NY South Bay Chopper?

In this case, NY means Neil Young. Vilmino of LoserRules sent an email reminding me of this photo. It's been floating around the blogs for sometime. (this version is a little larger than most). Since I've recently been very focused on the South Bay Style, it seemed like a good time to bring it up.

The sissy bar swoop and Dick Allen style springer pretty much say it's origins or influence are from the south bay. I found a version of this photo with the only credit being, circa 1992 near Sturgis. I'm guessing it's not Neil's bike, but rather someone asked him to pose on it. Can anyone provide more information?

Mystery Bike Part 2, Funny Bike 1

Since I started with the third build of Bruce Parrish's bike, working backwards, here's the second version called Funny Bike 1. Just to keep things straight, the first build of this bike (to be posted soon) wasn't considered a Funny Bike.

This version shown with a long distance auxiliary tank was built around 1975. The oil tank foreshadows Bruce's move towards the use of more aluminum custom fabricated pieces. Although the later version (Funny Bike 2), is a more sophisticated and trick build, I really like the paint and look at this stage.


Bruce looking relaxed as he gets it on.


Much of the basic platform was carried over to Funny Bike 2.


Maybe I should have used this photo for my old running gag, "What Sort of Man Reads MC art?" Bruce circa 1975 with his girl friend (now wife), looking proud of his accomplishment.

All photos courtesy of Bruce Parrish

Dick Allen's Cobra, Shop and other Wild Things

All photos taken by and courtesy of Bruce Parrish

This shot of Dick and his Cobra Trike is probably familiar to many of you. It was published in Garage magazine and I posted it myself from that source awhile back. This time it's a scan from Bruce's original photo so it's without the magazine's gutter running down the image.


Dick and his pet leopard. It strikes me as very bizarre to see a wild cat on Artesia blvd. I asked Bruce about it and he replied, "Dick was really good with animals". The conversation switch gears, so I need to get back to him on that subject.


A good view of the trike. The bike next to it served as inspiration for Bruce's first chopper. More on that to come.


While Bruce's interest was in shooting the trike and this bike, I really like the fact we get a rare glimpse of Dick's shop. That's Dick to the right talking to someone who's cutoff. Those are the beginnings of more cobra trike frames leaning near the tires. If you look carefully you can also spot 7 Harley frames.


This blown version never got further than this mock up. The Cobra Trikes were a joint effort between Dick and Ed Roth. Dick welded up frames and Roth glassed up the bodies. The frames and the bodies were $250 each. Dick also made and sold the motor mounts. The bike next to it is the bike Joe Hurst referred to as Dick's Rat Fuck. It has the old purple Loco-Motion 1 tank and is the bike (with a different engine), in the previous post (Freeway Jamming), that eventually became White Bear.


It appears there was some type of parts counter in the shop. I'd love to get a glimpse of the bike inside.

I'm very glad that Bruce took and kept these photos. As far as I know, he's the only one who has shots of the shop, and once again, want to say thanks for sharing them. Now, if we could only go and walk inside them.

Funny Bike 2 Omission

I accidentally omitted this photo in the last post. It was in a separate email from Bruce and got overlooked. I did notice while setting up the last post that there was no right side shot of the bike, so I'm glad to have found it.

Bruce was smart. It's a good idea to build a bike and ride it before making it pretty. The black bike behind Bruce's belonged to Ben Stoner and the blue one, Gary French. Ben's seat was covered with denim. While the execution may be different, this photo illustrates some of the similarities among South Bay Bikes, and practically begs the question, did anyone with a Dick Allen springer not run a Sportster headlight? Photo: Corona, Ca Nov. 1977 Bruce Parrish

Mystery Bike Revealed Part 1 Funny Bike 2

This unidentified bike was recently featured in Irish Rich's post on Phil Ross. It looked familiar and had South Bay Style written all over it, so I made an inquiry to a good source and after a chain of emails it's owner and builder contacted me.

This photo from Rich's blog started the inquiry. The stance and style of the paint seemed all too familiar.

The man responsible for the bike is Bruce Parrish. If the name sounds familiar it's because he was mentioned in the Why White Bear? post as it's painter.

The following is the email I received from Bruce. I'll fill in what he later told me in the captions.

Chris, I am the mystery bike owner and builder. I still have it. That was the 3rd. build of the same frame over a 10-13 year period. I have pictures from most all the projects I have been involved with over the years. I was a painter for a lot of South Bay bikes. AKA Painter Bruce.

The running mock up. One reason the bike looked familiar, the handlebars were lent to Joe Hurst when White Bear was in the Trident's Show. See last August's Header. All photos courtesy of Bruce Parrish

I hung out, partied and road with Dick Allen and the like from the Redondo Beach area. For a few years my paint shop was in the back shop of Phil Ross's known as "Parrish Arts. " I later became a metal Fabricator and called my business "Parrish Parts", worked for several businesses for about 16 years.

This was the 3rd build of this bike and 2nd of what Bruce called the Funny Bike. Funny Bike?... it's because Bruce built it like one would build a Funny Car. Bruce fabricated both the gas and oil tanks plus all the trick goodies you can spot.

