Four years ago, Christian Newman turned up at the Born Free show with a Knucklehead chopper, and left with the People’s Choice award. He’s had an open invitation to the show ever since, but he hasn’t accepted it?until now.
Born Free 12 kicks off tomorrow, and Christian’s pulled out all the stops with his latest entry: an eye-popping turbocharged Harley-Davidson chopper. And in case you haven’t figured it out by looking at it, this bike is almost entirely scratch-built. Heck, even the motor is mostly custom.

Born in Texas but based in Buffalo, NY, Christian’s a full-time mechanical engineer?designing mining equipment during the day and building bikes after hours. ?Almost all of the other hours,? he quips. He’s been at it for just over a decade now, and is about to launch a small boutique parts company. Christian loves finding elegant and complex solutions to simple problems in his work, and that ethos is painted all over this chopper. But as intricate as it is, it was built with singular focus. ?I had a pretty clear vision from the onset,? he says. ?I do a lot of planning, drawing and design.?

At the heart of the bike are the remnants of a 1939 Harley-Davidson Flathead motor. Christian started with a complete mill, but in the end kept only the cases, a few gears and parts of the oil pump. Everything else was found at swap meets, obtained from friends, or, in most cases, made from scratch.
Christian mixed in a pair of modified P...