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CHOPPER CITY USA
Orange Park, FL
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By Scott Keyes
Photos by Sam Dixon
Over the last eight years, Dave Welch has watched bike building and motorcycle customization blow up right before his eyes.
It was probably only 10 years ago, the business of building customized bikes was a thing where men across the country were building bikes in their garage on the weekends.
Now with the ongoing popularity of the business, bike customization and restoration have put guys like Welch and his business Chopper City USA in Orange Park, Fla., on the map.
And for good reason.
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Welch and his five-man team at Chopper City USA have built some of the slickest bikes in the business.
Their bikes are known world worldwide, and earned Chopper City USA some of the top honors in the industry. Two of Welch’s' bikes recently finished second and third in the AMD World Bike Building championship in the Harley Class, and while in Sturgis in August Chopper City USA brought home six trophies for their hard work and dedication.
So what makes Chopper City USA so unique? Welch feels when you find a niche you need to stick with a concept that will appeal to the buyers. The hardest thing in the business is the ability to stay original, but Welch and his team have shown they can keep up with the on-going bike revolution.
"I think we have done a pretty good job making our bikes pretty unique," Welch said "Once you get a quality piece out there people remember who you are. That's important in this business."
Chopper City USA specializes in three different kinds of builds:
The Harley Conversion has become one of Chopper City USA's most popular bikes. The bike starts with a stock Harley-Davidson.
The body modifications include stretching & raking the original frame, therefore retaining the Harley Title.
The second kind of bike is the Chopper City USA Custom Motorcycles. The price range varies for a custom, but Welch estimates the build to start off in the $45,000 range and the price escalates from there. Basically with this type of build the price jumps up as the imagination and the builders creativity comes into play.
Lastly Chopper City USA has their own series of bikes. The "Hardcore Series” begins at $19,995 and the price goes up from there depending on the customers needs.
But in the meantime you might have seen some of Welch's work riding down the road and not even known it was a Chopper City USA build as the company has built bikes for customers all over the country and Puerto Rico. Some of Welch's finest works include the Softail From Hell, Man's Ruin, Green Machine, Robert's 124ci Chopper, Roger's Fatboy & VRod, Black Wicked Chopper, Hardcore Bobbers, Capt. Millennium, Retro Choppers, Fembot, Back to Basics, Silver Chopper, Red Chopper, Dennis' Fatboy, and Roger's Roadking just to name a few.
Welch said he doesn't have a particular bike that is his favorite, because in his eyes they are all unique in different ways.
"Personally all of the bikes in my eyes are pretty unique, and I think each of the one we have done have their own personality," Welch said. "A buyer wants a custom bike that no one else has, so you try and give them what they want. You try to add your own flare and style into a build, and incorporate that with what the buyer wants. Sometime's it is hard to do, but in the end we usually come up with something really cool that exceeds the customer’s expectations."
As bike customization continues to evolve different areas, so does a person's taste in a particular bike. Over the last few years the Harley Conversion has caught on like gangbusters at Chopper City USA. Although the Harley Conversion has been around for quite awhile builders are taking this concept to new heights, which has been good for business for Chopper City USA.
"The Harley Conversion has been a really fun build for us, because it gives us the opportunity to do a lot of different things with an American Classic," Welch said. "We modify the frame to meet the needs of our customers. A cool thing about this build is that all motorcycles still have a Harley Title or our (MCO) Manufacturer's Certificate of Origin. It's just another way for us to build another cool motorcycle."
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THESE ARE THE PHOTOS THAT MADE IT INTO THE PRINT MAGAZINE...
THES PHOTOS AND OVER 100 MORE
HI-RESOLUTION PHOTOS FROM THIS SHOOT ARE IN THE MEMBERS AREA
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With the ongoing need to possibly expand one day, Welch is discussing the possibility of selling various bikes out of the Chopper City USA Showroom, beside their own. The negations with an the un-named companies are still in the works, but Welch expects a decision to be made soon.
Now , however it is business as usual. "We have a lot of things happening around here that has our company moving towards the future," Welch said. "It's just a matter of us staying focused, and keep on building quality bikes. That's what counts."
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON DAVE WELCH AND CHOPPER CITY USA
VISIT CHOPPERCITYUSA.COM
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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 - JANUARY 2008
