The Gun Counter

I had never heard of them before this article.

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/24/conf ... ke-ours%2F

I've always thought the Hellcat was cool in a neo-retro kinda way...

Their newer designs? Too space-age for me.

A Good Buy?

Have you seen their prices?? $$$$$$

Cool? absofrickenlutely! A good buy? Not by a long shot unless used. The whole "chopper" craze of the last few years is dead and buried. Shops sprung up all over the country trying to be the next Jesse James/OCC/Billy Lane and died a slow painful death. All of the people who ate up $50k+ bikes, wanting to be part of a culture they never fit into, now get bent over and taken to town DRY because they need money. Much like the the idiots who thought flipping houses was easy, they now suddenly have an investment worth <1/2 what they paid.
Want a cool bike for a screaming deal? Find a stone stock EVO dyna and modify it yourself. Paugho frame and DNA springer will set you back less than the rims on a Confederate. Want something modern and affordable? Pick up a 5 speed 883(convert to a six) and start throwing take-off/wreck Buell parts on it. Inverted forks/1200 jugs and heads/brakes/carb, or just go with a Zippers Performance 99" stroker.
Confederates "trick" front end goes bad, where can you get it fixed? Unless you've ridden it, how do you know it handles well for you, or is even comfortable for more than an hour ride around town?The beauty of a REAL chopper is simplicity and being able to easily find parts to fix it yourself. And more importantly making it yours, comfortable, reliable, and fun to ride into the ground. Once you kill it just start over again.

Yeah, I've since seen their prices. I bought my first freakin' HOUSE for 92K. No way I'd ever spend that on a cycle.

Some years ago I was involved in a custom motorcycle project, a really radical design - much wilder than the Confederate ( based on a sports\racing style though )

The guy who developed it was a friend of mine, but an asshole. He was my friend but I actually didn't like him all that much ( I can't really explain that )

My role was to do the electronics and wiring loom.

He got approached by a major motorcycle clothing manufacturer ( one of the biggest names in Europe ) who thought it might be cool if they branched out into having their own 'boutique' motorcycle. They offered to build a factory to produce his design, give him a position as technical CEO and kick him back a royalty for every bike they sold.

He decided the deal wasn't sweet enough and would go it alone.

He sold exactly one bike, and he didn't make a profit on that. What an idiot.

Anyway, I'm with IrateIrish when it comes to choppers. Although as I was writing this my missis looked over my shoulder and said " YOU ARE NOT HAVING ANOTHER BIKE "