AEE Choppers

You guess

2012-02-14T08:28:00.000-08:00

Diamond King and Queen

2012-02-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Picked this up recently and its in unreal condition for over 40 years old. You can see a tiny bit of the part number tag on the bottom. The diamond pattern came about later in AEE's life. I always liked the king and queen we built, proportions were just right......without a doubt our biggest seller when it came to seats too. It goes in to the AEE collection. Anyone have anything AEE out there we accept donations!

AEE logo stamping

2012-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

AEE did not stamp their parts until about 1972. In 1971 we started etching some parts and then went to stamping also. This picture illustrates the location of the stamp on sissy bars. Triple trees, springers, mono girders and square glides were all stamped or etched under the bottom triple tree. Risers got stamped on the bottom. To my knowledge nothing else got stamped though some items had assembly part numbers stamped in to them. Back then frames didn't get stamped or MSO's either typically. Kind of confusing really. If the stamp or etch is there it's AEE if not it still might be. We did put part number stickers on everything but most of them were removed at the time of purchase or have worn off the part. I do have two seats with the part number tag in place but it's very rare to find.

and now Dave Brackett's 23 T

2012-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Dave our famous designer and engineer at AEE Choppers worked for Mickey Thompson at one point and this is what he drove to work! 23T with blown small block Chevy, engine set way back in chassis.Dave built a lot of bad ass stuff over the years but I like the idea of this one running on the streets. Go to Dave's site at:
http://www.brackettracing.com/ and check out the cars and bikes he has been a part of. Great guy and my friend.

Tom's 32 at Pebble Beach

2012-02-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

Great shot of Tom's famous blown 32 highboy roadster at Pebble Beach. Ranked by Hot Rod magazine as I believe number 7 best hot rod ever. Ford put it in the top 50 32's ever. This thing ran the streets in the 60's and set the style for a slew of hot rods ever since. The look, stance, flames and pinstriping are nothing short of perfect. Blown small block under the hood.........

Interesting info

2012-02-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

While not relating directly to AEE this is some good information I ran across. One of the mysteries of chopper-dom is what is "stock length"? You can find out how long the springer or forks you are buying are but how long was your front end to begin with? Check this chart out and hopefully it can help some of you out with your builds! By the way the dimensions shown are from bottom of the tree to center of the axle hole generally speaking.

An Unknown AEE catalog

2012-02-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

I recently found this catalog and uncovered a mystery. First you will note the date on the catalog 1968/1969. The cover is similar to the first AEE catalog but Rose and Boomer are missing from the picture with the Corvair Trike. Inside the front cover is a glued in discount schedule. The schedule applies certain discounts to certain letters...like 10% for A, 15% for B and so on. The last few pages are a price list showing each part number and price and it's respective discount letter. Obviously this was a catalog given to dealers that wanted to sell AEE parts. Now the most interesting thing....the cover says AEE Cycles not Choppers!. Never have I seen that on anything from AEE. A real oddity and a bit of a mystery. I am going to try to chase down more info on this one.

Manifold found!

2012-01-30T16:26:00.000-08:00

Got one on the way and its even chrome! What we sold to put Weber carbs on Ironhead Sportsters. Ours eventually did not have MPD (Magnusson performance Div) on them but were plain. Jerry magnuson also provided the blower we had on our kit bike later in it's life.

AEE Square glide triple tree

2012-01-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

We recently discovered that the triple tree had an inherent weakness to them which may explain why most of them have a bent top plate. The square leg holes do not and can not pinch the legs hard neough to hold them in place as well as they should. hence the legs transmitted movement to the top plate bending it. We added a stiffener under the top plate (after straightening the top plate). I discovered this problem but Dave Brackett our friend and AEE engineer figured out why it was doing it and the fix for it.

Manifold needed

2012-01-26T08:38:00.000-08:00

I normally would not put up a post like this but I'm getting hard up. Need a Ironhead to Weber side draft carb manifold like this one by MPD. It sticks straight out from the engine as opposed to pointing forward. If you have one I'm buying...polished or chrome is even better!

Video of the AEE Choppers Corvair Trike!

2012-01-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

This is a clip from the 1969 movie The Babysitter. It was a cheap quasi biker film. In this clip Tom McMullen is aboard the famous Oakland Roadster show winning Corvair Trike. If you watch close you will see the chopper that started AEE Choppers parked in front of the AEE shop, the equally famous Mindbender. I have searched for a number of years for this clip so I hope you enjoy!

find AEE

2012-01-19T10:33:00.000-08:00

here is some fun....Google map 730 Monroe Way, Placentia, CA.
The stick pin will be stuck in to the last AEE location. That buildings is one of 4 we had (the four that are all joined together). The main building held our showroom, offices and parts warehouse, building just below this one was our warehouse and where we kept the cats, Spoke and Cibie (cats as in mountain lions). First building to the right of the main building was our production/welding/assembly/machine shop. Building just below it was for Street Chopper and prototype department.
There were a few exceptions to this but in general that is the way it laid out.

You can do the same with the previous shop at 1420 Burton Place, Anaheim, CA and the original shop at 7931 Wittaker, Buena Park, CA. I worked at the last two locations but missed out on Wittaker!

Love the smile......

2012-01-17T12:48:00.000-08:00

A shot of our Sportster Kit Bike with one of the young ladies from the office on the back.....look at that smile!
This bike was more of a parts mule than any other bike we had. Many different seats, sissy bars, handle bars, mirrors and headlights etc. ended up on this chopper. It also ended up with multiple types of induction on it. Plus it was stone reliable....1970 electric start Sporty.

