The Personal Blog Of
Boston Motorcycle Lawyer

Trade in Your Old Instrumentation
November 26, 2009

Jesse James, the legendary bike builder from West Coast Choppers, said that the only things that should go on a chopper are things to make it go fast and stop fast. That’s it.

If you look at most custom choppers, they all stick to the same format. It is pretty common to see choppers without side view mirrors, turn signals, break lights, rear shocks, or radiators. The idea of a chopper centers around minimalism made to look magnificent.

Achieving a chopper inspired look without paying Jesse James $100,000 or more is possible with your Harley or metric cruiser without having to compromise the safety of your bike.

Choppers do not have motorcycle instrumentation clusters and there are no laws currently that require motorcycles to have them. So, take them off. For bikes with the traditional ‘heads up’ style tachometer and speedometer, removing this cluster instantly cleans up the front end of your bike. While it’s not a chopper yet, your bike will certainly look better.

In lieu of having no instrumentation, there is another option. Several companies make very small motorcycle instrumentation modules that will still clean up your bike’s front end, and provide you with the information you need to ride your motorcycle safely for a few hundred dollars.