashamed to have taken the time to read it.

mcd

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars socio-cultural origins of this strange art form..., October 27, 2003

By 

Ryan McNabb (Ooltewah, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Choppers (Hardcover)

This is a really fun and interesting book. Well written, highly literate, very informative, it gives you the skinny on the real origins of these bikes, their place in motorcyle history, and their place in American history (grudging acceptance, in both cases.) Not just for bike lovers, this book would be appreciated by anyone interested in popular culture after WW2, especially the beat/hippy generations: what really happened at Hollister, CA? What's the story behind "Easy Rider" and its influence? Also, for the riders in the audience, you get lots of interesting insights into the mechanics of these bikes: what is the origin of the Wide Glide fork? How did bobbers get their name? Why did these bikes take on the unique look they did? It ends with a look at custom bikes today, which is sort of mandatory, but not as interesting as what led up to them, in my opinion. Highly recommended.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unfactual attrocity, December 30, 2003

By 

"kmp666" (Tool City, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Choppers (Hardcover)

I recieved this book as a Christmas gift, which is the only way it would have made it into my house. It is full of historical inaccuracies, poor commentary, and even poorer analogies by the said author. How this person is even able to get anything published, especially something this awful, is quite beyond me. How about doing some actual research, Seate? I actually felt somewhat insulted by the blatantly piss-poor information this book has to offer. Topical errors and inaccurately placed photoghraphs are the norm for this publication. Now obviously, this is a great book for newbies and yuppies who have no idea how the chopper "subculture" came about, or who think that Jesse James invented the chopper for the sake of Discovery programs, as other reviews of this book have led us to believe. But for us few who know how it really goes down, this book is a heap and a joke, save for a few nicely detailed photos, hence my 1-star rating.