<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Az2lf_0wCjEE4400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Az2lf_0wCjEE4400" width="828" height="552" ><figcaption>In photos Porras, 75, poses on a classic long style chopper.</figcaption></figure>The owner of Denver’s Choppers Mondo Porrras started building custom bikes in San Bernardino in 1967 with the late Denver Mullins, manufacturing their distinct style of long down tube stretch frames.Student reporters James Moore and Amico Fondi caught with him recently at his Reno shop on Airway Drive.His bikes were featured in dozens of magazines, earning him awards along the way such as “Best Custom Fabricated Bike Builder of the Year” and a spot in the chopper Hall of Fame.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2r85MO_0wCjEE4400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2r85MO_0wCjEE4400" width="828" height="552" ></figure>“I’ve been dong this for almost 55 years,” he said. “When I got into building bikes with Denver, it was only real bikers [who] had choppers and bikes. You know it wasn’t your accountant or banker or anything else, it was more blue collar guys [who] were real bikers, with the bike clubs and so on and so forth. It was a culture onto itself.”With the weather changing, late fall and winter is the prime time to get to work on motorcycle upgrades for aesthetic and performance enhancements.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=082euE_0wCjEE4400" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=082euE_0wCjEE4400" width="828" height="552" ></figure>“To do this and to do it right, you first need to have the desire and the heart to do it, then I recommend taking a machine shop class and a welding class,” Porras concluded.Reporting and photos by James Moore and Amico Fondi shared with Our Town Reno </div></body>

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Keep Reno Rad: Denver's Choppers Keep Legacy Going

The owner of Denver’s Choppers Mondo Porrras started building custom bikes in San Bernardino in 1967 with the late Denver Mullins, manufacturing their distinct style of long down tube stretch frames. Student reporters James Moore and Amico Fondi caught with him recently at his Reno shop on Airway Drive.