As times change and technology improves, styles and trends also change. But as history shows, trends and styling are cyclical and true art never goes out of style. One prime example is Sean Sweeney's 1952 BSA A10 chopper known as "the Beast." Sean has been riding bikes since he was 14 years old. "When I was a kid in the 70's I saw some bad-ass wild choppers and I always wanted one, " says Sweeney. Already owning a pretty cool 1992 Harley with 15" apes, solo seat and all the unnecessary bullshit stripped off (like chain-guard and turn signals) Sweeney set out to really build some­thing special. "/ always loved Brit bikes. They have a personality unlike American or Jap bikes and the fact that they're getting harder to come by made me want to get one for my chopper creation," says Sweeney. Seeing kick-ass Brit chops in THE HORSE inspired Sweeney.

Sweeney started his project in April 1997 after hearing about an old BSA chopper sitting in a garage in Leucadia, CA. Sweeney bought the Beezer for $1000.00 not knowing what condition the motor was in; he only knew it had compression and wasn't frozen. Sweeney originally intended to ride it before tearing it down but, after thinking about the bike sitting for 25 years, Sweeney decide to tear into it. "/ had the valves, guides and seats replaced by RPM Cycles in San Diego ," says Sweeney. Feeling like a gorilla on a tricycle, Sweeney had Motorcycle Dynamics Racing (MDR) in Escondido, CA stretch the frame 12 inches and lower it 3 inches: "/ want­ed a flat chop, " he said. MDR did a great job on the frame. The bike now measures 9'5" from end to end. Sweeney scored an old school twist­ed narrow springer, a front spool hub, 6 inch risers and righteous Z-bars

from the old parts room at Kennedy's Cycles in Oceanside , CA using cred­it he had from selling them his Heritage saddlebags and windshield.

With the help of good friend Hugh Williams, Sweeney made rock­ers for the springer with oil tight bushings. The steerer rod had to be cut down to fit in the BSA's plunger frame. Mark Cohen, of Custom Cycle Creations, laced the spool hub to the original rim using Buchanan stainless steel spokes. Who needs stopping power when you have the ultra-clean look of a spool hub on a long springer? Adding a mir­ror mount and headlight mount onto the springer, Sweeney installed a used HD fog lamp from his Heritage for the headlight and scored a billet Aeromachi mirror for eighteen-bucks at a show.

To get the sheet metal right Sweeney and Hugh Williams fabri­cated an oil tank that went with the lines of the extended frame. A trailer fender given to Sweeney by Mark Cohen worked perfectly after adding a cross bar to the frame with hidden mounts. There is a hidden storage compartment in the oil tank (under the seat). The gas tank was scored from friend Mark Romano in Plymouth , MA . "It could be an old Santee -who knows?" said Sweeney. Missing a cap, Sweeney used an HD oil cap and drilled a breather hole in the top, added a spacer and covered it with the BSA badge. Going for class and subtlety, Sweeney had Hog Heaven of El Cajon , CA mix a custom candy brandy wine and applied it to the sheetmetal.

Sweeney and Hugh Williams fabricated the forward controls using 1/2 inch rod and 5/16 inch pipe. Spacers were made on Hugh Williams' lathe out of polypropylene. Sweeney originally was going to have the left side control the rear drum brake and the right side control the shifter, but changed his mind when he switched to jockey-shift. "After see­ing pictures of Paul Cox's jockey in THE HORSE, I knew I had to have a suicide Jockey on the beast." Sweeney moved to McAllen , Texas where he met Johnny Gil of Johnny's Custom Shop. "Johnny is amazing when it comes to fabrication." Johnny Gil turned down the bearing cup for the jockey axle and welded it to the frame.

Johnny Gil and Sweeney brain stormed and came up with a totally new idea: a disc brake pressed over the drum in between the chain and the spokes. “This enabled us to run a flexible hose up to a master cylin­der on the bars and eliminated the need for the use of both feet to stop the bike." (The left foot control now operated the clutch.) Sweeney cut the mounting plate from billet alu­minum and Johnny Gil milled out the holes. A PM front caliper was the only thing that would squeeze between the rim and the chain. When asked about the stopping power, Sweeney claims that it is at least as good as the old drum brake. Johnny Gil machined aluminum end caps for the forward controls with countersunk stainless Alien bolts.

The exhaust encompassed the original pipes with scrap elbows welded on and 2 fi-inch side-cut slip-ons welded to the ends. The new one-piece pipes were ground, sand­ed and sent to Jet-Hot Coatings for ceramic coating. The hidden framemounts help the pipes flow smoothly. It was decided that 3/8-inch steel plate would be added to the lower frame rails for strength and looks. Sweeney used a torch to cut a skull into the plate. A chain tensioner was needed. Fabricated mounts held a skateboard wheel and adjustment for tension is made with stainless screws at the dropouts of the frame.

Sweeney and Johnny Gil cut, bent and welded the spider web and seat mounts to the frame. A solo seat was placed over the web. The web was made so that access to the oil filler hole wasn't a problem. The frame was drilled and tapped and chrome skulls were used for fork stops. Sweeney had a unique idea for a shifter arm: "Since I had heard about phantom shifts with the weight of jockey arms and knobs hitting bumps, I contacted Ted Wojcik a custom bicycle builder in NH. Wojcik sold me a piece of ultra-light, ultra-strong cromemoly. I cut the tube and bent it to my specs and re-welded it. I also welded a bolt to the

top for the knob and the spline to the bottom." A trip to the chromer and the rod looks killer. The shifter knob is a secret not told by Sweeney. It is black glass with a silver skull under the top of the glass for a hologram 3-D effect. Bearings pressed into the cup and linkage made for the right side makes shifting a pleasure. No phantoms shifts here!

One problem caused by the shifting linkage was kicker clear­ance. In comes Johnny Gil. Gil fab­ricated a one-off spacer which has the off-set pinchbolt holes on the clutch side. The spacer allows ample clearance for the kicker. Gil also fabricated the springer fork stem nut cover (AKA: ball-catcher). The stem nut cover looks like the bul­let from some type of 50 caliber machine gun.

Details like hose guides mount­ed to the frame, internal wiring and hidden kickstand spring add to the class of the bike. Sweeney decided to go for the evil look by painting the springer, risers and z-bars black and, as you can see, the bike looks low and mean. The lack of a battery and simple headlight/taillight electrics keep the Beezer sweet and clean. What started as a quick re-build turned into a 2 3/4- year project. The results speak for themselves; a throwback to the '70's with '90's tech­nology! The Beast is definitely one-of-a-kind. Sweeney would like to thank his wife for all of her patience and support during this creation. Working on the bike until 2am and going to work at Sam takes its toll on the family life. Sweeney would also like to thank Javi Pena for his help at Johnny's Custom Shop. For his next project? "I'm thinking about a Triumph triple cafe racer," says Sweeney. If it is anything like the BSA, it should be worth the wait.