The Wright Stuff: Church Of Choppers FXR
The Brooklyn Invitational is one of the most prestigious motorcycle shows in the States. If you’re a builder and you’re invited to present a bike, you have well and truly Arrived.
It’s not a huge show, so it’s an elite list of builders. Within that elite is Jeff Wright: he’s received the treasured invitation an incredible five times in a row.
Wright runs Church Of Choppers and he’s a man at the very top of his profession. This beautifully balanced FXR is one of the best examples of his work: It was a project that took several years, and was the star of last year’s Invitational.
When launched, the FXR Super Glide was pitched as the Harley that separated the men from the boys, with a rubber-mounted engine and better dynamics than usual. (A certain young Erik Buell was involved on the engineering side.)
For his custom build, Jeff chose a 1990-spec FXR with a factory reconditioned 81 cubic inch Evo engine. He’s boosted power with a Keihin FCR carburetor, a Dyna S electronic ignition, hand-fabricated exhaust piping and a stubby Racefit muffler.
For better control in the twisties, Jeff’s fitted forks from a later-model Dyna, plus piggyback shocks from Mach/Modified. They’re bolted to a custom swingarm, with saucer-sized Beringer rotors helping to haul the bike down to a stop.
The sheet metal is all-new. It gives the bike an elegant and lithe appearance—traits you wouldn’t normally associate with a Milwaukee product. Look closer, and the detailing is equally impressive, with immaculately machined parts, piping and brackets.
It would have been easy to finish off the FXR in subdued, monochrome hues. And I’m betting that’s what most builders would have done.
But Jeff has chosen the brightest of primary colors: red for the tank and front brake rotor, green for the tail unit, and blue for the rear brake mount. The shock springs are a vivid orange, and the clear ignition cover is yellow.
It shouldn’t work, but it does: the motorcycling equivalent of Pop Art.
Church of Choppers | Build pics | Brooklyn Invitational