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Are we ready for an electric chopper?

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
Are electric bikes the future? We’re not sure—but with EU regulations getting progressively more restrictive, it’s not completely unfathomable.

If that day ever comes, put us down for one of these. Yes, you’re looking at an electric chopper—and a damn pretty one at that.

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
It’s the brainchild of electrical engineer Bruno Forcella, who works under the alias of Sine Cycles. He actually built the bike over a year ago, but it’s the first we’ve heard of it. And it’s so intriguing, that we had to share.

Why an electric chopper? Simple: Bruno wanted to build something out of the ordinary, but couldn’t figure out quite how. Then it hit him.

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
“An electric drivetrain in an open frame style chopper,” he says, pointing out the main components: the heat sink, the battery housing and “a good looking, highly efficient electric motor.”

Bruno started by stripping a second hand Cleveland Cyclewerks Heist down to a rolling chassis. He then de-tabbed it, and added new mounts to hold the electric drivetrain.

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
The drivetrain itself is from Zero Motorcycles. Zero don’t normally sell their proprietary parts—only complete bikes—but somehow Bruno convinced them.

That means his little hardtail is now good for 57Nm of torque, with a clutchless direct drive sending power straight to the back wheel. The range is only about 55km, and the top speed is about 120km/h.

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
Then of course there’s Zero’s app: it syncs via Bluetooth, and feeds the bike’s stats to the user, allowing them to programme their own riding modes.

Bruno wedged the new mill into the frame, refinishing everything in black and polishing the cooling fins to add some contrast. The layout is far less cluttered than a traditional engine, adding a touch of minimalism.

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
The rest of the bike’s been built up with more conventional chopper parts. There’s a Rich Phillips seat, sitting on Lowbrow Customs springs. And the rear fender is a modded Led Sled Customs item, with a small LED tail light tucked into it.

Bruno fabricated the spring mounts, fender struts and license plate holder himself. He also built a neat little dash, to hold a digital Motogadget speedo and warning lights. The bars are from LSL, capped off with Motogadget switches and modified Louis grips.

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
The final piece of the puzzle is the Cole Foster tank. Obviously it holds no fuel; Bruno’s modified it to house the electronic components used by the Zero engine.

Since he’s based in Switzerland—where vehicle laws are strict—the Sine Cycles chopper isn’t street legal yet. So you could say Bruno doesn’t get nearly as much riding time as he’d like…

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
He’s taken it to a couple of shows though. Apparently some guys love it—but others only love it until they find out it’s electric.

“One guy told me that the way I customized the bike was simply great,” says Bruno, “but years ahead of its time, and that most people weren’t ready for this. I took this as a compliment.”

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
He’s certainly stirred interest, with requests coming in from all sides—including enquiries from dealers. And his next bike is already in the works…

“Feedback on the design was positive all over. So I’m not planning drastic changes,” he tells us. “But the bike definitely needs more range.”

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
So what’s it like owning an electric chopper?

“There’s only very little maintenance needed, no more changing oil or filters, no more replacing sparkplugs or timing belts and so on.”

“And the instant torque of an electric drivetrain is just awesome. If you ever get a chance for an electric ride, go for it!”

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles
Was that an offer, Bruno? I think it’s time we booked our tickets to Switzerland.

Sine CyclesFacebook | Instagram | Images by Da Guru Photography

Watt The—: An Electric chopper by Sine Cycles

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Feelin’ Funny with Cleveland CycleWerks

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
The 1970s was the golden era of gasoline. And the fumes were strongest on the drag strip, where Funny Cars ruled supreme.

Names like “Jungle Jim” Liberman and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme are the stuff of legend. And word of those legends has travelled to unlikely places—such as the back streets of Yogyakarta, the Indonesian city famous for its temples and Javanese culture. Which is where this remarkable bike was built.

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
The story of ‘Flying Rooster’ starts with Scott Colosimo of Cleveland CycleWerks. From his Ohio base, Scott designs and sells low-cost, stylish bikes with a strong custom or retro vibe.

So when it came to launch the CCW brand in Southeast Asia, Scott chose Yogyakarta’s popular Kustomfest show. He gave bikes to ten of Indonesia’s best builders, and flew out Roland Sands to help with the judging.

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
Flying Rooster took third place, but for us it’s the standout from the competition entries. It’s a genre-busting, radical effort from local builder Rizqi Pratama of Lemb Inc, based on CCW’s 250cc Heist model.

“The builders were all given the same budget with a tight one-month timeframe,” says Scott. “And every bike had to be ridden to Kustomfest to be eligible for judging.”

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
“Rizqi is an artist and craftsman. Out of necessity, he ‘does it all.’ He’s one of those guys that can draw, design, weld, shape foam, lay fiberglass, pull molds, paint, stripe and dry brush.”

For his benchmark, Rizqi chose American drag cars. ‘Flying Rooster’ even has a wacky name to match: the hinged bodywork looks like a rooster in flight, with a long neck and wings folded down behind the engine. When the quick-release fiberglass body is propped up, all the mechanical components are accessible.

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
There’s so much custom work on the bike, it’s hard to know where to start.

The entire motor was torn down, repainted, polished and detailed to match the theme of the bike. The secondary air injection is now housed inside a hand-hammered enclosure and the carburetor has been totally reworked, to eke out every bit of performance from the air-cooled single.

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
A new rear-wheel-and-drum-brake combo adds to the retro feel, along with the turned and knurled pegs of the custom rearsets. Even the kickstand and gear shift linkages are hand fabricated, and the drive gearing has been changed from stock.

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
Rizqi has narrowed the front end, and installed new triple trees. The forks are custom too, and everything from the headlight shroud to the hubs has been chromed.

The angular exhaust system is hand-bent, and the inside has been painted to match the bodywork color.

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.
The star of the show is the extraordinary glasswork, though. Rizqi added hard foam to the stock Heist and hand-shaped it before laying a fiberglass mold on top. The seat hides a new gas tank, lifted from a scooter.

The entire unit is structural and designed to take the rider’s weight, with aluminum bracing and fire-resistant heat shielding underneath. It’s like a slammed Triumph X75 Hurricane with the volume turned up to 11.

Flying Rooster probably won’t run a quarter mile in five seconds. But in creativity stakes, it’s miles ahead of most customs. We have a funny feeling we’ll be hearing more about Mr Pratama in the months to come.

Cleveland CycleWerks website | Facebook page | Rizqi Pratama on Instagram

The incredible Cleveland Cyclewerks 'Flying Rooster,' a one-off custom tribute to the Funny Car drag racers of the 1970s.