Originally published at TEKNIKKA.com
Chandler, AZ – With the weather getting cooler and snowbirds flocking to the southwest, motorcycle activity is picking up. On Wednesday night we decided to take a spin to downtown Chandler to see what the Harley crowd was up to on their bike night. Since it was the middle of the week and in the suburbs of all places, I didn’t expect to see but a handful of bikes. Unexpectedly, there was quite a crowd and a few nice rides.
Jesse Rooke's Maddie
The gathering is set up at a row of restaurants and bars just off of Arizona Avenue, the main street running through downtown Chandler. There were rows of Harleys, Victorys and choppers in all the parking slots up the sidewalks and pretty much anywhere there was solid ground to put out a kick stand. What was particularly cool to see was that there was some uncommon fare among the crowd. Against the curb in front of Santan Brewery and behind two rows of bikes was Jesse Rooke’s Maddie. His bikes have always been particularly interesting. The classic bicycle style gives this motorcycle a look that nobody else has done and his choice of running gear would certainly make the bike interesting to ride. All I have to say is “jockey shift” and “sprotor”. It’s enough to get your blood pumping and palms sweating.
Evolution Custom Cycles
Just down the street were two custom jobs, by Evolution Custom Cycles of Tempe, using Buells as donor bikes. Of particular interest to those standing around was the rear disc brake on their bob/chop. It was not mounted to the hub or doubling as the rear sprocket like the previously mentioned sprotor. This bike has an arrangement similar to a racing setup I’ve seen from the 1970′s. The old bike used a brake disc that runs co-axially with the front sprocket whereas this arrangement is slightly different in that the disc is shifted back about one foot on an idler. In this case, because the gear ratio on the disc and the engine sprockets are 1:1 (or appear to be), the benefits and drawbacks of this design are the same regardless of the exact position. This design allows you to get greater braking forces from smaller discs because the force is multiplied by the same ratio as the drive sprockets. On bikes with rear suspension it also helps to reduce unsprung mass. However, there is a fairly substantial drawback in that the rider loses any ability to apply the rear brake if the final drive chain breaks. The Evolution guys addressed this by adding a good sized front brake disc.
Chandler Bike Nights for this year will conclude the day before Thanksgiving but be sure to check back after the new year to see when everyone will be getting together again. We’ll be there because there are inevitably some sweet rides (plus it’s fun to watch the RUBs walk up and down the rows trying to find their brand new stock Electra Glide).
Chandler Bike Nights
Drag Racing
Neons
Buell Lightning Exhaust
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