Big Bear Athena Chopper

It’s a hand massaged, forward thinking design, and built on the Discovery Channel Biker Build-Off televised competition. It was great winning the competition, but it didn’t stop there... we ‘tooled up’ the innovative design and turned the famous one-off Chopper into production along with a ProStreet sibling. An industrial hot rod drilled holes in the stretched frame with the Devil’s Tail™ swingarm with rear fender to match and an exclusive unique fuel tank are some of the design features that make the Athena Chopper an encounter you’ll never forget. The sunken seat allows you to be positioned inside the chassis, adding to the unique sensation of riding low to the ground with a lower center of gravity. The V111™ low vibration powerplant adds to the reliably of the motorcycle with a high comfort level of the rider without sacrificing power and price. So you can have your cake and eat it, too.

Reliability, power and comfort... the best of all worlds. And when we say reliability, we not only mean the life of the engine, but the life of motorcycle and everything that's bolted to it. Branded as V111™,' this internally reformed 111 cubic inch engine boasts a healthy 122.8 lbs. of torque at the crank. With a configuration of a 4 1/8” bore and 4 1/8” stroke, proprietary compression ratios, redesigned cam timing, and reciprocating weights all result in an incredibly smooth running engine while meeting all the strict legal requirements. While looking like any other S&S Super Sidewinder engine from the outside, the essence of this new engine is the low vibration. High engine vibration is an enemy to both the rider and the motorcycle. The effects of high engine vibration may cause premature rider fatigue as well. Eliminate engine vibration and you will eliminate potential problems.

Between the EFI and the carbureted V111™, there isn’t going to be much of a difference in performance, provided you maintain constant ambient conditions (humidity, temperature, elevation, etc.). This is where the beauty of the closed-loop EFI system comes into play. The system is continuously monitoring the engine, and tuning itself to optimize performance for that given scenario or environment. So, while you might not be able to notice power difference between the EFI and a carbureted engine, once you take that bike up the mountain, or get a day that’s significantly hotter than the day it was tuned, that EFI engine will easily outperform the carbureted engine (unless you want to take a supply of different jets with you on the ride).

This is the original 6-speed design that revolutionized the American V-Twin industry. Yet, it's still the best overdrive 6-speed built to this day ...hands down. This Detroit built tranny is designed and manufactured to comfortably handle the power from our engines while looking good behind it.

Keeping with the mindset of making form and function coexisting, this newly designed proprietary primary is built tough and reliable along with a very sleek, new generation styled aesthetics with a cool BBC branded inspection cover. This primary drive is approximately 200% stronger than most other manufacturer’s primaries with its machined forged aluminum inner and outer cases. The dense aluminum material makes for a unit that does not flex under heavy torque, and absorbs most engine vibration. Another great attribute that sets this primary drive ahead of the curve is the triple seal design on the main shaft, as opposed to an industry standard single seal, insuring virtually no leaks. The starter motor shaft accessory plate is removable for an easy starter change-out. The internals utilize an easy-to-replace standard type clutch basket and a compensating sprocket for a smooth power transfer.

We teamed up with Wire-Plus, the industry's leader in motorcycle electronics, to design a wiring harness with no compromises. Combine this harness with the high-end brand name electrical components like the Spyke charging system and the Crane ignition, and we're sure your seat time will be long. You won't be on the side of the road kicking rocks.

The Athena frame starts out in the same jig as the Sled, but has obvious design touches with the Hot Rod holes drilled out of the outer downtube sleeve and rear fender struts. This frame design is unique in that it has an extra stretch in the mid section of the frame behind the transMision. This allows for a low seat height from the oil tank being located behind the tranny as opposed to hanging on top of it. This ingenious drop seat makes for a motorcycle that feels and handles unbelievably balanced and a blast to ride. The sunken seat allows the rider to be positioned inside the chassis, boasting more control and adding to the unique sensation of riding low to the ground. And our design patent on this frame helps us keep the motorcycle unique from manufactured copy cats. The patented Devil's Tail swingarm is a new creation that finishes up the bike with that custom one-off look.

The frame is the foundation of the motorcycle's aesthetics and reliability. All our frames are designed and manufactured in house in our San Bernardino facility. Every frame component (e.g. neck, side plates, tank mounts, tranny plate, axle adjusters, etc) are CNC manufactured with precision. Utilizing a 0.250 wall, 1.5” tube steel for the backbone and 0.160 wall, 1.125” tube for the rest of the frame, BBC uses the best steel possible for our frames. All frames are 100% TIG welded for a clean, strong and precise fusion. We think we make a statement about our confidence with a lifetime warranty on the frames we make.

The Athena Series sheetmetal goes beyond the standard with it's hole drilled outer skins on the oil tank and the hand made sheetmetal molding the seat's wishbone tube into the fuel tank. Another aspect of the sheetmetal that stands out from the rest is the trick rear fender design that matches the patented Devil's Tail swingarm.

Like our frames, our tanks and fenders are designed and manufactured in-house. We produce the sheetmetal with the frame as a unit, then gets 'mock-up' before we hand it over to our painters or ship it out to the unassembled kit customers. We use heavy duty 12 gauge steel for our fenders and 14 gauge steel for the tanks. All tanks are pressure tested and the fenders are computer cut. We guarantee and warranty any leaks from the tanks and cracks in the fenders for your lifetime.

Designed and manufactured in-house, our fully chrome frontend is exclusively made for our motorcycles to be aesthetically cool and functionally bomb proof. The BBC logo branded 6° triple trees have what we call a 'smooth mount' design - you don't see the tube and axle nuts on top. And what we mean with the 'hidden axle' - it's a nutless type axle, making the finish smooth. With all our calculations with the frame and frontend, we've landed the front wheel in the sweet spot of the final trail measurement. This allows for a motorcycle with no frontend flop and high speed wobble.

And at the back, there's no better American Made shock to use than the industry's premier shock absorber, Progressive Suspension. The chrome pair of oil dampened shocks produce a good ride, which is just one more reason why our motorcycles out handle and beat the comfort of the other guys bikes.

This is where a lot of manufacturers cut corners to cut costs. Well, we don't. In fact, we march though every corner of the motorcycle's manufacturing, assembly and component selection without a doubt that we are providing to you the best possible bike for your money.