No comments about British Motorcycles Since 1950: Greeves, Hesketh, Indian, James, Norman and Norton : Roadsters of 250Cc and over.

5 comments about Choppers.

1. I purchased this book for a friend who is very in to choppers and bikes. He was very pleased at the information & photographs provided. In turn, I too, who knew nothing about this art..have become a fan myself. Great book for collection.



2. If you like to gaze at Motorcycles and admire machinery built by hand. You will enjoy this book. Also good bio's on the guys who build the bikes. Looking forward to the sequel from this author and photographer.



3. Indian Larry's bike is pictured on the cover and I find myself opening up to his bike "Wild Child" and the very words are vividly painted on the belt drive; in fact every bit of the bike exudes a beauty and wild genius -- especially in the details. Both Indian Larry with his busily tattooed body and his bikes are loaded with content and meaning and the picture of him and Paul Cox look like they are on fire speeding along a quiet road on their beautiful unique bikes. It is amazing to have these photos since Indian Larry took the express to Biker Heaven.
   
   I enjoy paging thru the book looking at the different styles. In section 3, Seate has "new blood" and Tom Langton's Gold bike with a seat that says "Pleasure to Burn" almost makes me want to give my old school bike fantasies a rest...Almost!
   
   Billy Lane's bad boy hubless bike that looks like a bit of hell, insanity and chaos that found reason -- a reason to ride. Seate's description of Kendall Johnson's "paint schemes" using phrases like "Felliniesque circus nightmare" are insanely amusing but I found Johnson's work far more exciting featured on Discovery Channel than in this book.
   
   If you don't like paging thru a wide variety of bike themes this isn't for you. If you enjoy a big heavy book both in weight and variety than this is the book for you. I really enjoyed this book! You can return to this book over and over and enjoy something different each time or revisit your favorites. I return to the pages with Indian Larry and I am so glad I got to meet him and see his art in the flesh --- and metal.
   
   
   



4. This appeared verbatim in the magazine THUNDER PRESS.
   
   BTW, Zimberoff's next book (out next spring), a continuation and sequel to ART OF THE CHOPPER is dedictaed to INDIAN LARRY and contains a full chapter of his work, a portrait and his biography plus every other major builder on the planet.
   
   Reviewed by Terry Roorda
   
   QUOTE Dated photos gleaned from the collection of photographer Michael Lichter combine with perfunctory prose by writer Mike Seate to bring us "Choppers: Heavy Metal Art," a shameless effort to cash in on the current chopper craze by using the exact format found in the highly acclaimed and successful "Art of the Chopper" by Tom Zimberoff. That's it in nutshell, folks. The similarities in physical size, style and content between this work and Zimberoff's are striking to say the very least: A fat highly- produced coffee table book that examines a roster of custom bike builders through portraiture, some biographical verbiage and studio photos of some of their creations.
   
   That's where the similarities end. In the execution of that formula, Zimberoff's "Art of the Chopper" is fresh and literate while "Choppers: Heavy Metal Art" is stale and sophomoric. Seate's writing is lackluster at its best and painfully awkward most of the time, reading like the first draft of a work being produced on contract and on deadline. In three of the early vignettes in the book we are informed that "Colorado's Arlin Fatland has what you might call a wicked sense of humor," and that "Pat Kennedy of Tombstone, Arizona, is what you might call seriously old school," and that "Nothing about Kodlin's motorcycles is what you might call tradition- al." These excerpts are what you might call bad writing; the type of tedious template prose so devoid of creativity and enthusiasm for the subject matter that any editor worth the name would kick it back in disgust and demand another go. That's assuming there was an editor involved at all, and judging from the wealth of typos and awkward usages found in this book, there's little reason to believe there was. A truly ironic typo comes early in the going when in Seate's acknowledgments he pens this gem: "to Almetta, for never letting us forget the value of the wirtten word." Yes, folks, it says "wirtten." How's that for value?
   
   Here's some other stuff that made me wince: "Looking like a cross between a scene from a concert by gangsta rappers Insane Clown Posse and a Felliniesque circus nightmare, Johnson's paint schemes grab a viewer's attention and hold it rapt for hours." Hunh? Or how about this stinker: "These self-anointed keepers of the hardtail faith congregate in Internet chat rooms and in the letters pages of custom motorcycle-enthusiast magazines to heap dis and envy on builders who aren't afraid to move the art of the custom motorcycle into the twenty-first century." Ouch.
   
   There's plenty more where those came from. And the tragic thing about it is that Mike Seate is usually a competent and entertaining writer-and probably the most prolific wordsmith in the genre. Therein may lie the problem. This volume represents Seate's fifth book with the word "chopper" in the title, and four of those, including this one, were published in the span of less than a year and a half. Who wouldn't get burned out? The upside of "Choppers: Heavy Metal Art" are the images furnished by renowned biker photographer Michael Lichter, a man with one of the most impressive resumés in the industry. As always, his photos are luminous, and anyone familiar with his work in Easyriders magazine over the past couple of decades will recognize his style, but there's a problem here as well. These photos apparently came straight out of his existing inventory of bike feature shots, and many were taken years ago, going back as far as 1992. When you're making the case for custom bike building being a vibrant and dynamic craft in an exciting period of change, growth and popularity, wouldn't you want the timeliest material you could bring to the premise? Other complaints in this regard are that the names of the featured bikes are not provided, though they're often referred to in the copy, and the sparse technical data given for each consists only of frame style (rigid; Softail- type) and engine style (Panhead; Evolution-type), which are obvious attributes to anyone the least bit familiar with the subject, and of little or no educational value to those who aren't. Those criticisms aside, we have to understand that doing this book right would have taken some time, and clearly the publisher wanted to get into the market before Christmas with a product that would hopefully piggy- back on the success of "Art of the Chopper." That's understandable, if not admirable, from a business stand- point. From a creative standpoint it's disastrous. END QUOTE



5. 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." Well the cover was just the opening to a wonderfully and well written book about custom choppers. These motorcycles are really works of art and the color photos of them are classic!
   
   The authors, Mike Seate and Linda Black McKay, have done a good job of taking us on a visual journey of the mind and spirit with this book. They give the reader plenty of information to make it an educational journey (including a "Chopper Glossary" at the back of the book) yet the reader is always entertained and amused by the text and the color photos.
   
   If you are looking for a gift to give to a young man in your life then this is one book that will actually be read and looked through from beginning to end. It is fascinating and pure "dream candy" looking at what others have done to those two wheel machines. The choice of bikes to display and write about is a perfect balance of art and function. This book is part of a great series of books and like all the books in that series this is not limited to just young men. All male readers will enjoy looking at and reading this book.
   
   I personally recommend this book for all young male readers and those who are still young at heart! Choppers is given The American Authors Association's highest book rating for young readers - FIVE STARS.

No comments about Indian (Osprey Color Library Series).

No comments about The Indian.

No comments about Harleys, Popes and Indian Chiefs.

No comments about Bikers are riding in-DIAN style (Indian motorycle marque renewed).: An article from: Wind Speaker.

No comments about Motorcycle Chums on the Santa Fe Trail or The Key to the Indian Treasure Cave..

No comments about Burt Munro Indian Legend of Speed.

No comments about Antique Motorcycle Toys: Featuring the Collection of "Indian" Al Liebowitz (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

No comments about The Legend of Indian.