Dave Bell

2012-01-16T14:46:00.000-08:00

Dave Bell did lots of cartoons for Street Chopper and does them for Street Rodder to this day. Lenny Cenotti our parts manager at AEE was fortunate enough to have Dave draw him a personal cartoon of Lenny riding. According to Lenny one day Rose McMullen walked out and said "here is a package for you". In it was this drawing for Lenny. Enjoy a sidelight of the AEE years thanks to Lenny and Dave. Oh, and those cases of Coors are close to correct, Lenny and I polished off many a drink back in the day together! In fact at one point we were both so broke that Lenny invented a drink for us...he had an old bottle of Galliano liquor that had been sitting around looking cool gathering dust. We dumped that in a glass with ice and coke and we had an instant "Tall Cool Lenny".

No update today

2012-01-12T08:57:00.003-08:00

On my way to New Mexico for a few days to see my son and his wife. Back posting more AEE news soon.

the End! 1969 AEE catalog- back cover is Mindbender the one that strated it all

2012-01-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

Almost done! 1969 AEE catalog check out the helmets!

2012-01-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

Sixth installment of the 1969 AEE Choppers catalog

2012-01-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

Ya get 2 postings today. I'm feeling generous. I'm also working on a way to make this PDF and have it available on our website.

fifth installment of the 1969 AEE Choppers catalog

2012-01-04T08:26:00.000-08:00

I'm back for a New Years vacation and posting away!

fourth installment of 1969 AEE catalog

2011-12-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEARS! FROM THE GREATEST CHOPPER COMPANY IN THE WORLD.....AEE CHOPPERS.

third installment of the 1969 first AEE catalog

2011-12-28T09:45:00.000-08:00

Hope someone out there is checking this stuff out! Nice picture of the first AEE springer sitting on a box. You will note AEE never liked slugs and some people called us and others criminals for selling them. Reality is they are safe used correctly. You can see in the catalog they have specific directions of usage.

more 1969 first AEE catalog

2011-12-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

I took a few days off but here are some more pages of the very first catalog AEE ever produced:

part 2 of the 1969 AEE catalog

2011-12-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

Next four pages...how does a fully painted tank, fender and frame for a couple hundred bucks sound? Rake neck for $25? Enjoy!

First AEE catalog 1969

2011-12-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

Over the next week or so I am going to post every page of the first 1969 catalog, actually November 1968 (there were actually two catalogs in 1969, more on that later). I do this more for archive purposes than anything else. Many of the pages were taken straight out of the MCM catalog as an example. first up is the frotn and back covers.

Rose McMullen with the famous Corvair Trike and Boomer the shop lion. The back cover is Tom's Mindbender shot at what looks like the Fullerton airport. The Mindbender is the chopper that started it all and the first bike with a fully molded yet removable tank. Also one of the first street choppers with a fully chromed engine.

Denvers Choppers

2011-12-15T09:59:00.000-08:00

Denvers Choppers built a lot of bikes in it's day. Kayelynn with Dream Machines over in Kingman, AZ has made it his duty to find and restore Denver's bikes where ever he can find them. I have seen some of them, and heard them run too. Great pieces, some restored, some left alone but all great pieces of 70's chopper history. A few have some AEE items on them but eventually Denver began building lots of his own parts. I post this here for Kayelynn and to salute his efforts saving our collective chopper past!

AEE at it's peak!

2011-12-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

Never thought I'd find this picture but here it is...I helped set this up, rolled the bikes out and helped with the shot.....rear row left to right Corvair Trike and the mighty Big Twin, front row, The Shovelhead, Mindbender, Really and Supersport. These are the bikes that existed when I arrived at AEE (though Big Twin was red at the time). Not long after this shot the Corvair Trike was won in a contest, Big Twin sold to the show circuit and Mindbender was sold to person unknown.....enjoy the only shot of this many AEE bikes in one picture that I am aware of......

A fan's AEE story....

2011-12-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

Dave Brackett our talented designer/engineer/fabricator received this recently from a fan of AEE and Molly:

Dave
I've really enjoyed reading your AEE & Molly histories. I grew up in Placentia Ca. AEE was just down the street and I went there many times with friends that were building Choppers. The first time I went to AEE it was still in Anaheim and I remember seeing Big Twin with those tires all the way across the rear. It was the most radical thing I had ever seen. I don't believe it was finished when I saw it. All the other trips were to the Placentia Location. I remember being a little freaked out when Rose came to the counter. Turns out she new more about Chopper parts than we did. In the early 70's a lot of my friends built or bought Choppers. Two of them were painted by Molly. My neighbor, Frank, traded a Triumph 650 for a really nice 59 Panhead Chopper. Shortly after he laid it down on the 57 freeway. He wasn't hurt but the bike didn't fair to well. He tore the bike down and sent the tank,fender and frame to Molly for paint. I went with him several times to check out the progress on the paint. On one trip another friend of mine decided to light his pipe in the shop. The fender was sitting on a 55 gallon drum. After lighting his pipe he threw the match into the drum. The fumes in the drum ignited and blew the fender across the shop. After Molly threw us out of the shop he brought out the fender which just had silver flake on it. There was a small crack in the Bondo at the tip of the fender and he told my friend that he wasn't going to fix it. That crack was there for the life of the bike. When He brought everything home I thought that paint job was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I helped Frank assemble the bike and he let me borrow it whenever I wanted.
I didn't build anything back then. Well a few years ago I decided to build a clone of Frank's Panhead. I had taken a lot of pictures of his bike so I made enlargements to use as a guide. I found a 60 Panhead in the Cycle Trader that had been chopped in 1970. The guy finished it and hardly ever rode it. The bike made the March 72 cover of Cycle World's Special Choppers Magazine. It was in great shape but was ugly ! He bought most of the parts at AEE including the springer. The rest of the parts were purchased at Cheatah Choppers in Santa Ana. I took it all apart and built my clone. The springer is the original chrome. I copied the Molly paint job from the pictures I had. I spent days tapeing out the designs that he probably did in hours. His paint jobs were epoxy but I used House Of Kolors urethane. It's really a nice bike to ride and I was surprised how well the springer works. Most Choppers were hard tails but Franks wasn't and at 60 I can't ride a hardtail. I attached three pictures. One of the clone, another of my paint and finally one of the originally Molly job. Thanks for taking time to read this. I could have gone on for pages. Thanks again for the website.

