We don’t usually go in for choppers around here?but we do appreciate the skill and effort that goes into building a truly stellar chop job. And Tom Gilroy at Purpose Built Moto on Australia?s Gold Coast gets it too.
The PBM portfolio is stacked with cafe racers and scramblers, but that didn’t stop them from tackling a chopper…and knocking it out the park. ?The skills are the same,? says Tom, ?and I love the style just as much?it’s just a different thought process.?

Purpose Built worked with an unusual donor bike for this project: a Honda CB900. And one that came with its own baggage, too.
The shop’s client had bought it wrecked, ten years ago, and decided to have it rebuilt as a chopper. He originally found a builder on the Sunshine Coast?but the work took literally years to complete, and the bike looked horrible and didn’t run right.
?He was never happy with it,? Tom tells us, ?which, after waiting so long, is understandably a kick in the guts. One thing I will say, is that the frame that was build from scratch was very well fabricated, an amazing job.?
PBM decided to build their own take on a Japanese chopper: ?Something the owner would be proud to ride and show off to his mates.? So they stripped the bike down, ripped out the dodgy wiring and got cracking.

First on the agenda was the CB’s stance. Tom and co. kept the 17? rear wheel the bike had come with, but re-laced the front hub onto a 21? rim. Both are wrapped in Avon...