Sugar Bear

Past and Present

Sugar Bear's Shop opened its doors as a commercial business in Los Angeles in 1971.  The intent at that time, as now, was to produce street rideable choppers and products, not show creations.  The belief that all bikes were meant to have scrapes, chips, burnt pipes, dents, style, and smiles-per-miles has always been the shop's aim.  In 1972, it was apparent that a quality springer was needed to reflect our customers' desires for the long look, and it would need to be strong and stylish.  At a time when most springers were tubing, the Sugar Bear Springer was constructed out of solid steel, the triple trees were offset for greater turning radius, and both sets of legs (front and back) were to be made from round material only, resulting in a clean and simple design.  Our first springers were made in lengths up to 18 inches over stock (mild by today's standards).  As the demand for longer springers grew, Sugar Bear knew he had to figure out a way to make the forks manageable and easy to ride.  Heavy flop, lack of front suspension, or excessive pogo were unacceptable and take all enjoyment out of riding a long fork.  The cure was different rockers for different lengths of forks to adjust for the rake and trail needed for long springers and by 1974, Sugar Bear Springers were available in lengths up to 40 inches over stock.  As a result, Sugar Bear has been able to set up bikes with long forks with zero flop, smooth ride (no pogo), and handling thought only to be available for much shorter forks (ask the rider who has one).  Also, at this time, Sugar Bear designed bearing cups for iron head Sportsters so the same forks for big twins could be bolted directly onto the Sportsters' smaller frame neck without any alterations to the forks or the neck.  The same cups are still in production today, allowing riders of the older models to take advantage of current forks and braking systems for their front suspensions.