I have been back on my own since 1992 with my business now as Parrish & Sons Specialties. Do check it out www.parrishspecialties.com Thanks for your interest and feel free to contact me. Happy New Year, Bruce Parrish


All laid out and ready to go. Something tells me this guy is meticulous.


The frame was altered to Bruce's specs. (2" in the back bone and about 3" in the front legs), by Kevin Daily of Zap Fab. Kevin started calling this style of neck a "Brucie -Neck". The South Bay Swoop sissy bar is unique as it's a true two piece type and mounts through the top of the fender.


More of Bruce's fine and tidy work. Most of the work was done while he worked at Dan Woods shop. Yes that Dan Woods. Prior to this he shortly worked for Steve Davis and largely credits him for learning and developing his metal shaping skills.


Bruce spent about two years (1976-'77), on the bike and was finished in '78. The bike was ahead of it's time. Note the attention to detail on items like the fender bracket, clutch linkage, the shifter and ratchet . This kind of machine work with these types of materials was pretty much unheard of in those days.


The bike could be run minus the top sissy bar section. Bruce knocked the center out of a 15" Porsche rim and had Buchanan's dimple and drill it for spokes. It was then laced up to a Kosman hub. The fork is an 18" over Dick Allen springer.

Here's the left side again, but this time all dolled up. The engine is a 1950 with S&S flywheels and Sifton cam. The carburetor was first an SU but was later switch to a Branch dual throat Mikuni.

It's hard to believe that this bike was never featured in a magazine. The bike was almost sold and disassembled many years ago, but Bruce still has it. Hopefully one day he'll put it back together as Funny Bike 3.

Bruce definitely played a part in the South bay bike scene and I'm honored to shed some light his contributions. He has since sent me more photos, some of this bike in it's other guises.... so stay tuned folks.... and oh yeah, don't forget to check out his website.

The Hustler

.... and a little more Joe Hurst history.

This time from Choppers Magazine May 1969.

Roth liked nicknames and the bikes named for the features. Roth asked Joe if he had any nicknames, Joe said no.... then Ed asked, if he liked playing pool.... Joe said said yup.

The Hustler is pretty much the prototype of what would become the South Bay Style.

If I got it straight, this was Joe's second Harley and the Shovelhead was out of Dick Allen's chrome frame bike (Wheeler Dealer Chop. Mag. Oct.'68). Joe always laments, the funds from selling his complete Panhead only got him an engine and trans.


Joe's the Godfather of the swooping double braced sissy bar and Dick Allen springers. This fork was the first one Dick Allen made. Actually second, the very first was for a Triumph, but Joe jokes, that doesn't count! The first few Dick made had Harley spring perches and top trees, later versions were completely fabricated from scratch.

From the shadow of the sissy bar, I was able detect the bike next to Joe's was his friend Jim Andrew's Grapes of Wrath. It was featured in another issue.


The tank featured a stylized "13" as on his former Panhead. The seat maker's credit is an error, Phil Ross stitched it up. As Irish Rich pointed out, this front view of the forks was used for the ads in this issue and others.


Here's the cover of the issue it was in. Not Joe's bike, but I know you guys enjoy the Choppers Magazine stuff.

Prior to this feature, the Hustler had tall stacks and had won First Place in the Street Bike Class at the Trident's custom car and bike show. More on that later.

The Loose Goose Lives

I didn't make it to last week's Chopper Fest, but found this shot from the show on Bikernet.com

The bike is credited to Levi Louie and is called the Loose Goose. You might recognize it from an earlier post . Yes, that's Grant Peterson stalking behind it.

Dick Allen Flat Tracker

On the dirt in Indio, Ca. Photo courtesy of Joe Hurst

A Gaggel of Geese (species: Southbayneous Bluenis

For some reason a lot of Goosenecks are blue. Here's a couple of submissions that flew in recently.

Grant of FMA sent this one from an old (large format), Choppers Magazine. I've seen this bike on some blogs but not this great centerfold shot.

The two Geese below were sent in courtesy of Vilmino of LoserRules. If you haven't gone there, check it out. It's in Italian, but there's no need for an interpreter to enjoy the photos. They both are from Easyriders.




This one sports an Indian type girder, instead of the more typical Dick Allen style springer.


Goose Girl approved.

For many years an old gooseneck Sportster sat in a buddy's shop awaiting resurrection. The color?.... metal flake blue of course!

Doc Holiday's Witch... Too Late for Halloween

I wanted to post this for Halloween but got hung up on some other stuff.

Randy Smith painted the Witch on the tank. The text mentions that Randy is now making his finned valve covers.


Typical Choppers Magazine layout. The print quality wasn't the best and not one good overall shot of the bike, but you got to love it. Roth mistakenly says that the chrome front tubes of the frame were twisted. They were instead made from hex stock. In addition to the tubes and tank, the fender tip also features a dip of the shinny stuff.


