Save The Choppers!
About Save The Choppers!
We’ve got a few concrete ideas up our sleeves and a few more wild ones in our heads. We don’t know what will come of it, but we’re eager to give the thriving, amazing STC community a home again. Because what we do know is that setting out without a fixed destination can definitely lead you to the most beautiful places.
For us, it’s always been more than just a slogan. It’s an attitude, a commitment to chopper culture, and a stand for individuality and old-school values. “Save the Choppers” is a labor of love, and we’re ready to breathe new life into our shared passion. With that in mind, we invite you to join us on our journey. True to the motto: Preserve our Wild Life – Save the Choppers!
The story:
One of the initiators is chopper expert Horst Heiler, who championed chopper culture as early as the 1980s through his “Special-Bike Meetings” and the “Custom & Classic” indoor bike shows he organized starting in 1991. Together with the trade magazine BIKERS-live!, further events followed in 1995 and 1996. Today, he writes for CUSTOMBIKE, among other publications. Since 2004, Horst Heiler has been hosting the “Custom & Classic Fest,” a small but excellent event that attracts numerous friends and connoisseurs of the chopper scene every year. After all, choppers are a dominant feature of the event. In 2008, he met chopper enthusiast Tom Rad in the U.S., who in turn introduced him to his friend Dave Bell.
This is where “Save The Choppers!” got its start, because Dave Bell is an illustrator and pinstriper. Among his creations is “Jock E. Shift,” a comic book character who rides a chopper. Years earlier, he had drawn a poster for Tom Rad because, at the time, Tom was building “old-school” choppers: long forks, narrow front wheel. And this was back when outrageously expensive custom bikes with ultra-wide tires were threatening to push out the real choppers.
One phrase Dave drew on Tom’s poster was “Preserve our Wild Life – Save The Choppers!”, which Tom Rad adopted as his motto from then on. It became his personal rallying cry against the over-the-top and unaffordable custom bikes of the turn of the millennium.
Horst didn’t just like the slogan “Save The Choppers!”; he saw it exactly the same way as Dave and Tom. It was fitting for a scene and a culture and for all those who think and feel the same way. And so the motto made the rounds, was adopted by customizers and mechanics, and could henceforth be found on workshop walls across the country.
Together with designer and graphic artist Ralf Burkart, Horst Heiler relaunched “Save The Choppers!” in 2016. Following a successful motorcycle exhibition, a 500-page book that has become the definitive work on the scene, and a few stylish T-shirts and hoodies, things quieted down a bit around “Save The Choppers.” Nevertheless, the community continues to grow steadily; its guiding principle is more relevant than ever and serves as the motto for entire generations who share the same passion. “Save The Choppers!” may be used for non-commercial purposes by anyone who shares this mindset and is committed to preserving a vibrant chopper culture with its unique spirit.
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