bobber questions.

mikeadamstattoo

Coast to Coast
ive been gaining interest in bobbers. not over the top choppers, but classic looking bobbers.
a few questions i had..

what are peoples thoughts on those 200cc hardknock bobbers. the ones that are shipped to you in pieces? the thought of completely assembling a motorcycle sounds pretty cool, even if its just a 200cc to putt around on now and again.

the pros of that i think are that every piece is new and youre not buying someone else's neglect and problems.

or, would it be better to find another 70's cb or gs or xs or whatever and bob that.

my next question is, can it be a bobber without welding a hard-tail on? the roads around detroit are terrible at best.

could i basically leave the stock shocks on and just chop the extra off the frame in the back and mount a good solo seat. as well as repainting the frame, maybe a new tank, a lamplight headlight and some drag bars and calling it my bobber?
 
Mike, I think you're getting back to the "definition" of a bobber. I was told that a bobber was something that had extra weight cut off to make it go faster. If I recall, this was started by war vets that got surplus military Harleys and couldn't mod the engines. Which by that definition means as soon as you cut the rear end of the fender, you've got yourself a bobber. It's all a definition, more YOUR definition, than anything else. Something about buying a 200cc bike though - if that's how much it weighs when you buy it, how can it be considered "bobbed"? Kinda like the Queen of England, more of a title and a show. Know what I'm sayin?
 
ah ok. well i was saying about those 200cc guys. i just like how vintage they look. have you seen them? if i DID buy another 70s bike id make it look like this as much as possible without getting rid of my shocks. here are a few of those 200cc models.

bobber_1_001.jpg

actually this ones a 125
Kikker3.jpg
 
They do look pretty nice. Personally, I'd rather build than buy. I can understand why somebody would buy one though.

Sorry about that whole speech, didn't mean to sound like a high school history teacher!
 
well thats the thing with those. they dont come like that. you get it delivered in 4 boxes and NOTHING is assembled for you. you build it yourself. thats why i think theyre pretty cool.
 
if you want something small and fun build yourself a cb350/360 bobber

tc brothers offers a d.i.y. hardtail kit that works for any bike

i've heard bad things about getting hard knocks registered for road use
 
yeah ive looked into it, but luckily michigan is a very laid back state when it comes to that stuff and its one of the easier states to title those in. ill wait till my cafe build is done and see where i stand money-wise and look into getting a good running 350/360
 
what first made me LOOOVE classic solo seat bikes was this beauty...

Classic.jpg


and i dooo love cafes. but im starting to like these classic bobbers ALOT.
 
i guess what it comes down to is..

those 200cc kits are $2500 and a pain to register.

i could spend a quarter or a third on that on a solid running 70s bike. and and build something with alot more heart. im sold.
im at a stage now where my gs COULD go either the cafe or the bobber way. butttt i have been dead set on making it a cafe. errgh
 
A bobber has as much stuff removed from it as possible that is not needed or necessary but otherwise pretty much stock. I.E. bobbed fenders, unnecessary brackets removed, any luggage etc etc.

This was started in the post war day when veterans would come back with a Harley that gun racks and all sorts of other crap that severly hindered the performance of the bike. and they made it much more comfortable to ride as well as allowing better performance through the weight loss.

Hard tail has nothing to do with it being a bobber, unless your bike didn't come with one. If it didn't and you add one, it's a chopper. Pre war bikes were hardtails and that's why the original bobbers had hardtails, not because they sat in a garage and thought it would be cool, softails weren't what they were working with.

If it's hand built/fabbed from nothing it's a custom. If you cut your bike and added a hardtail to a bike that was originally a softail, it's a chopper, if the bike is bare bones with nothing added to it to make it flashy or cool it's a bobber. The term is VERY misused in todays trendy society.
 
