{"id":4793,"date":"2015-11-09T17:34:49","date_gmt":"2015-11-09T17:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hotbike.local\/basic_content\/chopper-hard-nine-way\/"},"modified":"2022-01-02T17:37:50","modified_gmt":"2022-01-02T17:37:50","slug":"chopper-hard-nine-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/chopper-hard-nine-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Chopper: The Hard (Nine) Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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Hard Nine Choppers was founded by Danny Schneider in Bern, Switzerland. It\u2019s a funny story (well, not really) of how it all came to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos by Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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Why, you ask? Because if it weren\u2019t for Danny bailing off a motorcycle while 30 feet up in the air, Hard Nine Choppers would have never happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos by Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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See, an FMX dirt jump gone wrong in the year 2000 shattered Danny\u2019s ankle into 18 pieces and landed him in the hospital with a slew of major life-threatening complications for four months and put a rather abrupt end to his freestyle and outdoor motocross racing career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos by Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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With no clue as how to weld, fabricate, or even work on motorcycle motors, Danny began to chop up bikes and learn bike building the hard way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos: Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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And 14 short years later, this skinny-ass Swiss kid has earned international recognition, a boat-load of awards, and a solid reputation for customizing vintage bikes in his own very special way. This purple H-D Flatty is no different.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos: Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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I sat down with Danny while we both were in Italy for the Verona Motor Bike Expo and got some clue on what his newest bike is all about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos: Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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\u201cWell, the idea of building this kind of bike out of an old bike was in my head for a long time,\u201d Danny begins. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great evolution of a classic. I am also a huge fan of the lowrider \u2018Chicano-style\u2019 of bike building, so that is how I tried to mash up this bike build. I had the H-D WLC frame and engine sitting around in my shop, plus the two wheels, which I won in 2009 at the AMD World Championship of bike building. These wheels were only used in my garage once at a New Year\u2019s Eve party as necklaces to rap to the PlayStation SingStar game. Yes, I\u2019m 39 and not 13, but so what?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos: Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Hard (Nine) Way<\/p>\n
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\u201cLast year I won a $1,500 credit check for Custom Chrome parts at the Verona Motor Bike Expo with my Indian Build (Hot Bike, April 2013),\u201d Danny continues. \u201cSo instead of blowing this check on bagger parts to sell on eBay I got to thinking why not use new Custom Chrome parts to finish off the build of this bike? It was a challenge \u2019cause I\u2019m definitely not a fan of ordering parts when you have piles of old ones that could be used, but what the hell, huh?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Words and Photos: Jeff G. Holt<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Hard Nine Choppers was founded by Danny Schneider in Bern, Switzerland. It\u2019s a funny story (well, not really) of how it all came to be. Why, you ask? Because if it weren\u2019t for Danny bailing off a motorcycle while 30 feet up in the air, Hard Nine Choppers would have never happened. See, an FMX dirt jump gone wrong in the year 2000 shattered Danny\u2019s ankle into 18 pieces and landed him in the hospital with a slew of major life-threatening complications for four months and put a rather abrupt end to his freestyle and outdoor motocross racing career.<\/p>\n

With no clue as how to weld, fabricate, or even work on motorcycle motors, Danny began to chop up bikes and learn bike building the hard way. And 14 short years later, this skinny-ass Swiss kid has earned international recognition, a boat-load of awards, and a solid reputation for customizing vintage bikes in his own very special way. This purple H-D Flatty<\/a> is no different.<\/p>\n

I sat down with Danny while we both were in Italy for the Verona Motor Bike Expo and got some clue on what his newest bike is all about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the idea of building this kind of bike out of an old bike was in my head for a long time,\u201d Danny begins. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great evolution of a classic. I am also a huge fan of the lowrider \u2018Chicano-style\u2019 of bike building, so that is how I tried to mash up this bike build. I had the H-D WLC frame and engine sitting around in my shop, plus the two wheels, which I won in 2009 at the AMD World Championship of bike building. These wheels were only used in my garage once at a New Year\u2019s Eve party as necklaces to rap to the PlayStation SingStar game. Yes, I\u2019m 39 and not 13, but so what?<\/p>\n

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\u201cLast year I won a $1,500 credit check for Custom Chrome parts at the Verona Motor Bike Expo with my Indian Build (Hot Bike<\/em>, April 2013),\u201d Danny continues. \u201cSo instead of blowing this check on bagger parts to sell on eBay I got to thinking why not use new Custom Chrome parts to finish off the build of this bike? It was a challenge \u2019cause I\u2019m definitely not a fan of ordering parts when you have piles of old ones that could be used, but what the hell, huh?<\/p>\n