Custom Chopper Motorcycle Coloring Page with Free PDF

Chopper Motorcycle: History & Fun Facts

Stripping a Bike Down to Its Bones

The word chopper comes from chopping, since 1950s and 1960s builders in Southern California literally cut unwanted parts off factory motorcycles to make them lighter and faster. Fenders got trimmed down or removed entirely, extra bodywork disappeared, and heavy stock parts were swapped for the lightest pieces a builder could find, leaving only the frame, engine, wheels, and just enough else to ride.

That chopping process is exactly why a chopper looks so bare compared to a cruiser or touring bike, since every part left on the frame earned its place by being essential rather than decorative.

Raking Out the Front End

Builders angled the front forks out much further than a factory motorcycle ever shipped, a modification called raking, stretching the front wheel dramatically ahead of the rest of the bike. That long rake, clearly visible on this coloring page, gives a chopper its unmistakable stretched-out profile and a slower, more stable feel in a straight line, though it makes tight, low-speed turns harder to manage.

Some builders pushed the rake so far that the front wheel sat several feet ahead of the headlight, turning the motorcycle itself into a rolling piece of sculpture as much as a machine meant for daily riding.

The Peanut Tank and the Sissy Bar

A small peanut-shaped fuel tank, far smaller than a touring bike's tank, became a signature chopper feature because builders wanted the frame's lines visible rather than hidden under a bulky tank. That tiny tank trades fuel range for style, meaning a chopper rider stops for gas far more often than a cruiser rider ever would.

The tall bar rising behind the seat, called a sissy bar, first appeared so a passenger had something to lean against, though builders quickly stretched it taller and taller until it became more of a visual exclamation point than a practical backrest.

Easy Rider Puts Choppers on Screen

The 1969 film Easy Rider put a heavily raked chopper with a star-spangled fuel tank in front of a national audience, and the movie's success turned custom chopper building from a small regional scene into a nationwide obsession almost overnight. Builders across the country began copying and reinventing that stretched-out silhouette, each shop adding its own take on rake angle, tank shape, and handlebar height.

Ape-hanger handlebars, named for how a rider's arms hang up and out like an ape reaching for a branch, rose to shoulder height or higher on many chopper builds, forcing a very upright, arms-raised riding position unlike any other motorcycle style.

Choppers Versus Bobbers

A close cousin called the bobber takes the opposite approach, keeping a shorter, more compact frame and simply removing unnecessary parts rather than stretching the front end, while a true chopper is defined by that long raked-out fork. Custom bike shows still judge chopper builds heavily on rake angle and overall stance, proof that decades later the stretched-out silhouette remains the style's calling card.

A hardtail rear end, meaning no rear suspension at all, appears on many chopper builds since removing the shock absorbers keeps the frame lines clean and unbroken from the seat back to the rear axle.