I would rather build my own chopper than buy one. I always thought that was the idea. Get a crashed bike with a good motor, then buy a frame and start playing.

 

BUT!, If you were told you "had to" choose between the 2 bikes, which would you keep?

 

I think it's clear we would all choose our Harley over a custom if you could only have one. Since you were looking for balanced feedback I felt I had to give my input. I have an '03 Big Dog Chopper that I bought a lil over 2 years ago. I love it. It's always the best lookin bike in any crowd on my side of town. I haven't had any problems with it, over 21K miles now. It can definitely be more than a bar hopper. I bought the bike east of LA and rode it down to San Diego (~100 miles), back to LA then the next day rode it back home to San Jose (a lil over 300 miles). The ride kicked my *** but I did it. Although it's a softail I'd say it rides rough compared to my Deuce. I plan on puttin an air ride suspension on it when I can afford it. As you know, there's often a trade off between looks verus functionality.