We need to revive this thread! I'm seriously itching to take the 8-speed hub off the chopper and put it on a more traditional frame, and make a rat rod commuter/cargo bike out of it. How many rat rod cargo bikes do you see around?
My chopper rarely gets ridden anymore, and since I'm not going to do a long tour with it again, I can convert it to a more traditional 1 or 3 speed rear with a wider rim for the 3" tire.
However, an 8-speed bike with the dual-top tube setup would look awesome, especially with old bits and some cream tires! Hmm...