With his natural talent for riding , Danny ventured into Motocross at 16 and by 20 was competing in the extreme sport of FMX ( Freestyle Motocross ) to become a major force in the developing Swiss scene and a global FMX star . Then Danny had a huge practice crash that saw him in hospital for four months , a career ending injury .
“ I knew my competitive riding days were over , but I also knew I couldn ’ t re-train to work in an office . I needed to find something that would let me express myself . As soon as I could , I bought an old bike and started to modify it and what started as a hobby soon turned into a profession . In 2002 , I founded my Hardnine Choppers garage and I ’ ve been customising vintage motorcycles ever since . Bringing them back to life as roadworthy pieces of art .”
Now ranked among the best vintage bike builders worldwide , Danny needed his friends ’ help in the early days to learn the metalwork skills to be able to realise his creations . But soon his builds started to gain attention and the 2009 D ’ MX build gained praise in over 20 international magazines .
“ That was a real turning point for my career and Hardnine Choppers . The global attention the D ’ MX bike got was incredible . Soon I was being invited to custom shows and winning trophies in the big competitions .”
Danny is a major name in the custom bike world with fans in America asking for his autograph whenever he attends US shows . A big part of Danny ’ s appeal is that he never follows trends or gets stuck creating the same style of build . Whether you like café racers , flat trackers or classic choppers , Danny will have built something that will appeal to you . Including a beautiful 1931 Indian Scout which Danny built in 2012 .
“ For me , the Indian Scout is the best original looking bike ever . When I saw an early Indian Scout , the first Indian Motorcycle I had ever seen , I was blown away by the design and the technology that Indian Motorcycle had back in 1930 . Then , after seeing the movie ‘ The World ’ s Fastest Indian ’ it became my dream to be the proud owner of one and to build it up from scratch .”
Danny ’ s dream would come true when he was given the opportunity to buy an incredibly special 1931 Indian Scout 101 .
“ The amazing part was that the bike was owned by Hans Mack in Germany , a one-of-a-kind wall of death rider back in the day . When he sold it to me , Hans was 83 years old , and he was still riding it . I mean , being able to buy a bike from a legend like him with so much history just blew me away .”
Danny then had a serious decision to make , restore the bike as it was or customise it .
“ When you start researching what people have done with the Indian Scout 101 , like 99.9 % are in original
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