Art Holling

and thanks to Art for confirming that our chrome and springers were the best!

7Up Triumph once again

2011-11-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

Another shot of one of two 7UP Triumphs built for 7UP Bottling of Los Angeles. One was a 650 and the other a 500. Gorgeous Molly paint in 7UP green (sorry about the black and white the green was incredible). Bikes were pretty much all AEE catalog items. One notable exception is the sissy bar had 7UP spelled out on it (you can just see the bottom of it in the photo) At that time period we sold a tremendous amount of parts for the Triumphs. I always loved the crossing upsweep pipes, Beautiful flow to them.

Roth

2011-11-23T13:10:00.000-08:00

A picture of the famous AEE Corvair Trike and Ed Roth's 45 trike in front of Roth's place in May wood. Tom McMullen had known Roth for some time and had bought his famous Knucklehead from Roth. This picture is from the first issue of Street Chopper. They did a pseudo head to head competition with the trikes. Reality is the Corvair would eat teh45 for lunch but it made for a good story! If only we could find the Corvair Trike! You guys in LA need to start looking, it's hiding down there somewhere.

Pink floyd

2011-11-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

This is one of 4 Pink Floyd choppers built with lots of AEE parts. I am trying to get more info on the bikes. They were built for an early Pink Floyd tour in Europe.

Mirror

2011-11-15T12:07:00.000-08:00

I am restoring an old iron cross mirror like we sold at AEE. We bought these from a vendor and did not make them. The arm slid in to the back of the head and utilized 2 set screws to tighten the arm in to the head. Compared to some of the plastic and cheap crap today this is a quality piece even if pretty much useless as a mirror.This mirror was in decent shape but needs the stem rechromed and I am prepping it for fresh black wrinkle paint. We sold this mirror and a crescent shape and a few others but this was the most popular by a wide margin.

AEE Square springer

2011-11-14T14:50:00.000-08:00

This is a crappy shot of an AEE springer I have (in the shot it looks like the front legs have twist to them. They don't, it's a reflection off my balding head or something). It has the wrong rockers on it. They are the fishtail style that went on the round springer's instead of the crescents that went on square springers. However you could buy each style rocker separately so perhaps that's how these got on there. Its in good shape but I will disassemble and get it re-chromed for use on a future project. it even has the correct nut covers on it which are tough to come by these days.

Me and the man himself....Carroll Shelby

2011-11-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

Took this shot 15 years ago...me and Carroll and one of his USRRC Cobras behind us. Has nothing to do with motorcycles but just love them Shelby's. When I was in high school we used to go down to LAX and check out Shelby's factory and his Goodyear shop. Never forget once I was out behind the Goodyear place (at the east end of LAX) and here sits a transporter with GT40's on it! Unreal stuff.
The day this picture was taken I bent down and whispered in his ear "thanks for the cars". He lit up like he had just won the lottery. Great moment for both of us!

AEE Square glide and my first day at AEE

2011-11-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the first square glide, it was part of an article about the glide in May 1971 Street Chopper. I went to work at AEE early in 1971 which is when this was shot. The guy on the left is Jim Clark who was with Tom off and on at AEE and Street Chopper and Street Rodder over the years. Probably knew Tom the longest of anyone and was part of the formation of AEE Choppers. The other guy in the picture is the guy that hired me, named Ralph. I post this as he hired me on friday night. I show up monday morning and he is not there. I stand around out front after all the employees file in and Tom asks me why I'm there. I tell him I got hired friday by Ralph. He says "well come on in, I fired him friday night!"......that was my welcome to AEE.

A DBL E

2011-11-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

This is a mock up I am working on, note the cool ass license plate. The sissy bar is for mock up only as is the seat. Both are original AEE parts, Trip sissy bar and King and Queen seat.

Dave Brackett at work

2011-11-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot of Dave with a little bit of AEE history....AEE frame that Dave designed and built for us, AEE square glide front end and an AEE mini drum. I took this a couple weeks ago up at Dave's place. Note the Kaiser Henry J in the background. Just one of Dave's toys. He is pointing to where the fork stops need to go on this build. More on it later. Don't you love his hydraulic work table?

AEE STORY!

2011-11-02T14:24:00.000-07:00

If you go way back to the beginning of this blog there is a post by Dave Brackett telling the story of AEE. He just updated it and you might want to check it out to get the truth from the horse's mouth. Two thumbs up!

I NEED HELP!

2011-10-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

We have been searching for quite some time for the AEE Choppers Corvair Trike. Now that the Big Twin is out of hiding we need to find the Trike. It was sold by the last owner to a person who was supposed to be restoring it in LA somewhere. How about some help finding it? Ask around, post on blogs, talk it up. Let's find it and if the owner isn't restoring it maybe we can!

some AEE coolness from JEFF WYATT

2011-10-22T10:51:00.000-07:00

Jeff is a very kind fellow that made contact with me and sent me some superb posters (more on that later) and today I received a 42 year old sales receipt from AEE. And a credit back to him from AEE as he had overpaid. This is from the time period just as AEE was in transition from a chopper shop to chopper parts behemoth. Their first catalog came out in November 1968 so jeff was a very early catalog customer.

I'm pretty sure this would be the only receipt and credit that exist since most people aren't quite the pack rat Jeff must be! Thank god he is , that's all I can say. Enjoy the prices and a touch of greatness from back in the day.

BIG TWIN RIDES AGAIN!!!!!

