1972 Slightly Screwy Scoot Chopper - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article

Description

1972 Slightly Screwy Scoot Chopper - 3-Page Vintage Motorcycle Article
Original, vintage magazine article
Page Size: Approx 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm)
Condition: Good
San Francisco has richly earned
the reputation of being the
only city in America that con-
sistently operates like a Harley pres-
sure plate with one busted spring.
From the days of Norton I, the
self-proclaimed Emperor of North
America, the City by the Bay has al-
ways managed to behave as if one
of its head bolts was no more than
finger tight.
Not wrongly, or stupidly. Just
. . . different.
For example:
After the great San Francisco
quake and fire, the editor of a local
paper pointed out very smugly that
he knew on whose side God was—
most of the churches in town had
been razed, while all the whorehouses
and bars on the Barbary Coast were
untouched.
Or:
During the height of the North
Beach topless craze, a local nitcry
topped the competition by introduc-
ing “The Topless Mother of Eight.”
Or:
San Francisco’s mayor decided
for some unknown reason, to prove
himself a friend of the hippies. He
did all right, strolling through a love-
in in Golden Gate Park, smiling and
nodding to the longhairs for his P.R.
photographers.
Then somebody passed him a joint
—and the mayor promptly went into
a frothing 15-minute diatribe against
youth.
Like we said, it’s a city with a
screw more than slightly undone.
This marching to a different drum
even extends to the Bay Area’s chop-
pers. They’ve picked up on the low-
rider look, modified it slightly, and
then gone completely berserk.
A dynamite example of the cur-
rent style is Jim Erskine’s ,000 ’53
panhead, “The Cancerian.”
Most people keep the frame, mill
and tranny when they pick up a
dresser and decide to chop it. Not
Erskine. He started by making a
lampstand out of the frame, then
picking up a handmade single down-
tube frame from Roger Garcia of
Livermore.
He did some lightweight molding
on the frame and tank, then he and
Monte DePolo put a dynamite 69-
based color scheme on the whole
shot.
Since Erskine wanted a chop that
would do more than look good at a
stoplight, the next step was heavy
engine work.
Apart, the jugs got a .040 over-
bore and a cleanup to 78 inches...
11254-6206-04