A Good Issue

It's been a while since I've posted any of my old magazines. This one has a ton of "out of sight" images. The American Chopper Enterprises/Himsl Custom Paint Studio ad came from this issue and so did one of the photos of Roth's Mail Box trike.

These cover bikes were not featured, but here's what it said on the index page: Jammin' is what it's all about. In front is a bastard '57 lower end in a '56 frame, topped off with a '62 shovelhead upper end. Close behind is a '49 Pan bored .030 oversize, raked, and running a 12" overstock extension.

The tape on the bound edge of this issue is testament to how many times I looked through it. I'll be posting more from it soon.

This Month's Header

The Candy Box
What do models have to do with Summer? Well, when I was a kid, if we couldn't go to the beach, or playing various games in the street, we built stuff. As a matter of fact, my brothers and I were fairly avid car modelers. Most of the time we just couldn't help but modify them to the extent that they rarely resembled what was on the box cover.


I built this model sometime around 1970-71. It was it's second build and was loosely based on Roth's Mail Box.

When my interest shifted, I stopped building cars and started building bikes. The first one I remember was Revell's "Chopped Hog". At first it was built as it came, but since it was a lousy depiction of a chopper, I quickly tore it apart and customized it. I added a hard tail, a molded in peanut tank, new pipes, sissy bar, rear fender, seat, and scratch built a brass springer.

The next victim was Revell's CHP model. I don't recall ever building it stock. Instead, it became the raw material for a chopper based on Jim Breo's trike from the first issue of Big Bike magazine. I posted Jim's trike here last January.

As in real life, a cop bike becomes a donor.


Here's how it looked the first time around. In someways I wish I left it alone.

Like most of my models, it didn't stay intact long, and soon it was apart for a new build based on Roth's Mail Box. Since, I had already modified the Shovelhead frame and engine to look like a 45 c.i. Servi-car. The new mods consisted mainly of stretching the down tube, molding a cut down gas tank, building a body, and adding a longer springer.

The Real Deal. The Crosley engine really only looks good from this side. Roth didn't want to use another flathead 45 since he had already built the Candy Wagon. Each trike project was built to gain more experience. The Crosley engine was an experiment for using a water cooled engine with the radiator mounted in the back and served as a stepping stone towards the later V-8 powered trikes.



Roth's original Choppers magazine used Ed Newton's Mail Box drawing at the top of the letter's to the editor page. For fun, I took a shot at replicating it.


Engine and frame mod details. The cam cover was cut down and the timer centered. The barrels, heads, and push rods were cut down and filed to resemble flathead cylinders. Drag pipe were fashioned from other pipe pieces. This is the second oil tank and was made from a rear shock capped on each end with a spotlight. Now, the only part of the frame left intact was under the engine and trans and the seat post. The drive chain was moved to the right side. Rear fender mounts were used as 45 brake and clutch side straps. Some parts, like the kicker, brake pedal and foot pegs, have broken off over the years. A top engine mount was never made.


The finned heads were scratch built from sheet plastic. Cutting and fitting each fin and the bolt pattern was the most tedious chore. The carb was moved to the left and a working choke was made from a pin. The primary cover was also reworked to resemble a 45's. The left side engine case was the biggest omission, it should be finned. The spark plugs wires and coil have since come off.

The body was made from balsa wood and the interior is covered with vinyl. The gas tank is from a Triumph kit. To create the indents, the knee pads were cut off and glued inside on the opposite sides. The fork was scratch built out of brass and was from another model I built. I don't remember ever seeing a color photo of the real trike back then, but read it was fogged in various colors. My attempt at custom paint was fogging some red over the green Testors metal flake and was never very happy with the result.

The Candy Box. Another fun exercise, a Photoshoped Candy Wagon/Mail Box combination for comparison. You can definitely see the Candy Wagon's influence on my model.

I still have remnants of other chopper models but, somehow this one survived. It was tossed around and stored in a box for about two decades but has since been on display in my studio for about the last 6 years. I'd like to rebuild some of the others, but that will have to wait for a future Summer.... perhaps in a second childhood?

Sano Trike Orgins

I've been meaning to post this cool ad for Himsl Trike Bodies for some time. I didn't just want to post it and leave it at that, but rather to show how it relates to other Heros of Chopper History.

The design of the body brings up the question, who first designed this style of trike body?

An Ad for Himsl trike bodies. Love the illustration. The art is not signed, but I have a strong suspicion it was done by Ed Newton. From the July '71 issue of Choppers Magazine.


Art Himsl's Preying Mantis as featured in the larger Nov. '70 Choppers magazine. It had been previously featured in Roth's July '69 digest sized Choppers magazine. Both articles mention the sale of the semi mass produced bodies. The first article calls it the Himsl Brother's Mantis and mentions Art's brother Mike. Art is still going strong but, what happened to Mike?

Because of the dates mention above, I'm sure Art's design was influenced by Roth's first trike, The Candy Wagon.

The trike won Custom Bike of the Year at the '69 Oakland Roadster Show. Art's Alien show car can be seen in the garage in the background.


Roth's Candy Wagon on the Dec.68 cover. One might assume that Ed Newton designed it, but it may not be wholly true.


The article inside shows Newton's early more ominous designs featuring booze related items plus a machine gun. Roth wanted something more kid friendly. Note that the high back seat body is absent in the drawings and nothing is mentioned in the article of the seat body's design orgin.