2011-10-18T13:45:00.000-07:00

AEE Choppers "BIG TWIN" has reappeared

by Dave Brackett, October 2011

While I was working at AEE Choppers in late 1969, we had a meeting and decided to build a new wild chopper style three wheeler, or actually a five wheeler. We wanted to return to the Oakland Roadster Show, and again win the Grand Sweepstakes Award like AEE did in 1969, with the "Corvair Trike". The concept was to use two new Sportster motors, side by side, an automatic tranny with reverse, and four wheels accross the rear. It was to have a full body with a roof over the passengers. I drew plans and Tom liked them, so we started collecting materials and parts to start the project. After getting two new motors from Harley, a servicar rear end, a C4 Ford automatic tranny, and the necessary tubing, I was ready to start. I had 32 days to build the bike, and get it painted before the show. The bike was finished on schedule, and as they were loading it in the trailer, I built a turntable to use at the show.

The bike was a huge success, and we won the grand sweepstakes award again, in February of 1970. A year or so later, the paint started to blister and the springer style front end, started to bend from the extra weight of the two motors and steel body. We had the bike repainted, and built a new girder style front end to support the extra weight. The bike was originally painted in reds, with silver and gold trim. Now it was in purples, with colorfull panels of green and yellow. The bike was used for many AEE functions and spent most of its time in our showroom, or at trade shows.

In late 1971, the bike was sold to Missouri bike show promoter Ray Fahrner. He used the "Big Twin" to help draw in customers to his bike show circuit. The five wheeler was a great draw. Ray met Don Connelly, who was promoting shows in the Denver area. They worked together doing some shows, and Ray reportedly gave Don the "Big Twin".

Don, and friend Paul Skinner, decided to change the bike to increase its show appeal. Paul contacted me around 1981, to get info about building "Big Twin". That was the last time I heard about "Big Twin". Internet motorcycle chat rooms talk a lot about "Big Twin", but it's whereabouts has been unknown for over twentyfive years. There were reports that it had been on e-bay several years ago, but that could not be confirmed.

In the summer of 2011, "Big Twin" was for sale on E-bay. It had a starting bid of $5000.00, but did not recieve any bid. I contacted the owner, Jerry Whitley, of Canon City, Colorado. He has had the bike for ninteen years. He bought it from Don Connelly. Photos showed it was realtively unchanged, except for a different front end, and the upper part of the frame behind the neck had been removed, to install a blower. Jerry had intended to restore the bike but never got around to it. The running gear seems to be original, but the motors have not run for probably twentyfive plus years. Parts of the upholstery are missing, the exhaust pipes are gone, the carbs are gone, but all in all, it seems decent for being 41 plus years old.

In October 2011, Jerry sold the "Big Twin" to a private collector, who plans to restore the bike and display it, with other bikes, in a motorcycle museum in Las Vegas. "Big Twin" in currently at the Bones Legacy Motorcycle Shop in Las Vegas, with work underway for complete restoration.

We all look forward to seeing the onetime hallmark of "AEE Choppers" back in it's original condition.

NOTE: pictures as Big Twin currently looks....superb for 41 years later!

7Up bikes

2011-10-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

What you are looking at here are the first two "theme" choppers ever built for a company. Common these days with OCC and Arlen but no one did any before these two that AEE did. They were not identical, one was a 500 and the other a 650 Triumph. Interesting thing that doesn't show is a small rack to hold a six pack of 7UP was built to fit the sissy bar. Virtually all the parts for these bikes were off the shelf AEE parts. Color was gorgeous in person.

The Man Himself....Dave Brackett!

2011-10-10T13:55:00.000-07:00

Dave is the genius behind the most famous AEE bikes. He designed and built all your favorites. Yes, Tom McMullen was the face of AEE but Dave and a handful of other employee's were the guys that made it happen. I had the pleasure of spending some time this weekend with Dave at his home. We worked on a personal project of mine and it was an honor and pleasure to be able to work with him. Dave and I worked at AEE at the same time. Though i didn't interface with him very much you couldn't help but be aware that he was the guy that had built the bikes and designed an amazing amount of the parts. We talked all day and in to the night about AEE and all that went in to the creation of the magic that it was.
He is still building amazing creations and has a garage and barn full of them. I highly recommend you read his articles:
http://www.hotrodhotline.com/feature/guestcolumnists/DavidBrackett/
http://www.bikerhotline.com/guestcolumnists/dbrackett/
http://www.brackettracing.com/

My man LENNY!

2011-10-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

I rode 600 miles from Napa to Needles earlier this year on my Road Star (work in progress) to see my long time friend and fellow AEE Choppers work mate, Lenny Cenotti. Other than Tom and Rose he worked at AEE longer than anyone. He was the parts manager and worked the front counter nearly all the time. He devoted a lot of time and effort to the company and was there until the very end when it was just he and Rose. Along the way he and his bike were featured in some articles including a couple of runs that AEE participated in. He was a friend to Tom and Rose (he has a blog dedicated to Tom). Later on he worked for Rose's motorcycle magazine and unfortunately was injured in a motorcycle accident during what was called the Three Flags Run (he was parked on the shoulder of the road and got hit by a guy on a bike with sidecar). His injuries were substantial and long lasting, casuing him problems to this day. Though the decades since the accident have been so difficult it would have destroyed a lesser man Lenny has flourished. He always puts forth a happy and kind word to me. He trained himself in the computer world and runs his own small business out of his home. We had some wonderful times at AEE and after and if I got nothing else from AEE I got my friend.

Wing Tank

2011-09-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

This wing tank is an AEE clone built by Acu-Weld. Dimensionally it is a bit different and holds more fuel than ours did. It's layout isn't exactly the same but close. Wing tanks you either love or hate and you have to be real careful what you put them on. On some choppers it looks perfect others it looks like an abortive after thought.
Acu-Weld was actually SMC/Acu-Weld which eventually became V-Twin parts.
The very first wing tank was built by Dave Brackett of AEE Choppers and put on our bike named "Really" which was a Honda 350 chopper in 1969. Good luck finding a Honda 350 chopper that pre-dates that!

