1970s Flashback: Drag Bike Inspired Digger Choppers

Influential Origins

Master builder Arlen Ness started the Digger chopper trend somewhere back in the early 1970s. Typified by high-horsepower motors in long and low custom frames, stretched and narrowed gas tanks, and aggressively raked frontends, the origins of the Digger name is shrouded in a cloud of exhaust fumes, yet the style is influential to this day.

Photo courtesy of Michael Lichter Photography

Frisco Influence

Diggers have some sort of genetic connection to Frisco-style choppers but are even narrower. Ness was building west coast-influenced machines when his Digger idea materialized. At one end of the spectrum, Diggers emulate the stripped-down functionality of a drag bike. On the opposite end, they are built with a form over function approach characteristic of raked-out choppers.

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Street Racer

At one point, Top Fuel Dragsters, because of their long rail frames and massive engines, were also called 'diggers.' Ness must have made a connection between the four-wheel racers and his new chopper design. Like Frisco-style choppers with modifications meant to cope with San Francisco's hills, Digger builders also had functionality in mind. The difference being that Diggers emulated race, not street, function.

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Groovy Digger

Skinny was 'in' with Diggers. The race aesthetic collided with chopper grooviness in a unique way. Polished 1000cc Sportster Ironhead motors were crammed into gooseneck frames with rear-set or mid-mount foot controls. Lengthened springer or girder forks were almost obligatory. The coffin or prism-shaped gas tanks were surrounded by molded body panels smoothed by rivers of Bondo, replete with psychedelic metal-flake paint jobs.

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Digger Fever

By the mid-1970s, outrageous Diggers were gracing the cover of publications like Street Chopper. The outlandish machines blended chopper aesthetics, such as engraved engine cases with wild race-inspired items like superchargers, turbo kits, and racing carburetors. By 1977, the Digger had arrived. Almost all motorcycle magazines had a Digger on the cover, and events like Daytona Bike Week and Sturgis helped spread the Digger bug across the country.

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Digger Engraving

Builders like Dave Perewitz relied heavily on the Digger style to make their mark in the 1970s. Among his many accolades, Perewitz is credited with bringing hand-engraved motorcycle parts to mainstream attention. In a self-published book, Perewitz recounts how he connected with Master Engraver Richard Gaudreau in Attleboro, Massachusetts. It did not take long for major manufacturers to ship pallets of parts to Perewitz' shop for engraving.

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Harman Spirder

The Digger was a platform for experimentation and innovation. While the trend may not have endured, it enabled the careers of gifted fabricators. One such builder was visionary John Harman. Co-founder of H & H Cycle, Harman designed the internally sprung 'Spider' girder fork, and pioneered large displacement 120 cubic-inch V-Twin motors decades before it was even thought possible.

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Two Bad

The Digger fad faded away by the mid-1980s as the era of the Pro Street Chopper took over. Fittingly, Arlen Ness capped the trend in 1977 with 'Two Bad.' His dual-engine, center hub-steering monster took the concept to an Ed Roth level of absurdity. Yet, the Digger essence never really went away. While Ness is no longer with us, his Digger DNA lives on in every long, lean, performance machine.

Photo courtesy of Michael Lichter Photography

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