Was another Roth artist, namely David Mann, the one really responsible for the Candy Wagon's seat/body? Notice the pipes too, and compare to the Candy Wagon cover above. Did Roth decide on the style after seeing this? Did Dave do it after seeing the CW or see another sketch of Newt's, or visa versa? Based on this art and the date, I think Dave had the idea first. Roth published this poster in '68.

Art Imitates Life

Many of the crazy images that were put out by Roth had some basis in reality. Note the Iron Cross on the gas tank.


Dick Cook aboard "Big Daddy's" mini bike. It was said to be too big for Ed. This thing is more ridiculous than in the art.

World's Fastest?

When? ..... it's a Cool Decal, anyhow.

Favorite Von Dutch Sign/Taking Off

I'm going to be away from the blog for a bit. Feel free to leave your comments and I'll post them when I can. In the mean time....
I leave you with my favorite Von Dutch sign.

From the Brucker auction

Peace My Brothers... and Sistahs

Sorry about the long break from the blog. I'm back and will be posting new stuff again. Thanks for hangin in there.

Big Daddy aboard "Oink". My all time favorite swing arm Harley. Where did this bike go?

Ads '69

Forty Freakin Years Ago.

I saved this page from what I think was a 1969 Cycle Guide

The ads (below), are on the back



You don't see the H-D Outperformer art as often as the others.

Another Roth Sighting

The Bill Ray Life Magazine HA photos are worth a second look. Found another one with Roth.

Notice how typically Big Daddy's slacks are splattered with paint from pinstriping.

Dutch Treat, as in Von

That's Kenny holding up the tiny Honda chopper. I believe it was called Teeny Weenie. I remember it from another magazine, maybe a later Choppers magazine. They re-ran some of the early issue features and bikes in the later large format magazine.


Big Daddy gives lots of good information about this mysterious man who had already become a character of legend in '68.

Dick Allen Chopper Hero

As a kid buying chopper magazines certain individuals took on rock star status. One of those guys was Dick Allen. Any time a magazine featured something related to Dick you knew it would be cool.

Dick's bike as featured in Choppers Magazine Oct. 68. Here you can see how the secondary sissy bar bolts to the fender and at the bar up top.

Take note of the art and also that skinny 26" front wheel.

During this period, not too many ran a stock bobbed Harley fender on this style of chopper.

Really tall stacks, ...a slight crack?!

It's interesting how time changes things. At that time, many guys dumped their panheads in a flash for the better performance of a shovel. So why did Dick go from a pan to a shovel then latter a knuckle? Some say knucks are the best.

An earlier photo of what appears to be the same bike. Forks are early Sportster that look to be fitted with slugs for extension (check the area between trees). The trees look raked and the lower one still has the fork boot mounts attached. The antique 26" front rim and spokes was still black at this time.

A later shot of Dick on his knuckle "Locomotion", sporting some of his trademark features: 12 spoke 15"mag with car radial tire, swooping sissy bar support, long narrow springer, 2 to 1 collector exhaust, cobra seat, tall z-bars, and Sportster headlight. These features became almost a standard for the South Bay (beach cities L.A.).

Ed Newton's art for Roth's t-shirts and decals. Tall pipes, Indian forks, tall skinny front wheel and a crazy bearded rider. Was this inspired by the wheelie incident or drawn before and later modified for the article? This could have been Dick, as Newton's California Chopper art also seems to be a depiction of Beautiful Buzzard.

The engine here is a shovel and the tanks match Dick's paint. Only Ed Newton would know the back story.

Iron Cross Inspector

I was going through the LIFE HA photos (mostly checking the ones with bikes), so I buzzed right pass this one. Keep in mind, this was 1965. From the 100+ photos, this is the only one I saw featuring our hero.

Roth's Custom Bike Magazine Part 2

Blog reader Bjorn 81 sent the following:

Greeting from the UK.

In reference to Choppers Magazine:

"and I could swear I've also seen the July cover with the Choppers Magazine masthead."

Yes you are right.. I've got 1 earlier issue (No1 1967) and about 10 later ones (March69 -Feb70=)

in my collection... attached is a mail from a reader that explains it all...

Anyway, I do like your blog very much so keep up the good work!

Kind Regards

Bjorn81 Kent England

Contributor to

http://www.itsdeadlicious.com/

I think Bjorn meant to say I was right about the magazine reader's influence on the process of changing the name back. I've yet to find any hard evidence for two version of the July issue.

Read Irish Rich's comments in the last post.

I went back to check my archives and found the covers below. They along with the ones in the last post validate Rich's commnets.



In the letter at the top of the blog, I think Roth meant to say he slyly changed it back to Custom Bike in Sept. Did he justify doing it for this issue because it featured a dresser? We'll probably never know.

Roth's Custom Bike Magazine?

Until a couple of years ago, I had forgotten about this.
Ever notice how Roth's Choppers Magazine was changed to Custom Bike Magazine for 2 months and then changed back?


I could swear I've also seen the July cover with the Choppers Magazine masthead.

It seems he was reaching out to a broader audience by including all types of customs from dirt and drag machines to dressers. Ed went on lots of bike runs and appreciated the dresser crowd and their bikes. He solicited readers, and I suspect they didn't like it. He did continue to feature all types of customs in the later issues.

Have a

Hardly David #2

From Choppers Magazine 5/68

Why does this gag seem familiar? I feel like I've seen it used somewhere else.

Note: At this time it's spelled Hardly. The last one I posted (from CM 10/68), was spelled Hardley. Still wondering who Luke was? I thought it might be a pen name for Ed Newton but, based on this one I'm beginning to re think that notion.