Randy Smith is another famous South Bay builder. Here he is on his Hawg Wild panhead. The nearly identical stance of Doc's Witch is probably no coincidence. The similar length of springers and sissy bars, handlebars, bates style seats, 19" front wheels, tells me that Randy was a major influence. The Witch also had Randy's "Finned Dishpans" installed about a year later when the bike was redone. Since they were all South Bay bikers, Joe Hurst knew both Randy and Doc.


Roth shot some interesting angles. Robert Williams wife Susan, is said to be responsible for that lovely masthead.

Back around 1969-'70, I was lucky enough to see the Witch in the parking lot of what is now called the South Bay Galleria.

In the House....

Interior Decorating.... Nice Furniture... Preferred Parking...

Yet another gem from Mr.H.

Living the life. Besides capturing the flavor of the times, there's a few interesting objects against the wall. This was towards the end of Joe's ownership of the bike. A couple of noticeable changes, the collector is painted black and the thin seat is from Dick Allen's chrome frame bike. Dick didn't like to pad his seats.

Freeway Jamming

Another awesome photo courtesy of Joe Hurst.

Joe blasting down the freeway on the pre- White Bear rat. It would make a great painting.

Then Came Red Neck

Now, I don't want you to get the impression that most South Bay Bikes had goose-necks. It's just that after Rich's comment in the last post I figured why not post the scooter he was talking about.

Peace dude! No it isn't Jim Bronson, but rather the late Phil Ross, and yes Gardena is one of the south bay cities. This was the first of this type of goose-necked bikes I remember seeing.


This was the cover shot for Street Chopper May 1972. I know exactly where this photo was taken as I ride around this very corner every chance I get. You can see by Lynn's big smile in all the photos that indeed the ladies like long chops.


Check out the sissy bar and seat. Thanks to Joe Hurst, there's that South Bay Swoop again. When this bike was featured Phil had an auto upholstery shop. Joe told me he use to have Phil do all his seats and loved them. After Phil gave it up, Joe said, others just didn't compare. By the rounded down tubes, you can assume the frame was a swing arm with a hard tail added. The article doesn't give credit but, Joe also mentioned that Phil was also one of the guys who made a Dick Allen style springer.


The goose-neck bend looks lower and is gusseted slightly different than the bike in the previous post. The headlight bracket has a sharper bend and isn't quite as long so we now know there was two like this! The springer has a round rod under the springs (like Dick's and Sugar Bears's), and the bike in the former post has a rectangular bar like Fats. This one also has adjustable fittings at the bottom of the front legs like Sugar Bear's do.

The Street Chopper article has two more pages of black and white photos, yet not one photo shows the left side of the bike! What's up with that?

I'm sure most of you know that Phil Ross went on to make his Supermax belt drives.

I met Phil at the Smoke Out West II in Cottonwood AZ where he had just moved to. He had a copy of this Street Chopper on display at his booth so I just had to comment on it. You sure wouldn't have recognized him based on the cover photo. Not much later I read he had pass away.

All in all there really haven't been too many of these goose-neck bikes built, so at first I thought Rich might be right about it being the same bike. A second close look, revealed it to not be the case. Now I'll look for another one of these way-out headlight mounts.

Da Ladies Like'm Long....

....Chopper's, that is.

This one sports some typical South Bay features. A long Dick Allen/Fats/Sugar Bear Type Springer, 2 into one collector exhaust, extra sissy bar brace (South Bay Swoop), Cobra seat, and I'm thinking that's a 15' rear rim with a car radial tire. Also, Every goose neck of this type and from this period I've seen has been on a South Bay Bike. What's not typical is the too cool chrome Nazi helmet oil tank. My guess, it's a Fats built bike. Anyone know it's history?

Vintage Chopper Action, or Fun with Joe and Steve

I was blown away when Joe Hurst sent me these photos from 1968.


This was Joe's first Harley. While building it sometime around 1967-68, Joe met Dick Allen who rebuilt the heads. Joe said Dick just had a big smile when he first saw the completed bike.


Another view of Joe's Purple Panhead. Note the braced sissy bar. I call it the "South Bay Swoop". This style of sissy bar was to become a standard feature on most south bay choppers and I had always attributed it's design to Dick Allen, but Joe was actually the first to run one. The design on the tank was a stylized 13.


This and the following photos really blew me away. Joe's old friend Steve Drale is on the left. Steve's dad was once the mayor of Torrance, CA.


A film package was placed on the ground to serve as a starting mark to let the fun begin.


This photo is just too much! Everything about it is way cool. The look, the angle, the kids. To me, it rates as one of the best vintage chopper photos ever!.. and is likely my favorite wheelie photo of all time. Joe said his forks took a pounding from doing this.


Steve's slick Panhead. The neighborhood kids got a real treat that day.

Before & After

Here's a couple of pre-White Bear shots in it's silver phase before Joe went all out custom on it.



...and after he sold it.

Correction to the post below. It was Dominic Rutigliano not Bob Olsen who bought the bike. Dominic worked at EME. Joe 's built many versions of each bikes he 's owned and has been telling me so much information, it's hard to get it all right the first time.