As an editor- in- chief for Chopcult, I am bombarded with e-mails and requests to feature motorcycles and their owners stories. I received an e-mail from a Texas native named Jason Ochoa, which included a few pictures of his very clean custom 1976 XLCH Ironhead, and I knew this is a bike Chopcult enthusiasts would enjoy. This bike is an extension of Jason’s personality and although the theme of the bike may not settle well with some radicals, it is undeniable that the overall attention to detail and custom work are what sets some bikes apart from the crowd. 

With Born Free coming up shortly, I thought it would be cool to feature a few builders before the main event. I would like to introduce you to Scott "Big Scott" Stopnik Sr. who is building a custom 47 Knuckle for the Invited Builders show. Scott just graced the cover of Wrench Magazine for his stellar 67 FL. 

I had the chance to visit Phoenix for the week and called upon some of our members for a few features. Josh Storms was the first one to reach out to me with his custom FXR. The best thing about Chop Cult is the buddy system. If a guy can't handle all of the modifications, he reaches out within his circle and gets the issues taken care of. Josh turned to Brock of Dunlop Customs and Ken of Blue Collar Cycle Works to help him attain his vision.;

When I took over the position of editor in February, I made a list of people and bikes that I wanted to feature. I immediately called Josh Kurpius and asked him if he ever received press for his personal bike. To my delight he stated that he had many offers but I could have it for Chop Cult. The Locust is a steel work of art built by Josh, with the help of a few friends’ kind donations. The best part of this feature for me is having Josh shoot his own bike. We all know Josh for his photography, hell you can tell it’s his photos before you even look at the photo credit in any magazine out there. His layouts are clean, focus is on point and the subjects seem to jump off the page. 

For the better part of two years now, Jay and I have been discussing the best way to approach updating our frame table to significantly improve its accuracy, range of capabilities and reduce job set up time, calibration needs, etc. Basically, we were trying to decide what the best approach for US was to build a killer frame table. Something that would allow us to not only do frame modifications like hard-tails, but build complete one-off frames, fix bent or broken frames with accuracy and reliability, and who knows what else.;

On my recent trip to Daytona I ran into fellow 33er Eric Stein from NYC. I have to be honest I don't remember if it was at The Crooks Den, Main Street or the i-hop parking lot... road trips have a way of making things hazy if you know what I mean. The point is when I saw his ride I b-lined for it. I immediately aked him if he had heard of Chop Cult... because if he was not on 33 he should be. Sure enough with much excitement he blurted out "are you kidding I'm on there daily and many parts on this bike come from the CC classifieds or companies I found on there".

Like any great boxing match, there are many highs and lows for the main fighters. They may be dominating the first round but an unforeseen right hook in the 12th hits the opponent square in the face and changes the fights outcome. This same scenario has played out throughout the downsizing of the Show Class Magazines People’s Champ. I reached out to Tim, co-owner of Show Class, to give me the run down on how we got to this stage.

The Hippy Killer Hoedown was conceived as the pre-party for the Biltwell Bash and has turned into a very successful one day event. Kutty Noteboom, owner of Hippy Killer Garage, had a vision to create a family friendly event that provides a laid back vibe with custom cars and motorcycles, great music and vendors

Ted Stoddard, owner of S&S Auto Recon in Oceanside, was looking for a motorcycle to build and found a basket case on Craig's List. The bike parts came in 4 plastic bins with a frame. When he sorted through it all, all the parts were there for a complete bike, and it even had an extra motor.