Hello everybody!! Today is one of the days I’ve been looking forward to because I’ve had a chance to speak with one of the more serious people in the Motor Bicycling field. I mean this guy is ALL ABOUT these types of bikes. Just to show you how much of a passion and love he has for them, I’ll tell you a little history about him.
He started out back in the 1980’s up in the Indiana and Chicago area working with store chains like KMart and other big department stores assembling bikes from when they were shipped to the stores in boxes. Lord only knows how many lives he touched by having his hands on putting together rides for kids and adults of all ages. When you think about it, this is the perfect teaching and experience building tool he used to develop this passion he has.
He did this for a good long time and then eventually got out of assembling bikes for about 20 years. The economy started taking a dive. So he took a break from it.
He eventually got back into it back in 2009 in the Ft. Myers Beach, Florida area because as you all know, once you have been “Bitten by the bug” you never really stop tinkering with these things. With all the years of knowledge and building, he decided to go into it himself. One thing I’ve noticed in life is, if you really want to be successful, you need to work in a field that you really enjoy. He started flipping bikes on the net and offering exceptional professional assembly services.
This is when he formed his own niche brand. Instead of assembling many different styles of bikes and frames he focused on the OCC Schwinn Stingray “Chopper” style. In his own words, “I just think they look cooler than the rest of them.” And I think he’s right!
After a while, he met up with [the owner of a bike shop on Ft. Myers Beach – Hugh Thomas] a guy that mostly had knowledge of these China girls kits and not that much about the bikes themselves. With the combined influences of these two, they started rolling. The steam engine started going faster and picking up speed.
Eventually Jim Wilson, started machining and fabricating his own engine mounts and sprocket designs, cylinder heads and chain tensioners, etc… putting together some really awesome builds. He started playing with different shifter designs offering three and five speed options for motorized builds. They REALLY started becoming innovative in their own right. He offers an unbelievable array of parts, tools, kits, and modifications to truly customize your ride. Just browsing on his website (PedalChopper.com) you will see that he is offering every kind of customizing option available to the point of seeing things which I didn’t even know there was a custom option!
After sales started picking up, they began to build on the business by adding a powder coat painting shop, a machine shop, a paint and graphics shop, and a wheel building and lacing shop. They started getting into electric hubs and coming up with his own drag exhaust pipe design really tweaking the design of these little girls.
He also boasts with the RIGHT to, that he has one of a kind builds never done before! He has a very extensive knowledge about the inner workings of just about everything bicycle and motor related. He has recently put together, THE FIRST OF IT’S KIND combination electric and gas powered models that will surely appeal to anyone. I am AMAZED and so will YOU by just looking at the jaw-dropping models they have put out. What’s really cool is the fact that his tech support is amazing and he likes to assemble anything that might be of difficultly to the average builder. Jim knows what’s right and what’s wrong with these builds. He knows what works! He has literally covered these bikes from front to back with intricate detail. Be sure to check out his GALLERY PAGE for the various builds he has done.
When I was talking to him, he was coincidentally on his way to personally deliver bikes he assembled for people. I was sincerely impressed in our over an hour long conversation. It’s funny when you get two guys together that are passionate about what they do, time just leaves you and you find yourself talking everything bike related with ease. He is a very pleasant fella and willing to discuss just about anything bike related. You can go to him with any ideas you have for your custom treasure by emailing him on his site. You will be delighted to have a very quick response because his heart is truly in this business and he takes it very seriously.
UNBELIEVABLE CUSTOMIZATION!!
Gasbike Dude 