Bobbers

[Spearfish]

So there is more to a bob job than taking a hacksaw to the rear guards, wrapping the exhaust, chucking away anything plastic that covers anything ugly and dealing to the colour scheme with a Mitre 10 rattle can?

Seriously though, Is it easy to over do the bob look and end up with more of a rat bike?
Not that I'm overly converse with the unofficial definition of either.....

[The Lone Rider]

Seriously though, Is it easy to over do the bob look and end up with more of a rat bike?

Rat bike is a description, not a genre of bike.

Many people associate "home built" as rat bike lookin.. or to be more specific, a rat bike must have been home built!

This is actually pretty inaccurate, as you can very easily turn a 2011 bike into a rat bike by riding it 40,000K without cleaning it, and patching up broken parts rather than replacing.

There are also a number of professional bike builders who purposely make their bikes to look ratty, but they are very good rides. There are also a number of home built bikes that joe somebody would assume are professionally built.

There is no such thing as overdoing a bobber. Anything overdone isn't a bobber - most likely would be better suited to either chopper, pro street, or street custom. Certainly a bobber will not have hard panniers (small saddlebags are ok), and shouldn't be billet barges, like all the guys who have large wallets in their pocket but little biker in their heart.

Bobbers should be bare bones. You can however under-do a bobber and it will look like a rolling chasis and a mock up engine (even though it can function on the road). They simply look unfinished, as opposed to stripped down, or raw.


To date, one of my bobbers being built has involved a lot of welding, machining, panel beating (wish I had an english wheel and auto hammer). The easiest part in the process was purchasing handlebars online, which still had to be drilled to fit the control units, and will eventually have all the chrome finished modified so it looks like brushed stainless. Even for what appears to be a very rough build, there has been little in the way of simply just cutting the rear fender in half, removing covers, and spray painting it out of a mitre 10 can


Few months out of date

[Scouse]

Rat bike is a description, not a genre of bike.

Many people associate "home built" as rat bike lookin.. or to be more specific, a rat bike must have been home built!

This is actually pretty inaccurate, as you can very easily turn a 2011 bike into a rat bike by riding it 40,000K without cleaning it, and patching up broken parts rather than replacing.

There are also a number of professional bike builders who purposely make their bikes to look ratty, but they are very good rides. There are also a number of home built bikes that joe somebody would assume are professionally built.

There is no such thing as overdoing a bobber. Anything overdone isn't a bobber - most likely would be better suited to either chopper, pro street, or street custom. Certainly a bobber will not have hard panniers (small saddlebags are ok), and shouldn't be billet barges, like all the guys who have large wallets in their pocket but little biker in their heart.

Bobbers should be bare bones. You can however under-do a bobber and it will look like a rolling chasis and a mock up engine (even though it can function on the road). They simply look unfinished, as opposed to stripped down, or raw.


To date, one of my bobbers being built has involved a lot of welding, machining, panel beating (wish I had an english wheel and auto hammer). The easiest part in the process was purchasing handlebars online, which still had to be drilled to fit the control units, and will eventually have all the chrome finished modified so it looks like brushed stainless. Even for what appears to be a very rough build, there has been little in the way of simply just cutting the rear fender in half, removing covers, and spray painting it out of a mitre 10 can


Few months out of date

Am I bobbered do I look Bobbered

[Spearfish]

Most customs seem to be a shitload of work especially if your trying to get a clean minimalist look from parts of a bike the manufactures cover up with plastic especially the wiring loom.

Dunno about the rat definition though, I would have described a rat as a road legal bucket. lol

[skippa1]

Few months out of date

I think I know the girl in the background......

[The Lone Rider]

Most customs seem to be a shitload of work especially if your trying to get a clean minimalist look from parts of a bike the manufactures cover up with plastic especially the wiring loom.

Indian Larry's view was why hide it? And described viewable mechanics of a motorcycle as "mechanization of the universe" or something along those lines. He was known for his old school cool bobbers and short choppers.

I think I know the girl in the background......

Funny you should say that, because a number of the photos on the wall are ones I took. Some of them girls aint shy.

[awa355]

Bobbers? The H2 isnt but still looks neat. The CX500 is not my taste, but full credit to the guy for having a go.