I NEED HELP!

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

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!!!!!

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

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!

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!

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.