Choppers [Hardcover]

Mike Seate (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

Recognized by their long forks and chopped frames, choppers have found new appeal among today's motorcycle enthusiasts and continue to inspire motorcycle customizers around the globe. Choppers takes a unique look at these classic pieces of twentieth century Americana.Written by experienced motorcycle writer Mike Seate, Choppers provides a comprehensive look at how choppers originated and evolved and what has fueled the current resurgence of interest in building and riding custom motorcycles. Early chapters explore the post-World War II bob job Harleys that predated the chopper. Interviews and historical photos detail the development of the chopper from its earliest days, through the outlaw longbike period of the 1960s and 1970s, to the twenty-first century chopper renaissance.

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.”

About the Author

Mike Seate writes on city life and pop culture for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He has also contributed hundreds of motorcycle lifestyle features to numerous magazines including Ironworks, LongRiders, and Iron Horse, as well as England's Classic Bike and Motor Cycle News.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; First edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760313393
• ISBN-13: 978-0760313398
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,608,863 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.