BITCHSLAPPED!

A little attitude can be a good thing.

One look at Dave Weaver’s custom-built Shovelhead will tell you that. When Dave sat down with Coop from Suicide Cycles in Manchester, Maryland, to design this little scooter, it quickly became apparent it was going to make a statement. When the bike started coming together, the attitude was obvious, and coop christened the old school bobber “Bitchslap.” We’re not sure why, but this root beer brown beauty jump up and get your attention.

“I wanted a bike that kept all the elements of a classic chopper or bobber,” Dave said. “But I wanted to incorporate all the new technology I could. This is the end result. It’s a lot of fun to ride, and I really like it.”

We like it, too.

This little beauty starts with a Paughco frame, modified by Coop to work with the bigger new 93-inch Shovelhead power plant. A Jim’s five-speed tranny works with an open three-inch primary to put a ton of power on the 16-inch 140-rear tire via chain drive. You have to be in shape to ride it, too, because she’s a kick only starter.

“It’s fast,” Dave said. “No doubt about that. When I get on it, this is a little rocket.”
Because of all that power and speed, Dave broke with the old school philosophy of no front brake.

“We thought about no brake on the front,” the Bailey resident said, “but I ride this bike. I want to be able to stop or slow down if I need to, so we put a Performance Machine brake on the front, and kept a sprotor on the rear.”

Most of the rest of the bike is hand fabricated. The peanut fuel tank, oil bag, forward controls, grips, left-side suicide shift, the kicker arm…almost everything but the springer front end.

Of course, to see and appreciate all the custom fabrication, you have to get past the dazzling paint job by Cliff & Skip in Pennsylvania. It’s a rich root beer brown with heavy Gold leaf flake throughout. This scooter absolutely shimmers in the sunlight. Add to it the gold detail elements, and the brass highlight trim—gas cap, brake lines, bolt covers and the like, and this looker will snap your head around for a second and third look—kinda like getting bitchslapped.

With such a pretty bike full of in your face attitude, we figured we had to find the right girl to decorate it. It didn’t take too long, cause as soon as we found Ellior we knew we had a perfect match. The two really look good together. Feisty little Ellior even threatened to take off for a joy ride until she saw the rain and decided she didn’t want to ruin her dress.

When she’s not out for a ride, or other wise making motorcycles look better, Ellior can be found slinging cocktails and attitude at Cactus Jacks in Evergreen. Be careful if you ogle her though, you might get bitchslapped.

See more of Ellior and Bitchslap at www.scooternews.net.