Alan Bernard was born in France and his dream was to come to Bike Week in Daytona, Florida.  Finally, he had the chance to attend and fulfill his dream.  So, a few years ago he arrived in Florida and bought a bike that very afternoon.  That night, while he was riding, a drunk driver hit him and for the next year and one-half he was in the hospital.  One would think that upon his dismissal he would have caught the first plane home, but not Alan.  He stayed in Florida and founded Santiago Choppers, a line of bikes that is now making the custom motorcycle industry stand up and take notice.  Recently, we had the chance to visit with Alan and he told us a bit about the business and his passion for motorcycles and other things that are wholly American.

“I love Rock and Roll—50s Rock and Roll,” says Alan in his French accent.  “Elvis, James Dean, and Marlon Brando are the guys that I like.”  Shop Foreman, Dale Montgomery confirms Alan’s claims.  “Those things are Alan’s passion,” he adds.  Alan went on to say that choppers are now popular in Europe, but he built his first one in 1979, converting a Harley-Davidson Café Racer.  He also added that back then there were only a couple of Harley shops in Europe, but now, “you can buy them like a pancake,” meaning that there are shops everywhere!  In France, “if you rode a chopper, people thought you were a bad guy,” Alan went on to say.  When asked about his main influences, Alan stated that many people have influenced his approach to design; however, he cited Arlen Ness as his biggest influence.

At Santiago Chopper, the business truly is a team effort with Alan’s wife, Christina running the business end of things while Alan and Dave are busy hammering out the bikes.  “We work well together, doing what needs to be done,” Dave says.  Concerning the bikes that they build, Alan says with a laugh, “I love black and would build everything in black, but we need to sell some bikes!”  Dave adds that when it comes to design, Alan is a good-natured guy and that there is nothing he won’t try in terms of building.  Alan cites be personal favorite as the Bobber style—“old style with new parts.”  Concerning their latest models, there is the Minos line featuring Pro Street and Chopper versions.  Then there is the Bobber line featuring the Old Skool models.  One of their newest creations features a “Lightning” paint job that Alan refers to as “fiber optics on the body of the bike.”  The streaks of fiber optic light come alive and flash on the tank and fenders of the bike demonstrating an absolutely brilliant design.  Also, Alan is working in creating trike designs for his motorcycles and he is quick to assert that these are “chopper trikes” and not conventional type that are seen on the road.

Regarding the future of his business and what he is doing, Alan states that for now he doesn’t want to be bigger; he just wants to give more work to the people and then everybody will be happy.  We couldn’t agree with him more.  If you would like to learn more about Santiago Choppers then give them a visit on the web at www.santiagochoppers.com.  That’s it from sunny Florida, so until our next ride, “keep the shiny side up and Ride On!”

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