MAD DIGGERISH

Ness Nouveau Digger

Alot of the time, what you create when you’re young has a habit of coming back full circle to check in on you when you’re older. In the case of Darth Vader’s betrayal of the Jedi, it came back to bite him in the ass. The story about the Ness clan and the digger chopper is a lot happier, however.

According to legend, Arlen Ness brought the elements of the digger chopper style together after inspiration hit him at the drag races in the 1970s. Arlen was as deeply involved with the Frisco bikes as you can get, and there’s definitely a drag-racer look to your typical digger machine (long and low profile, mid- or rear-mount foot controls, extensive motor mods—you get the idea). Like their Frisco chopper cousins, diggers were narrow. That’s a key difference setting them apart from the wide tires you’d see on a drag racer.

—Darth Vader, Star Wars: A New Hope

By 1976, magazines such as Street Chopper had more and more fully realized digger bikes on their covers. Very long and low digger chops were svelte, with coffin or prism gas tanks teamed with girder front ends, wild paint, and, in many cases, lots of engraving on the cases and rocker covers. Combined with superchargers, turbo kits, racing carburetors, and motors foreign and domestic, these were the collective symptoms of digger fever.

To get the long and low look for the diggers, they were usually built with low gooseneck frames and would have a big rake to the front fork. The frames also had chopped backbones so that they could be lengthened for the long look. Lastly, there’s that curious name: digger. Back then, the dragsters that inspired these bikes were also called diggers.

Arlen Ness was so involved with the digger style that when Cory Ness started building his own iron in the early 1980s, his first Street Chopper cover bike, 1982’s “Turned Loose,” was a fully evolved digger chop. He’s built a lot of different stuff since then, obviously, and although diggers faded from popularity in the 1980s, they’ve been around here and there.

“PART OF REVISITING YOUR PAST ISN’T JUST TO SEE WHERE YOU’VE BEEN BUT TO SEE HOW IT’S INFLUENCED WHO YOU ARE NOW.”

THE ALL-NEW ARLEN NESS FORGED WHEEL LINE

We designed and tooled up our own forgings. Added world class machining with world class chrome and anodized finishes. Developed a cartridge type hub design that makes our wheels more concentric than anything else in the v-twin aftermarket. While the rest of the industry mounts an outdated log style hub, we changed the rules by meticulously sculpting every detail of our cartridge hubs and our industry first hub covers to finish the design all the way to the bearing. Check them out at www.arlenness.com

Which brings us to now. It’s been 36 years since Cory made Turned Loose. He’s not only learned the custom-bike business front to back, up and down, but his son Zach has joined both Cory and Arlen in the family business. When Marcus Cox, a close personal friend to Zach and the Ness family, came to them for a bike, the decision came down to create a modern interpretation of the digger style the Ness family defined back in the day.

Powered by a 124-inch S&S Evo V-twin, Marcus’ machine packs a ton of power like you’d expect in something rooted in dragbikes. Its profile is long and skinny, thanks to the tone set by the Ness rigid frame and its 3-1/2inch Ness wheels.

Both of those elements capture the digger essence, but the other aspects of the bike are a departure from the old style. Its curved gas tank is much closer to a pro street (the digger’s younger sibling), and those handlebars are wider than what you’d find on a 1970s digger chopper.

You’re also not going to find a bunch of engraving and gold leaf on this version. Part of revisiting your past isn’t just to see where you’ve been but to see how it’s influenced who you are now. Mazz Custom Paint did a tremendous job with the paint and striping on this nouveau digger, bringing a different style to it in the process. In a way, all of these changes challenge the classic notions of the digger and redefine it with modern styling. This bike is as much a look forward as it is back, and the prognosis for the future looks pretty good. HB

Specifications

GENERAL OWNER

Marcus Cox

SHOP Arlen Ness

SHOP PHONE 925-479-6300

WEBSITE arlenness.com

YEAR/MAKE/MODEL 2016/Arlen Ness/Digger

FABRICATION Arlen Ness

BUILD TIME Four months

ENGINE

YEAR/TYPE/SIZE S&S/124 Evo

BUILDER S&S

CASES S&S

CYLINDERS S&S

HEADS S&S

ROCKER BOXES S&S

CAMS S&S

THROTTLE BODY S&S

EXHAUST One-off Arlen Ness

AIR CLEANER S&S

TRANSMISSION

YEAR/TYPE 2016/Baker Drivetrain

GEARS Six-speed

CLUTCH Barnett

PRIMARY DRIVE Arlen Ness

FRAME

YEAR/TYPE 2016/Arlen Ness

RAKE/STRETCH Classified

SUSPENSION

FRONT END Arlen

WHEELS, TIRES, AND BRAKES

FRONT

BUILDER/SIZE Arlen Ness/23 x 3.5 in.

TIRE/SIZE Avon

CALIPERS Arlen Ness

ROTORS Arlen Ness

REAR

BUILDER/SIZE Arlen Ness 23 x 3.5 in.

TIRE/SIZE Avon

CALIPER Arlen Ness

ROTOR Arlen Ness

PULLEY Arlen Ness

FINISH/PAINT

COLORS Red and black

PAINT/GRAPHICS Mazz Custom Paint

PLATING/POLISHING High Luster

POWDERCOATING Daytec

ACCESSORIES

REAR FENDER Arlen Ness

GAS TANK Arlen Ness

GAUGES Arlen Ness

HANDLEBARS Arlen Ness

GRIPS Arlen Ness

MIRRORS Arlen Ness

HAND CONTROLS Arlen Ness

FOOT CONTROLS Arlen Ness

HEADLIGHT Arlen Ness custom painted

TAILLIGHT Arlen Ness

TURN SIGNALS Arlen Ness

LICENSE MOUNT Arlen Ness

SEAT Danny Gray