The birth of the name AEE

2011-09-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a cover from a car show that Tom's 32 was on the cover of. Inside was an advertisement for Auto Electric Engineering. Tom used the business license for Auto Electric Engineering when he formed AEE Choppers. Now you know the one and only story of how the name came about.

Tom's 32 with blown Ford 427

2011-09-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

this shot is of tom's 32 with it's last motor in it. He went nuts and it had 850hp on pump gas. Proved too much for the frame, just over kill but damn what an engine and ride!

Blown Sporty

2011-09-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

This is decent picture of the Magnuson blower on our Sportster kit bike (though in black and white you can tell it has the shitty ass brown seats on it. AEE sold those and then even some in denim, poor kit bike ended up with both on it at various times). It also has one of the first 2 in to 1 exhausts on it. Actually a muffler adapted to fit our exhaust system. Again this bike was a mule for a tremendous amount of parts. When this bike was built it was normally aspirated then quickly morphed in to having a Weber carb and Joe Hunt magneto on it, then the blower.

The manifold for the Weber and the blower were the work of Jerry Magnuson and I believe this was the very first commercial application of his design. It worked well and was reliable. If any one out there has one of the AEE/MPD Weber manifolds I'd love to have it!

Corvair Trike

2011-09-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

AEE Choppers "Corvair Trike"

By Dave Brackett and Jim Clark

In early 1968, Tom McMullen and Jim Clark were looking for a new project. There were a few three wheelers around that used automotive motors, VW and Corvair were examples, but they decided to build a style never done before. They utilized a Corvair engine with an automatic trans, but with a twist. The motor was pointed forward, not to the rear.

Tom started on a framework using mostly round tubing, and utilized a Harley neck. The tubing fit around the much larger motor, terminating in the rear similar to a Harley trike. After making some modest engine modifications and adding a small master cylinder to operate the corvair rear brakes, three seat frames were made, one in the center and two over the rear wheels.

Now the hard part started. There was considerable custom machine work needed to reverse the rear end rotation, when the rear end was flipped over. The rear suspension was converted to rigid. Tom farmed this work out to some machine shop who knew Corvairs, and he proceeded with other tasks. Jim worked on routing oil lines and external modifications to allow the reverse of the transaxle.

Body panels were formed and the bike was sent to Molly for paint. Upon return, seats were fabricated by Whitey Morgan and installed. Upsweep style exhaust pipes were used and modified to fit the Corvair. An AEE 20 inch over stock springer front end was installed with small spool front wheel and hub, to finish the package.

By late 1968, all the pieces were complete and the three wheeler was finished. This trike was an immediate success, bringing AEE much attention. The AEE Corvair Trike was entered in the 1969 Oakland Roadster Show and won the Best In Show Sweepstakes Award. The trike continued to be featured in AEE advertising and featuring new products for many years.

seat and pad

2011-09-19T08:45:00.000-07:00

here are some shots of one of our seats and pads, very popular combo back in the day but WAY less than comfortable!

Shotgun!

2011-09-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice shot of our Supersport withe Tom's shotgun carrier mounted to the springer. The shotgun was a sawed off 12 gauge (legal length) that we kept on the wall behind the cash box. Tom actually rode around a few times that I am aware of with this on the bike. Got pulled over and asked about it but since it wasn't loaded (on the bike, it was on the wall) not much they could do. I'm pretty sure for a very short time we sold the shotgun holder, I keep searching as my memory says we did but I can't find a catalog with it in it or else I am just missing it.

The Supersport was a very interesting bike. Very long and narrow, fit Tom well as he was small. proportions were just right. It like all of our bikes ended up being a parts mule for new products, many pictures exist of this bike with a variety of parts put on it.

AEE springer and mini drum on a Denvers bike

2011-09-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures at the 40th Anniversary Street Chopper party. This bike had just been found supposedly and was in unaltered condition. The owner did not know that was an AEE springer until I proved it to him by finding our logo etched on the bottom of the triple tree. then I noticed it was our AEE brake too! I made his day. I posted a few pictures once before but these are a bit better I believe.

AEE Choppers web site!!!

2011-08-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

At long last we are getting our web site put together. We only have a few pages so far. It will be expanding rapidly in a short time. Check it out:

www.aeechoppers.com

BIG 4

2011-08-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

This is our Honda 750. Tom didn't want to get in to Japanese or British bikes too much but Dave Brackett saw to it we did. He designed and built this frame. Square glide front end and our fiberglass Sporty tank, tall king and queen seat but most importantly was the pipes which were AEE. Those things sounded wicked plus hell there was 4 of them. Very nice bike, very reliable BUT it had the ugliest damn paint job on it. Molly did it for us but I'm not sure where the design came from. I mean the paint was the usual flawless Molly work but man was it ugly. However, if you go back to 1972 and look at paint on some of the bikes maybe it isn't all that ugly. Just not up to AEE standards I didn't think.

Very early Big Twin pictures

2011-08-22T08:25:00.000-07:00

Ran across these pictures of Dave Brackett and Jim Clark (and a third guy I can't identify) working over Big Twin very early in it's life. It just boggles the mind that Dave built this in 32 days! Look at the frame and bodywork involved alone. For god's sake 2 Sporty engines, auto trans and 45 Servicar rear end. Its just flat amazing. Then throw it all has to come apart for chrome and paint and then it wins the Oakland Roadster show!

The next generation

2011-08-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

This is a shot of my son Devin helping me jerk an Ironhead motor out of a hardtailed frame.....engine being used for an upcoming project. bought it as a half assed roller just for the engine. Look close and you will see a tiny little sliver of yellow on Devin's shirt....it's an AEE shirt of course!

Sissy bar on Really (1968 Honda 350)

2011-08-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is a closeup of the sissy bar on Really. The tips were Brass I believe. The wheels on the bike were Parkerized a goldish color to match the paint and brass pieces. This is the very first chopper Dave Brackett built for AEE after he went to work there.

