Custom-styled production choppers, the 2008 Big Bear Choppers Devil’s Advocate Chopper and ProStreet models, were introduced in 2002 and carried over for the succeeding years. The California-based company, which made custom bikes on a production line, fell victim to the recession and folded in 2011, but some of the company’s problems arose with a recall for faulty neck welds on some of its 2004 and 2005 bikes, including the Devil’s Advocate. The following year saw reworked welds, and later years’ models did not suffer the same problems.
The 2008 machines came with the company’s proprietary low-vibration Smooth 1638.7cc, air-cooled, four-stroke, V-twin engine made by S & S, paired with a Baker Drivetrain six-speed manual transmission. Weighing in at 700 pounds, these nine- foot-long (the Chopper is four inches longer than the ProStreet) machines have 3.8-inch telescopic front forks and a Progressive twin-sided swing arm rear suspension. Disc brakes in front and back provide stopping power. They ride on Metzeler tires, with a wide 300mm on the rear.
With a 40-degree rake and a six-inch backbone stretch, the Devil’s Advocate—both the Chopper and the ProStreet—sport classic chopper styling, though the Prostreet is supposed to be the easier-going, more comfortable and manageable ride. In fact, the company boasted that it was the most agile of all its motorcycles. The 5.9-gallon fuel tank is an essential style element, shaped to lead elegantly toward the low, 23-inch seat, where it arrives in a point.
Both models come in the same color options: black cherry, candy-red metallic, charcoal metallic, electric blue, firecracker red, gloss red, orange pearl, satin black, and silver metallic. A buyer ordered the color and graphic package of his choice. (Buyers always had the option of ordering unpainted parts and building their own bikes.) And of course the Devil’s Advocate comes with plenty of chrome too.