Tuesday, June 27, 2006

After 4 years, it's finally DONE



      
From these humble beginnings To the chopper of my dreams



It's done. It's finally done. After four years of modding as the money became availible, I can finally look at my chopper and say it is finished. It feels like a very big part of my life has finally come to a close. The CX chopper is done, and there is nothing more to do except ride it. That is truly a great feeling!

As things turned out, this is not the bike I originally saw in my mind's eye. That image evolved and changed as I learned what works and what doesn't, and I am extremely happy with what I ultimately came up with. My blood, sweat, tears, and a whole lot of time and money have gone into making this result. The bike is complete. Every little detail is covered, and the whole bike fits together smoothly and it *LOOKS* finished.

While I am thrilled that the chopper is done, I also feel somewhat empty. I'm no longer working on a big project, no longer building something. In that respect, the chopper is not as much fun as it used to be when I was still building it. Also.... I'm sad I painted the bike. Yeah, it looks great... but I find myself riding it LESS because it looks so pretty. I worry about the paint and where I park it now, where I had no such thoughts when it was still flat black. But then, it's also really nice to park this bike at the local watering hole, and watch the crowds completely ignore the $30,000 cookie-cutter bikes and flock around my strange machine.

Overall I'm thrilled with the bike I've created, and except for a really sore ass, I really enjoy riding the bike too. This brings to a close my CX500 Chopper Project. I hope you all enjoyed reading my progress.