Tom and Deanna

2011-08-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Tom McMullen and his last wife Deanna. Picture taken at a car show somewhere.

AEE mono girder

2011-08-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here is an AEE mono girder on bike that is in Japan. You won' t see many of these.Most girders have two legs but ours was only one and square tube too.

Cover

2011-08-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite catalog covers.....left to right...The Shovelhead (purple bike) , the Kit Bike Sportster (yellow bike), the Honda 750 (white bike) , The Supersport (red bike).

Rose McMullen on the left, then Pam, Big Vicki (we had a little one too) and can't remember the last one....all worked in the office. And of course Tom McMullen leaning on the Continental Mark.

AEE mini drum brake

2011-08-02T08:29:00.000-07:00

this is our mini-drum. Many others out there but only one similar to this one. Hallcraft made one that was similar. You can tell the difference as on the small spool side of ours each spoke has its own hole. On theirs its a slotted affair to take two spokes, so instead of 36 holes it has 18 slots.. Neither one would stop your chopper. They were produced solely with the idea of meeting the letter of the law which said after, I believe 1970, you had to have a front brake. this one is in very good condition but is being stripped and sent to get fresh chrome. Shoes will be relined with modern brake lining materials and new Barnett cable will be made for it.

A nice AEE sissy bar

2011-07-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

This is a later sissy bar that AEE produced. Our original selction was fairly small but grew a lot over the years. this bar is untouched from 40 years ago and note how good the chrome still is.

Early bars did not have the AEE logo stamped in, indeed they had no markings. I do know I was always amazed at the depth of the chrome we got from Orange county Chrome. Quite often I inspected parts as they returned from chrome and there was very little that ever got sent back. The inspection process was performed with each piece after we removed them from the newspaper they came back to us in (hey it was 1970-71, newspaper was the packing material of choice). we would visual and run our hands over the item then in some cases pack them in plastic (each seat was in plastic as an example) then put on the shelf. sissy bars and handlebars were built and shipped in such quantities that they had individual racks for each bar type. It meant for a pretty extensive inventory when you consider most of the handlebars came in 7/8" and 1" and sissy bars for both rigid and swing arm models!

Dave's new sidehack!

2011-07-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Dave Brackett our designer and engineer at AEE has taken his VW drag bike and adapted a sidehack to it for street use. Typical for Dave its forward thinking and well made. Check out his springer, its a piece of art and he builds it all himself. Notice also that the VW engine is in the front. think about that for a minute....takes some real work and ingenuity to make that work. Oh, and the faux western town in the shot he built in on his property too!

Be different!

2011-07-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

USS Angler

2011-06-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

Tom was in the Navy and this is the sub he was on. It is an older fleet boat that saw service in WW2, diesel powered. He supposedly had a nickname of "Tweets" as one of his job was sounding the boatswain's call or pipe on the loudspeaker system.

tom's 32 before it was his!

2011-06-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken in 1956, believe a guy named Don Hudson owned the car at that time. Work was being done on the car at a shop.

A seat I have

2011-06-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

This is a 40 year old AEE seat I came across (and bought) and it's perfect!!! Check it out, it even has the part number sticker attached to it. This shows you how good the seats really were. I also found a real AEE king and queen seat (lots of knock offs out there) but its in much worse condition and I will probably have to get it recovered.

Tom's 32 is now a model from Danbury Mint!

2011-06-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

Toms' 32 is now available as a model! This is an actual photo of the model, its perfect!

The Danbury Mint is proud to introduce the Limited Edition McMullen Roadster, a perfect 1:24 scale replication of Tom McMullen's roadster exactly as it appeared on the cover of Hot Rod. This brand new replica captures every detail of the stunning '32 Highboy. Production of this amazing model will take place this year only and this one-of-a-kind tribute to a truly historic hot rod will be gone before you know it!

Tom's house

2011-06-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

If you follow the link you can find an ad about the house that Tom had just finished before he died. He and his wife never got to live in it. It is in Buena Vista Colorado. Tom loved old mines and often went out to them in the California desert so he built this house to be like an old mine.
http://tomcatranch.com/

Tom's 32 in 1961

2011-06-09T10:03:00.000-07:00

This is Tom's famous 32 in 1961 at Pomona. It is a metalflake green that didn't work out so well.

Kit bike engine

2011-05-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the AEE Sportster kit bike engine. When this bike was originally assembled in the prototype department it had this engine in it without the Joe Hunt mag and Weber carb. As the kit bike was coming together a "performance division" was established at AEE. to that end we put these two items on this build. Later on one of the very first Magnuson superchargers showed up on it. It became probably our best "mule" for parts. Over the couple of years it had many different parts and accesories designed for it and installed on it. It ended up in multiple stories and ad's in Street Chopper. To see it in the original form, no paint or chrome, check out the June 1971 issue Street Chopper. Also note that AEE pioneered fully chroming engines with the Mindbender knucklehead. At that time common thought was the engine would overheat if plated.

Pink Floyd

2011-05-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

Dave Brackett our esteemed engineer and designer at AEE recently forwarded me this picture of one of four choppers built for Pink Floyd for the 1974 European tour. I am just getting infoon them. The current owner of this bike is a guy named Laurent who is French and currently living in Germany.This is the only picture I have so far but for sure the sissy bar, springer, risers and handlebar are AEE....perhaps the front brake and seat too! As I get more information I'll update.

Lenny

2011-04-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Rode my bike 1,200 miles to Needles from Napa and back to see Lenny AEE's one and only parts manager this last weekend. He is doing well and we spent hours talking old times both at AEE and of times he and I have had as friends. He is recovering well from a long spell of physical ills and is even talking about getting well enough to ride again! We talked a bit about a new project I am working on (no details yet). It was wonderful seeing him again. Picture is of Lenny in the lead on his Shovel with Tom and Rose on the purple Shovelhead.

