A motivating force behind Dave Welch of Chopper City USA in Orange Park, Florida, is the notion that builders should not limit themselves to one style of bike when it comes to showcasing their vision of two-wheel art. Although he leans towards classic, uncluttered Harley conversions, Dave is just as comfortable building wild, ground-up customs as he is with anything that rolls his way. So when the opportunity arose to build a Pro-Street, Dave was excited to add one to his stable of bike styles offered at his shop.
The concept for the sleek ride before you came when Dave had some ideas for an in-house build but had not yet decided on what style would get the attention he craved. While strolling around Daytona Bike Week, Dave's eyes caught Rolling Thunder's SLX frame, which was being debuted at the rally, and he immediately ordered one up. Back at the shop with a bike style in mind and frame in hand, Dave got started with the SLX frame, which has no stretch combined with 35 degrees of rake to create a street-brawler-style bike. Dave then selected a set of V-Twin's adjustable shocks and a Pro-One frontend to suspend the Pro-Street.
Both swingarm and forks carry a set of Performance Machine's Hooligan wheels wrapped in Metzeler rubber, with a 21x120 front tire and a 300 tire for the 18x10.5-inch wheel at the rear. For clean looks and great stopping power, Dave added a Performance Machine Hooligan rotor and HHI caliper for the front brake system with a Eurocomponents drive-side brake at the rear. As the brawler-style bike was beginning to take shape into what Dave had imagined, he knew the bike needed some brawn to earn it street cred. A 113ci Revolution Performance motor sends enough horses to the six-speed Prowler transmission. Dave ordered one of Forcewinder's air cleaners and combined it with an S&S Super G carb to keep the motor well fed of air and fuel, then he secured Vance & Hines' Big Radius pipes to carry the spent gases away from the power plant.
Instead of subtle graphics to complement the eye-popping Cobalt Blue paint, Dave had artist Texano add knockout alien and tribal graphics to set this beast apart.
Instead of subtle graphics to complement the eye-popping Cobalt Blue paint, Dave had artis
Sanitary was paramount to the look of the Pro-Street, and it comes to Dave through the sheetmetal package, and, of course, the paintjob to get its sure-fire personality. Dave took Russ Wernimont Designs front and rear fenders and fit them so close to the tires that it almost looks like a continuation of the Metzeler's curves. Dave then modified one of Independent's Troubadour gas tanks to follow the curves of the backbone into a drop-seat setup. The completed metal was turned over to Sporka Custom Cycle Colors for a rich coating of House of Kolor Cobalt Blue paint. The bright blue could easily catch people's attention, but to make it stand out in a crowd, Texano added bio-mechanical airbrush work and some tribal graphics to the fenders, gas and oil tanks.
To complement the unique theme of the bike, Dave designed and installed a solo rider and floating, removable passenger seat, and then had the seat pans covered by Outlaw Custom Seats. "This seat setup was a unique concept of mine," Dave said. The bike was almost ready for the show circuit, but it needed slick controls to match the paintwork comprising the sheelmetal. A set of handlebars from LA Choppers were secured atop the frontend, and then were given a set of Joker Machine hand controls and the company's Bar End mirrors. After Dave added a Dakota Digital mini speedo and tach to the bars, he bolted on Accutronix foot controls and pegs to complete the control package.
Dave wanted the convenience of having a solo-driver seat setup, but added the floating removable passenger seat in case he wanted to have someone ride along.
Dave wanted the convenience of having a solo-driver seat setup, but added the floating rem
With the Pro-Street finished, Dave was not only pleased by how it turned out, but it has also been a big hit everywhere it goes. The blue beast had great handling to match its appearance. That meant Dave would have as much fun riding the bike as he did looking at it.