Iron Horse Revised
Back when the Wild West was being settled, railroad locomotives were given the moniker “Iron Horse” by Native Americans who had no other name for the rumbling steel roaring across the prairie.
In a revision over time, “Iron Horse” became a referral to another kind of rumbling steel that roars across the prairie—the two-wheeled kind.
One day, after riding it for several years, Rocco at Chopfather’s Motorcycles on Brighton Boulevard decided that his 1999 Custom Pro-Street was in need of a revision.
“I was getting tired of it,” Rocco explained. “It just decided it was time for a change. People thought I was crazy when I started taking it apart, but it worked out OK, I think.”
The revision, or rebuild, worked out more than OK. The former Pro Street is now an eye-catching, fire-breathing custom chopper style bike is now a one-of-a- kind ride that will be seen prowling the roadways around Denver.
Rocco started with the 1999 Atlas Precision frame, and mounted a 113-inch S & S power plant in it. He added an Ultima 6-speed tranny, which feeds an Ultima exposed 2-inch belt primary, which in turn sends all the power to the rear wheel via a heavy chain final drive.
The back end sits on a 17”, 200 series RC Comp wheel, putting plenty of rubber on the pavement.
“I don’t like those big ol’ fat tires,” Rocco said. “They look great, but I like to ride my bike. I don’t want to fight the bike when I’m out trying to ride. Keeping the rear tire a little thinner let’s the bike handle in any situation.”
Rocco married Ultima 58mm inverted 4”-over forks to the front end. Just for fun, there’s 42-degrees of rake, plus 5 degrees more in the trees, along with a 21-inch RC Comp wheel, giving the bike that old chopper look and feel.
Stopping this beast got attention, too. There’s plenty of stopping power—four 4-piston brakes (2 in front, 2 on the rear) from Performance Machine do the job.
Nearly everything else on the bike was fabricated or modified by Rocco and Chopfather’s. Both fenders and the fuel tank were cut up, reformed and customized to work for the this bike. The exhaust is a modified Bub muffler system. And the seat, Handlebars, dash…almost everything, was created by Chopfather’s. Even the paint, which is Pot o’ Gold over Candy Honey Gold with Candy Apple Red flames, is the work of Rocco. There is no other paint job like it, and it’s perfect for this pavement prowler.
The other thing that’s perfect is our girl Kara. Kara was raised in a railroad family, and has a thing for motorcycles, making her the perfect bridge between the two “Iron Horse” worlds.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Kara knows how to make railroad overalls and cap look great, and add a little more sparkle to an already great-looking bike at the same time. When this little hottie isn’t busy making motorcycles look good, Kara can occasionally be found slingin’ drinks, rustlin’ the bums and dodging the rawhiders at the Piper Inn on Parker Road, all while still looking good doing it.