The Corvair Trike and Ed Roth

2011-03-29T11:46:00.000-07:00

Tom on the Corvair trike with Ed Roth in the background with his trike. Tom's Kuncklehead "The Mindbender" was bought from Ed. This picture is from a staged article for Street Chopper very early on (1969). The build of the Corvair was featured in Cycle Guide over a handful of issues, same for the Mindbender as tom at that time was a contributor to the magazine. Corvair trike was a beast, fired right up and you could wheelie it at will pretty much. Unlike most trikes of that era that used Corvair or VW power the engine is out front.

Love this bike!

2011-03-22T09:16:00.000-07:00

this was our Sporty, called the Supersport. Frigging great looking bike, killer paint by Molly. Built by Dave Brackett and others at AEE. Showed what you could do with a Sporty.

Old stuff

2011-03-08T07:45:00.000-08:00

This is an ad from back when AEE was just a chopper shop in Buena Park. Check out the prices, those were the days! From this grew the parts and publishing empires.

At the Salt Flats

2011-03-08T07:41:00.000-08:00

This is when Leo Payne ran the famous Turnip Eater for AEE. Bike is in the national motorcycle museum, still painted red, white and blue but the AEE that was on it has been removed. That is Tom's Cessna 310 painted by Molly and our ladies dressed to thrill! Showman to the end Tom staged all this for the magazine and for advertising. Leo was a nice guy. Unreal to stand beside that bike running on nitro while at full tilt on the dyno!

Tom and the Supersport

2011-02-24T10:07:00.000-08:00

This is a shot of Tom and Jim Clark doing a chain repair on the Supersport while on a trip. You will note the rear wheel on the bike, its a cast spoke wheel. It's been argued that AEE was the first to produce these for the chopper aftermarket. As I understand it they did 50 wheels on the first run but I have no info beyond that. Interesting as at that time cast wheels were not on production bikes.

Shops

2011-02-23T10:28:00.000-08:00

this is the second shop, it was on Burton Place and is where I started to work for AEE. It was at the end of a culdesac and across the street was a company called Fluidmaster. They made toilet valves of all things. in many of the older issues of Street Chopper the bikes were shot on the street and you can see either empty fields or Fluidmaster in the background. The shop and production area's were very crowded, showroom was tiny and so on. AEE was busting at the seams and we soon moved over to the next and last shop in Placentia not far away. The front door was one side of the glass but the other side opened too as the bikes were behind it. My very first day I had to back in our Shovelhead and I dropped it in the doorway as the door started to close on it. Luckily I stuffed myself between the bike, ground and door and saved it from damage. I had turned the front end too sharply and paid the price. Scared the heck out of me.

Early catalogs

2011-02-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

In the early catalogs things were very crude as you can see. They shot this on a piece of corrugated with stick on letters. As time went by many of these lights got discontinued. We bought many of these small parts from companies such as Hap Jones.

wing Tank

2011-02-15T09:45:00.000-08:00

Dave Brakett came up with this while building the Honda 350 "Really' . He says he just took some metal and started bending it as he had never made one before.

Soon the tank was for sale it was such a hit especially after it showed up on our Shovelhead. Unfortunately not many bikes were designed very well around this tank. Many of them it looked tacked on. Not to mention it was only one gallon capacity. Cool looking but not real practical. if you run across one I need it for my collection!

AEE's first bikes

2011-02-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot on the cover of the first issue of Street Chopper of the Mindbender and the Corvair Trike. the knuckle was the bike that began AEE. Tom got hit on it and started making parts while recovering. One of the first if not the first motorcycle/chopper with a FULLY chromed engine. Trike was built and won the 1969 Oakland Roadster Show (AEE won it the following year with Bog Twin our 5 wheeler). Mindbender eventually ended up with low turnouts pipes and then a megaphone when it got sold off in 1971. My favorite bike up until then.

A RANT!

2011-02-09T15:29:00.000-08:00

I'm getting real tired of all the parts out there being represented as AEE and they aren't. Much of it is not intentional. Others I'm not so sure about.
I would ask that anyone that wonders about an AEE part check it with someone that has an old catalog, or email me and I'll try to help. I'd like to keep this stuff pure! I'll say it again...its all about this:

My buddy Lenny

2011-02-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

Lenny was the parts manager and became my friend and still is. This posed shot was our idea of a security system. Lenny, cuffed to the Mindbender with our shotgun in hand. What you can't see is the .38 in a shoulder holster. We kept the shotgun on the wall right behind the counter so you could see it. What you didn't see is the .38 or the 9mm in the cash drawer. It kind of cleared up the idea of ever ripping AEE off for some cash. Incredibly though one day some dude stole a springer out of the showroom (off the display rack) while Lenny was in the warehouse getting some parts. He walked right past our security guard outside! Also below is a drawing of Lenny done by the guy that did the cartoons in Street Chopper, can't remember his name right now.

Our shops

2011-02-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

AEE opened up in Buena Park, moved to Anaheim to a larger facility and then on to Placentia in 1971 to an even bigger place. Our final location had 4 buildings totaling I believe 40,000 plus square feet. To give you some idea of how big that was... some of the larger names in the chopper business even now have nothing that big 40 years later. We had it all in house...warehouse, retail parts sales, shipping, machining, welding, R & D, prototype, Street Chopper magazine etc.

tom's planes

2011-02-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is one of Tom's planes in the background. Molly painted it for him. Tom loved his planes and owned a number over the years including a jet fighter. This picture was taken in Las Vegas where Tom loved to fly on the weekends. He was the personification of a high roller back in those days. Many is the Friday our cash box would end up awful empty at the end of the day and it just happened to coincide with Tom heading to Vegas. One time he brought back a wheelchair from Ceasar's Palace that he "acquired". We used to have fun doing wheelie's with it across the warehouse.

heartbreaker!

