Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera, has been mentioned in the lyrics of rappers and rock stars for decades and has been the hot vacation location for the international jetset for nearly a century. The historic town with the stunning blue sea serving as a backdrop also happens to be one hell of a place to hold a bike show. And having been going for years, a visitor named Richy wanted to get in on the action and join the two-wheeled talent show with a bike of his own. He started to notice that a host of the best bikes had all come out of the workshop of L&L Choppers in The Netherlands, and having spoken to the crew he just had to choose his style. A true mix of old and new, he selected to have the boys build him this brilliant Board Tracker and adorn it with a host of hand-turned brass and bronze.
Located in the small town of Opmeer, in North Holland, L&L Choppers is one of the country’s biggest custom outfits and has had their bikes featured on magazine covers around the globe. They specialise in American V-Twins and rarely shy away from the Harley-Davidson brand with what they do. They have an absolutely massive catalogue of parts in stock from all of the best suppliers in the world, as well as their own range of products and kit bikes at various stages of completion, ready to ship to the home builder. But what the boys really love to do is create one-off masterpieces for their clients who are happy to give them free rein.
Once Richy had given them the green light on a board tracker build, they took some measurements to ensure the bike would fit the buyer and then got stuck into crafting this brilliant bike. The frame like so much of the bike is fabricated in-house and is the company’s ‘drag’ style frame for board tracker builds. The design sits the rider down low and into the bike, rather than sitting up on the backbone with their other style. This gives a more relaxed and easy ride, perfect for cruising the show precinct and designed to give that long, low and lean appearance.
The side on profile of the chassis has a bit of a pro street look to it, but the single down tube and rigid rear will only accept very narrow tyres, as is the board track way. Once the frame had the last weld laid, it was onto the bench so that a wheel package could be chosen. Being a bike built to show, something extreme was always going to be the way and nothing catches the eye like absolutely massive 23-inch rims. Built on a set of custom hubs, the red rims are laced with stainless spokes and then a set of Vee Rubber tyres are chosen to wrap them all up.
The front springer is built in-house and is simply a work of art, with the leaf springs truly matching the vintage style. But to set themselves an even tougher task, once the unit was built, the guys decided to craft the spring itself from a brass-bronze combination to match the detail pieces used across the bike. To prove the functionality and thought that has gone into the combination, the bearings are greaseable via bras nipples, so that nothing has to be disassembled for maintenance. To continue with the extreme custom but streetable approach, the bike uses disc brakes front and rear, with a Brembo combo for the front and HD products out back.
That theme of modern tech and old-school charm extends to the drive train and rather than using an unreliable vintage engine, the heart of the power package is a proven 883 Evo motor. This is backed by a five-speed box through a closed primary drive, but the kick starter takes you back in time and features a handmade brass pedal.
More of the theme is made to work with a set of L&L’s own Panhead-style covers and to hide the oil filter at the front of the motor, the boys have made it look like an old-school generator. A handmade air-cleaner hides a stock intake but the exhaust makes a hell of a bark via the twin high pipes with machined end caps.
The little tricks to fool the eyes continue and the mid-controls allow the rider to shift in a conventional manner, or reach up and grab the hand-formed brass shifter, for a taste of the old-school style of riding. The L&L BT bars feature a host of goodies, from the leather-wrapped grips to match the foot shift, a digital speedo, as well as a set of brass finished levers and top for the master cylinder.
The C Bobber headlight is a popular addition for any of the bikes trying to capture the period appearance and it wouldn’t be a vintage L&L custom build without a Karin van Bentveld leather saddle on custom springs.
With all of the heavy lifting done, the bike could be stripped down and that beautiful fuel tank was hand shaped to really capture the style and features some stunning cutouts to clear the rocker covers of the taller modern motor. The filler cap, with its intricate brass and spun alloy features is simply a work of art and allows the showgoer yet another feature to drool over.
Finally the paint with its green-grey vintage vibe and brass-based highlights and touches of red, perfectly helps to place the bike in board track heyday. For Richy it’s time to build another beautiful bike, so if this board gets you going in all the right places, you can place a bid over at online auction house Collecting Cars.
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