Ozzy Thunder Pro-Street Chopper

I STARTED to build my bike five years ago from a vision I had in my head—a Pro-street chopper, built to look tough and go hard. Nothing too shiny or flashy, but with looks and grunt. Once the frame was built, I started on the tank design and came up with the curved shape you see on the bike today. The fabrication of the tank was done by cutting out the shape and curving the parts over my knee until I was happy with the shape. The guards were hand-rolled and cut to the desired shape.

Originally, the colour was to be a candy apple red with black, but due to a marriage collapse, the bike got put on hold for two years and ended up in storage collecting dust. Once I was re-established in my own place, I had the bike transported to my home, and to my horror, found that the frame had been damaged in transit and would need some re-welding to restore. At this point the bike had already been painted in the candy apple red and I was left with no choice but to have the paint stripped to repair the frame.

The bike was again put on hold as my heart was not in it to continue. It was at this time a special lady stepped into my life and gave me the kick-in-the-arse I needed to drive me back into the project. We decided it needed a new colour, and after much deliberation, the blue metal-flake with white pearl stripe was chosen.

I built the bike with a four-inch-over front-end but ended up going for a six-inch-over to give the bike a level stance once all the remaining parts were fitted. The bike is 2800 mm long with a seat height of 450 mm, giving it a long, low look.

The frame was built to keep the oil tank as far from the engine as I could, to keep the oil cooler; and a custom hand-made exhaust was heat-wrapped to help as well.

I have to say that Troy from Pine Rivers Electroplating went out of his way to chrome parts for the bike and often at very short notice.

The heart of the bike is an Ultima 127 cubic inch V-twin, fed through a 38 mm side-feed Mikuni carby with a swift kick from a two-pound nitrous system designed and built by me. I built the exhaust from two-and-a-half inch pipes from Fat Pipes to look like a drag bike exhaust. They were built in place and TIG welded and chromed. The baffles are also from Fat Pipes.

Power from the motor is delivered to a RevTech five-speed box by a three-and-a-half inch open primary BDL belt drive and a seven-plate Scorpion clutch, then from the box to the 18 x 10, radial-laced 100 spoke rear wheel by heavy duty chain to help unleash the power to the ground.

The seat was custom built and covered white to follow the stripe on the bike. The tool bag and some small parts are from Biker Life in Maroochydore; and some parts from Johno’s Choppers.

The bars are Burleigh Bars 10-inch pull-back drag-bars, one-and-a-quarter inch thick. The digital gauge is a Dakota digital; and the mirrors, grips and forward controls are from Arlen Ness. Blinkers are Custom Chrome and all braided lines and fittings are from Speed Pro.

The fuel cap was hand-made from stainless steel with a fuel breather to keep the pressure inside the tank under control. Oil tank is also Custom Chrome and modified to fit my frame. All the brackets used on the bike are hand-made and chromed.

The overall finish of the bike is just what I was after! Apart from the killer looks, it makes more noise than a Van Hallen concert and blows flames under severe acceleration.

The bike was entered in its first show at the Odin’s Warriors MC Bike Show where it took out two trophies, one for Best Performance and one for Unrivalled Custom Chopper along with a cash prize. I was stoked to see how much attention the bike received from the public and could not have been happier when Ozbike offered to do a feature shoot for the mag. That was the cherry on top!

I would like to thank some people who in large and small ways helped this project come to life. Thanks to Custom FX in Underwood, Johno’s Choppers, Ross for machine work, and my partner Tish for all her support and understanding. Special thanks to Picko and the boys from SC Choppers for all their help and advice.

I would like to dedicate this bike to my Dad who passed away shortly before the project was completed; a proud Australian! 

When it came time to decide on a back drop for the photo shoot, I suggested the Ettamogah Hotel. The Ozbike crew knew we were on a winner. It doesn’t get much more Aussie than that! We love football, meat pies, kangaroos and Aussie built bikes.

Ozzy Thunder is for all the guys who have a dream about building a custom chopper—you don’t have to own all the big machines or have a bucket load of cash, just the will to do as much as you can yourself. 

Pics by Danny 666 Marsh; words by Petrol & Tish