The term "bobber" came from the act of "bobbing" fenders. If you look at early the flathead harleys (which is what they built for military use, the WL and WC models, as well as civilian) which is what most of the guys in the 40s and early 50s built because you could buy them as military surplus for nothing, the rear fender wraps around the tire. There was a hinge in the rear fender, that allowed you to get the wheel off. First thing a lot of guys did, was cut that hinge and rear half of the fender off to save weight (its actually quite heavy. my buddys 1943 WL rear fender weighs a TON.) Then you cut down the front fender to save some weight also. The nickname for these bikes, was "bob-jobs". Eventually once guys really started racing, and hillclimbing these machines, they would start stripping more and more off. The whole "chopper" deal didnt really start until the 60s with some of the So-Cal guys, and clubs. Ive been lucky enough to meet some of the guys who were part of the scene way back when, and all the guys running out to buy rigid frames crack them up. A lot of them told me that there bikes had rigid frames, only because an old WL frame was so much cheaper than everything else. Once they had money, they always upgraded to a bike with suspension (unless it was a race only bike). Dont get me wrong, I like the look of a rigid bike, I just think its funny how there considered "old school" and cost a mint, even though originally they were used out of necessity, not for their styling.
 
well if stripping stuff off a bike to make it lighter is considered bobbing.
then going hard tail on my xs650 is bobbing it because the frame with hard tail weighs considerably less than when it was a soft tail ;)
 
I've been building and riding traditionally styled bikes for 22 years. Want some from the saddle tips?

Low bars suck. Yes I'm building a cafe right now but... My regular ride has 15" rise bars. It has a solo seat by me, stock pan covered with 2 layers of blue camping pad and water buffalo hide. Full rear fender off of an FL Shovelhead. For now a stock front fender, may be replaced by a lighter HD FX unit this spring. Fenderless looks cooler, but I live in western Washington ( I have gills).

Small fuel tanks double suck. My 2.5 gallon Japanese clone of a 1950s WR Harley dirt track tank looks cool as hell. But I can't go more than 100 miles before refueling. With stock bars and no front fender I got as much as 85 mpg in town, with high bars and full fenders I get a lot less.

Rigids handle better once you get used to the rear end skipping in corners. But you better wear a back brace of some kind, I prefer heavy leather weight lifting belts. And carry a cane... I'm 37 and have the spine of a 70 year old. If you hard mount the seat make sure your old lady has already had you fit for a wheel chair.

Be ready for a lot of attitude. The Whitworth versus metric cafe argument doesn't hold a candle to the SAE/Whitworth versus metric bobber/chopper battles.

Oh, my regular ride? A 1998 Suzuki Savage, which looks surprisingly English once the dorky cylinder head chrome is thrown in the scrap bin (where it belongs). Too bad it doesn't have a kicker...
 
The real problem is, those China built scooters and mini bikes and 50cc scooters are just junk. No two ways around it. The engine start burning oil, the metal used in the framas is terrible, the electronics suck. They are junk. Not worth the money.Look around for an old Yami,Hondr,orZuki. You will be much better off. Perhaps a project bike..
 
I know this thread is a week cold , but I wanted to throw something out there.

I agree with JRK and Louie about the Kickers being a glorified scooter. To me it seems alot like the guy who would put a Ferrari kit on a Ferraro. It looks kinda cool, and he did it himself. Its probably even fun to drive. But at the end of the day its a far cry from the real thing.(And I bet it dosen't pull the same kinda tail!)

Anyway, I'd be a whole lot more inclined to put a homebrewed custom in the "chop/bob" catagory, no matter what the make. Thats just me though. What I would suggest is a used , smaller CC , cruiser bike. Yeh, there the potential for buying someone elses problem but it has its upsides too. You get a (hopefully) running bike with a tittle that you can ride in betwween weekend chopping sesions.

For example, my buddy Buzzard bought this 86 savage for $400. It took about $50 to get it running. Skip to a 6 months and about another $500 and he's tearing up the streets on this;

Brians02.jpg

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Very nice indeed. I've always liked the Savage for it's super clean lines. That motor is a thing of beauty. Always wondered why not many people make customs or cafes out of it.
 
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