The best part of ChopCult.com is the community that stands behind it. Many lifelong friendships have been made through the forums and classifieds. ChopCult member Mitchell Hunter sent me a private message about a possible bike feature. I was pleasantly surprised because his request was not for self promotion; it was to nominate fellow ChopCult member Dan Townsend’s motorcycle. They’ve never personally crossed paths, but Mitchell stated Dan was the first member he met after signing up to the site in 2011. Mitchell has been following Dan’s many changes on “The Temptress” over the years, and thinks it’s one of the best Sportsters he’s ever seen.To witness two strangers come together because of a motorcycle and ChopCult is pretty neat.

Photos by Travis Heacock

Dan Townsend Denver, CO

CC Profile: AsianDan

Engine Specs: 883 ->1200 Sportster xlc, 1999

Frame : Stock xlc frame & rake with LedSled 2 inch stretch hardtail

Forks: 6 over with shaved lowers

Chassis mods: LedSled hardtail weld on 2 inch stretch, oil bag &battery box

Tire/wheel size&style: Oem 21" front with Kenda (soon to be AvonSpeedmaster) rear oem 16" solid mag with Avon MKII

Favorite thing about this bike: My jockey/foot clutch setup. It's so much fun!

Next mod will be: Ya know, for once, I'm very happy with the way it is...for now

Other mods,cool parts,etc: Custom sissybar, modified deadbeat customs taillights, fuse/wire box, king/queen seat with the taillight internal wiring, headlight mount, foot clutch & jockey shift all fab'd by Thadius the Blacksmith, narrow tank painted by CCmember Feaone -Neil Tompkins , Nissin street bike front master cylinder mod'd by me from info off of ChopCult, Engine engraving by me, OldStf adjustable bars, my cool old Kmart headlights I scored at a swapmeet, Mooneyes gourd air cleaner & derby cover, my upswept cocktail shakers

Building or riding story: I never really liked to have down time on the bike, even in the winter. I got into an accident last year and the bike was down all summer. It was a depressing summer. But I got to change things that I wanted done, because of that downtime. As I said before, I'm totally satisfied with the look of the bike as it is now. I wouldn't call myself a builder. Because I'm not. I'm a dreamer/ producer/director of a movie that I love watching over &over. That movie is my bike.

Thanks to: Thadius the Blacksmith, all my Denver friends, Travis Heacock photography, Hammer&Grind, Billy Murphy for wrapping the seat in no time, Neil "Feaone" Tompkins for giving me an awesome paint job, Brad Gregory for sending me a spare sprocket guard so quick after mine was damaged, Jimmy D for helping me with the pipes, Technical Tom for always giving me rides to the bike when picking it up or dropping it off, CC member Mitchell Hunter for nominating me for this Chopcult feature & to my Dad for getting me into bikes. RIP.

We just received this additional information from Dan. "The ironic thing is in a week I'm going to Louisiana for 2 weeks. I was gonna bring my bike to ride around & to meet Mitchell for the 1st time since he's in the area where I was raised. But my bike got knocked over 2 days ago at a Harley dealership along with 2 other bikes. Some dude was test riding a new hd trike and the right rear wheel hit our front wheels. My brake mc broke, foot peg broke, pipes got scratched, slightly bent too, My wheel is tweaked & my 6 overs are bent too. So I'm going to Louisiana without my bike. It'll be fixed hopefully before the end of June." We hope that Dan's bike is returned soon and he can enjoy the ride once again. Kindly follow Dan, Mitch, and Travis on Instagram. Thanks!