Art of the Chopper Opens at Clinton Library
Daily Direct ships motorcycles to the exhibit
Smooth curves, shining metal, gleaming paint. There's a lot to love about pretty much any custom cycle. But one traveling exhibit has taken the best chopper design and elevated it to the level of fine art. Recently opened at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, a traveling custom cycle exhibit features 30 handcrafted motorcycles from the top custom bike builders in the U.S. and Canada along with photos of their creators, such as Billy Lane, Paul Yaffe and the late great Indian Larry.
The show was the brainchild of noted photographer Tom Zimberoff. His bestselling book, Art of the Chopper elevates a passion for motorcycles to high art. Each bike is designed by a noted artist, and may have taken up to a year to design, fabricate parts and build, and could cost up to $275,000.
Zimberoff believes these bikes are the cutting edge of design, worthy of art. He compares them to high fashion, where the people at the top of the field drive the designs that trickle down to set the trends for the entire industry.
“We wouldn’t be using HaulBikes if we weren’t absolutely sure they’d get there unscathed.”
- Tom Zimberoff, photographer and author of Art of the Chopper
All the motorcycles are privately owned, and are displayed with black-and-white photographs of the artists who designed them. Getting such a valuable collection from multiple private collections to Arkansas was a logistical feat.
Milwaukee's own Daily Direct-HaulBikes had the privilege of being trusted to transport the bikes. Individual bikes were first shipped to Milwaukee. Then the entire collection was carefully loaded into one private custom tractor trailer to make its way to Arkansas.
Having a company that you trust to handle a multi-million dollar shipment was a big piece of the success of an exhibit like this, according to Daily Direct-Haul Bikes co-owner Ken Durik. "I think it helps that all of our drivers are also motorcycle riders. They appreciate the craftsmanship and value, and are ready to baby every bike."
Art of the Chopper at the Clinton Presidential Library runs through February 8, 2009.
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"I just want you to all know what a wonderful
experience we have had with your company to date ... We will be
shipping our 4 bikes again with your company and
frankly we can't wait. We have been talking your
company up all over Sturgis, SD and Scottsdale
Arizona."
-- Bill
and Paul Scardina
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