2011-01-31T15:56:00.000-08:00

This ad is from Hot Rod magazine late 69 early 70 or so. Tom was selling his world famous 32 Ford as he had lost interest when AEE took off. Later on he realized his mistake but was never able to repurchase it. It is arguably the most famous 32 there is. Cover of Hot Rod magazine, on album covers, in TV shows, won on the lakes and drag strip, the history is incredible. Luckily it was bought and restored at Brizio's a few years back and appears to be in goood hands. One day I was fortuante enough to sit with Tom for an hour while looking at the very issue of Hot Rod magazine that it was on the cover of. He talked non stop about the car as we sat on two AEE king and queen seats in the back of the warehouse.

Our AEE shop truck

2011-01-31T15:48:00.000-08:00

At some point not too long after Tom started Street Rodder magazine he took what had been our Dodge D100 shop truck and made it in to a project vehicle. Chopped, tubbed, blown big block in the rear, wheelie bars and so on plus flames and a hideous 70's gold fur looking interior. Not long ago it was up for sale on Ebay and here is a picture of it.

Me and Arlen

2011-01-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

This is from a couple years ago. I was down at Arlen's place in Dublin. We talked AEE and old times and I managed to get him to throw me a set of keys to a new Victory to go wring out.

Arlen is one of many that emulated the AEE formula for parts sales success. He used to buy some of our parts early on but he was always about designing and building his own stuff later. I was not a great fan of many of his bikes from the late 70"s on, just not my cup of tea. Early though he built a whole lot of nice bikes.

Amani 3

2011-01-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

Dave Brackett our engineer and designer at AEE continues to build wonderful machines. This is Amani 3 a conitnuation of a project from the 70's. You will note there is no visible frame....the exhaust pipes are part of the frame! Look close, lots of very nice touches on the bike. Here are some pictures and a link to a story about htis bike and Dave (don't miss Dave's long history of AEE at the beginning of this blog):

40th Anniversary bike

2011-01-05T16:48:00.000-08:00

Me with "Ruby" the Street Chopper magazine 40th anniversary chopper. I worked for AEE choppers and Street Chopper was part of our business. I even was on a back cover of Street Chopper and in a few issues back in the day.

Blown Sportster and brown seats

2011-01-05T10:23:00.000-08:00

This bike like all of them at AEE were rolling test bed's for our parts. If you follow the history of the bikes you will see them change subtley. Different front ends, lights, seats, exhaust etc. The blower on this was if not the first one of the very first Magnusson blowers that Jerry Magnusson put together. Damn wicked sounding with that blower whine.

AEE Corvair Trike back in the day

2011-01-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

You gotta get down with the hairdo's eh? Trike was a beast, it would wheelie pretty much at will. Nice wheelie bars out back that never get shown, it looked bad ass from behind.

Seats

2011-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Here are some of our seats. I thought the brown one's just flat sucked. But what did I know, sold a lot of them. T he small rear seat/pad we sold a ton of along with the one that went in front of it.

A frame that never was.......but it's very interesting...AEE Softail!

2011-01-05T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yup they had a Softail in 75. I spoke with Lenny about it as he was the parts manager to the very end and he doesn't remember ever selling one. I do know that one Sportster was built by AEE using this frame and it was featured in one of the nude catalogs. Beat Harley to the punch by nearly a decade.

Ad for the new nude catalog

2011-01-05T09:41:00.000-08:00

Late in AEE's life they went to a "nude" (topless) catalog to try to drive sales. I had left by then and I have the catalogs and they really should not have done that. Pretty lame actually plus at least one of them as I remember it had like newspaper quality paper instead of the prior high quality stuff. I never saw these two bikes in person.

Tom

2011-01-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Not sure where the first picture was taken but I assume in Toms' office. Second one is in his office with Robert Smith. Nice sideburns guys. Gotta tell you that he went through a phase of wearing really strange "hip" clothes. I'll never forget him walking in to the shop in real short leather shorts and grecian sandals with laces going up his calves and that was all. I tried not to laugh but that didn't work out so well. I'd love to have a picture of it but seriously doubt even he would pose for that.

AEE kit bike Sportster

2011-01-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

This is the kit bike prior to the blower being isntalled, running a Weber carb. By the way I used to have to rejet the Weber's that we sold so if you ever got one that wasn't quite right you can blame me! I had no clue what I was doing. LOL
The kit bike was all AEE parts though it was marketed as a CCI bike (CC Industries). CCI was a way for them to market the same parts at typically a lower price without anyone knowing. It also allowed the magazine (Street Chopper) to not just focus on AEE though in essence it was. CCI had a limited amount of parts offered and the kit bike was one of them. It was great fun pulling every single part for a chopper and shipping it to one guy!
We had 4 buildings and 2 faced one street and 2 faced the other so AEE's address was on one street and CCI and Street Chopper were on the other! Not much got by Tom when it came to ways to make money.

First issue of Street Chopper

2011-01-05T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Mindbender and Corvair trike graced the first issue.....not many original issues left out there but there are some copies....Street Chopper published a reprint some time ago. The Mindbender once it shed the tall pipes was one of the baddest rides ever. Looked incredible with dumps on it and sounded sick as hell. Never forget watching Tom fire that Knuck up. Tom was a very small guy and he could flat whip that thing in to firing in just a kick or two. My friend Lenny (our front counter parts manager) got to ride it once and I have envied him to this day.

A great cover for the catalog

2011-01-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite catalog covers. Tom and Rose with their Lincoln.....left to right...the Shovelhead, blown Sportster kit bike, Honda 750-4, Supersport.....shot in the parking lot at the shop......same yellow/gold and black colors as the company logo.....

My favorite ad of AEE's....

2010-10-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

This ad ran on the back cover of many issues of Street Chopper. It's me pretending I'm working on the Shovelhead. We shot it over in one of our other building, young lady worked in the front office at AEE. It is dark as it was shot in such a way to mimic night time. I hauled all the parts and boxes over along with the Shovelhead. Another great day at AEE for me!