the store bought CHopper craze ( OCC, WCC, Ironhorse, Bourget, et al, ) died with the economy in 2008, and that was IMHO when the custom Bagger craze was starting and that never really caught fire, but as long as there are REAL bikers, there will be custom bikes, be they baggers, choppers, bobbers, cafe racers....

50 grand and 50 miles does not make you a biker !

As for me I am getting to old and too worried about healing from a get off to be riding anything but a bagger at this point... I traded my "widow maker" Kawi ZZR in on the 13 baggger.... still got the 03 Bagger, and the 02 rice burner is at my house in Florida.... But someone will always be out there trying something new on their bike.

I'm not sorry to see the "store bought custom" craze gone. I do see where Billy Lane and Choppers Inc is open in Daytona.... he builds nice stuff and never got into the mass produced bike market. But when was the last time you saw a Big Dog or any of the bike companies that tried to cash in on the craze at your local bike night? There are a lot of those big money bikes sitting in garages if you ask me.

OK rant over.....

Is the chopper "fad" over is a question that I've been hearing for about 45 years now, so I'd say the answer is no to the chopper and hopefully from my point of view on the bagger.

I was surprised on how "cheap" some of these "used" choppers are going for. Belt drives, big motors, etc. Hell if I was building something custom I could buy a low mileage big motor chopper and part it out for my build. Now that be something.

I still see a lot of choppers at bike shows, but the new thing is to build café racers and desert bikes. There will always be a few choppers around but the trend is moving toward something different and that's okay with me. If it keeps young people interested it's a good thing.

"As a new OCC dealer, three years ago, they brought in 5 bikes and have only been able to sell two since then and will not be bringing in any more OCC bikes."


Three years ago! Man they got on the OCC bandwagon about 10 years too late. Like anything, styles change. In the chopper world the 300 rear tire billet aluminum chopper is out , the the skinny lane splitting traditional chopper is in.

........:icon_that:
..... of course, touring is what i do on mine, so i would think that way, ...... others may differ

The younger generation of bike builders are going with an old school style. You'll probably see more of those, which are not over the top OCC style bikes, but bikes that have a real cool style without being too ridiculous.

http://www.theworldofmotorcycles.com...ppers_lg2.jpeg

Thing is customizers today had so many neat tools available to them, the only limit is someones imagination. We did well with what we had to work with back in the day but sometimes I wish I was 30 yrs younger so I could play all over again with the tech available today just to see where it could go.

Actually the store bought $35,000 chopper did catch fire. After the economy tanked in 2008, owners realized the were making payments on underwater equity. Those choppers suddenly appeared on a lot of deserted roadways at 3am fully engulfed in flames. Ask the companies who insured them.

Hmmmm.... all along I thought it was bad wiring....