By Chopper Bob
President Hickory No. Carolina
Black Sheep HDFC
I have been riding motorcycles for over 45 years and have been building custom choppers for the past 25. I just love the excitement that comes with owning them! In 2002 my job brought me to SoCal from New England and I looked forward to purchasing and riding another chopper year round enjoying the sunny California weather. My plan was to seek out all the local biker hot spots and make the scene.
But God had another plan for me and I soon found myself at Greg Laurie’s Church Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA. I really was at a low spot in my life having been recently divorced, had sold my alarm company and house and basically ran from everything I was familiar with on the east coast. While at Harvest, Pastor Greg did one of his usual altar calls and I found myself responding with another 50 people. Little did I know that my life was about to change drastically and all for the good!
I met Arlene and we began to date God’s way. All along I still longed for another custom chopper and as I constantly looked, and drooled and test rode them, all I knew was that, it would be an expensive ordeal to get back on one (prices were running about $30K). So as I neared the purchase and at the same time my church announced that it planned to start a multi million-dollar building expansion campaign, and asked us all to prayerfully consider donating over the next three years. My heart sunk as I thought to myself “There goes the chopper for another three years!”
So during that time God worked on me. I grew as a new Christian and I also continued to look at bikes preparing for the future when I would be able to purchase my dream chopper. After our financial commitment (and God’s test) was completed, I immediately went looking to finally buy my dream chopper. God led me directly to the 2005 American Iron Horse Texas Chopper at LifeStyle Cycles featured in this article, which in 2010 had only 1800 miles on it! It was like brand-new!
Instead of originally and selfishly spending $30K for it, and only after learning to put God first, God opened the door for me to buy the chopper for half the price! God had won and also blessed me to win too! Arlene and I have logged over 30 thousand miles on our Chopper Ministry Tool. The bike gets people to first look and then our Black Sheep patch with “Jesus Is Lord” begins to do the rest towards getting people at every stoplight to think about the Lord and their eternity…
I am so blessed to be riding for the Lord and to be a part of the Black Sheep family!
Thanks be to God! “Choppers Forever!”
SPECS
Make: 2005 American Ironhorse
Model: “Texas Chopper”
Frame: Daytec Stealth Softail
Paint: Factory Custom Cherry Red Tribal
Speedo/Tach: Dakota Digital
Tank: 3.5 Gallon Stretched
Carburetor: S&S Super G
Engine: S&S 111 ci Polished Super Sidewinder / 1820 cc
Primary: Baker Polished 2.4” Open Synchronous Belt Drive
Transmission: Baker Polished 6 Speed Right Side Drive
Tire/Wheel: Metzeler Front 90/90-21 / 21” x 2.15”, Rear 280/35VR-18 / 18” x 10.5”
Brakes: Front Dual Disc, Rear Performance Machine Single Disc
Sissy Bar/Rack: Custom Fabricated