Ron Gunthner was just a child when he straddled his first Honda C70 motorcycle, gripped the throttle with his little hand and watched the pavement rush beneath him. It was love at first ride for the adventure-seeking eight-year-old.

In his teenage years he developed a passion for motocross racing. Learning to handle his own bike maintenance was no problem since his dad and brother were both professional mechanics. He could repair a broken motor in a flash; repairing his broken bones took more time.

“If you don’t drop a dirt bike, you aren’t riding hard enough, you’re not going to win,” Gunthner says. “You’ve got to take it to that fine line.”

His anxious parents disagreed and after one too many injuries, they made their son sell his dirt bike. They encouraged him to learn a trade, so after high school Gunthner landed a steel fabrication apprenticeship. That’s where he learned how to build his own motorcycles.

A framed photo of a shiny black custom-built bike in late-’70s style hangs on the wall of his South Surrey garage. He was 19 when he made the Harley Davidson shovel-head engine motorcycle. He later sold it for $10,000 to make a down payment on a house.

Gunthner started making bikes for customers in 2000 to supplement his firefighter’s income. A decade-long member of Richmond Fire Rescue, his four-day-on, four-day-off work schedule allows him to operate Gun-er Choppers from his home garage.

Unlike custom bikes with their factory frames and catalogue-picked add-ons, choppers are built from the ground up. They evolved in the 1960s when riders started to “chop” parts off their motorcycles for extra speed and visual appeal.

“They basically started taking things off of it to make it look cooler,” Gunthner says.

Two long, narrow tables in his garage each support a chopper in various states of completion. One of them, dubbed the Redneck Bike, used to be his, but he sold it for $60,000. Designed for his own 6’ frame, he’s modifying the chopper so the new 5’10” owner will be able to reach the handlebars. He’s also raising it; at its current height, it can’t clear speed bumps.

The other bike Gunther started a year ago and he’s just finished the job. Fashioned after a retro Indian Motorcycle motor track racer, it features a hydraulic clutch, internal wiring, “old-school suspension” with a springer front end and a PowerPlus 100 engine from an Indian Motorcycle. The hand-welded frame is finished in matte black and the Gun-er logo is emblazoned on the brown leather seat cover. Most choppers use Harley Davidson motors, making this bike one-of-a-kind.

“Nobody in Vancouver or the Lower Mainland has made a bike with that motor in it yet,” Gunthner says.

When Indian Motorcycle went bankrupt in 2003, there were a lot of damaged motors up for grabs, but if rebuilt properly, Gunthner says, they should last forever.

The Indian bike doesn’t have the flashy cherry-red paint job of the Redneck, but to a guy who knows his bikes, it would get all the attention.

Choppers have to adhere to a few regulations before they are road-ready. The bike needs a headlight, tail light, brake light, licence plate light, turn signals, horn, mirrors and speedometer. Chop shops are notorious for stripping stolen cars and bikes, so new choppers have to be checked out at ICBC to make sure there are no hot parts. A dealership has to inspect the bike to make sure it’s legal for the road, and the final step is insurance.

Choppers aren’t the most practical vehicles; they don’t handle well and aren’t comfortable. Glancing from one bike to the other Gunthner admits, “These are just basically to look cool...they’re not meant to go from here to Tijuana, Mexico.”

Practicality aside, local bikers coordinate plenty of joy rides in spring and summer. A dozen riders might cruise the highway up to Harrison Hot Springs, grab a beer and schnitzel, then ride back home.

Chopper owners can show off their souped up toys at bike-friendly pubs or summertime show ‘n’ shines. Gunthner’s Redneck Bike took home top prize at the 2007 Westcoast Custom Motorcycle Show. A collection of other trophies for his creations sits on the garage’s wall-mounted shelves and bookcases.

Gunthner no longer owns a chopper, but recently bought a salvaged Harley Davidson Road King off e-Bay.

“I want to start going on longer rides and I might want to take the wife,” he says. The Road King will offer a smoother ride, plus there’s bags in the back for storage. He plans to fully customize his newest acquisition and enter it in shows.

Gunthner turns out one to two choppers a year and has built about 10 from scratch. Photos of his steel-framed works of art hang next to the Harley shovel-head. His bikes average between $35,000 to $80,000. He also does custom work on factory-made bikes for customers wanting a different gas tank, new set of handlebars, or the coveted look of the rear fender mounted to the swingarm.

He never sketches his designs, but keeps a mental image of the fantasy chopper he wants to bring to life. A show judge once told him, “Your bike looks like it’s going 100 miles per hour but it’s sitting still.”

That’s the best compliment he could have asked for.

- by Christine Lyon

newsroom@surreyleader.com