Left Coast, West Coast, SoCal, the Southland, the Entertainment Capital of the World, the Home of the Porn Industry-mention any moniker referring to Southern California to anyone in the United States, and odds are they know exactly what you're talking about. Always on the leading edge of music, entertainment, clothing, politics, and automotive trends (hot rodding had its roots in the garages and on the streets of Southern California), it's no wonder the area is home to some of the leading companies in practically every industry.
As one of the largest megalopolises in the nation, there are no definitive boundaries for the area that stretches from Santa Barbara in the north to San Diego in the south, with the Pacific Coast in between on the west side and the Mojave Desert and Colorado River to the east. But more importantly-in regard to this story, anyway-is an area located on the Pacific Coast, in the heart of SoCal. It's one of the smallest counties, area-wise, in the region, but its name packs just as much punch as Southern California itself. Due mostly to movies and TV, Orange County has become a pop icon, even receiving its share of nicknames: O.C., the O.C., the Orange Curtain, and the California Riviera.
With the SoCal freeway system resembling a loose spool of fishing line in the bottom of a tackle box, it seems as if no matter where you are in Orange County, anything you could ever want or need is within an hour's driving distance-without traffic, of course. Headquartered in the core of the hot rod and custom motorcycle industry, Eightball Rods and Choppers in Placentia, CA (the northeast corner of O.C.) has direct access to some of the top manufacturers in either industry. Take this custom rigid, for example. Except for the motor, transmission, and tires, if a component wasn't fabricated in-house at the Eightball facility, it came straight from the manufacturers, all of whom are no more than 30 miles from Eightball's backyard.
It all started when Logan, a friend of the Eightball shop and the owner of his own hot rod shop, Jet Performance in Long Beach, approached the Eightball crew about building a low, long, and fast bike with a 240 out back. Known for building traditional chopper-style bikes running nothing bigger than a 180, the guys just kind of stared at each other and said, "WTF-let's have some fun."
The basis for the project came all the way from Aces Chopper Works, which is located in Norco, about 28 miles east of Placentia. Aces built a no-nonsense, down-and-dirty single-downtube rigid frame with 4 inches of backbone stretch and 42 degrees of rake. To get that long and low look Logan wanted, Eightball hit up Huntington Beach-based American Suspension for one of its inverted black and chrome 5-inch-over frontends with 3-degree raked trees. One of Eightball's Placentia neighbors, Daniel Boone 2 (DB2), provided the 21-inch front and 18x8.5-inch rear wheel with matching rotors.