"Brat-Style" Bikes.

I hate labels as much as, probably quite a bit more than, the next guy, but anything that helps us communicate can't be a bad thing.

does the world need fifty sub-genres of metal? probably not, but they're there. because people need a way to talk about things, i guess.

that probably doesn't translate too well to motorcycles. but if I can type one word instead of a sentence and have you know what I'm talking about I'm going to type that one word. because i hate typing.
 
Swagger said:
I disagree; think about it....if you're talking to a cage jockey who's sole experience with bikes was a brig's powered minibike, they don't have a clue what a bobber/cafe or brat style means. Not a clue. The only reason they'd recognize 'chopper' is because of the ridiculous shows on the Discovery Channel. They think Clip-ons are a lame ass kind of tie and a rearset is something bad that happens at the proctologist's office.

Anyone who know's anything about bikes will know what you have when they look at it.

I ride motorcycles.....
Click to expand...

You always change language depending on who your audience is. The audience here and a lot of motorcycle people (at least people into the custom scene) know that "bratstyle" means. So that's the most simple way of talking about it. When talking to other people you need to be more descriptive. Also the way language evolves isn't always logical. New words pop up and come to mean things by how they are used and what becomes the popular terminology. Loco's use of kleenex or xerox is a perfect example.

It's simple and it works.

I have seen a lot of people saying bikes like the Heiwa bikes are bratstyle however, and there I disagree.

http://www.heiwa-mc.jp/

cb250rs002_top.jpg


Now that's an argument.
 
Ethanol said:
......Loco's use of kleenex .......
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don't wanna know
don't wanna know
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don't wanna know
don't wanna know
don't wanna know
don't wanna know
don't wanna know
don't wanna know
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eww...
 
never mind that.. you should see what I use the Xerox for!!.. ;D

"some things you just can't unsee"
 
Ethanol said:
This is closeish... not mine but similar to where I'm going. Minus the bars.

custom06.jpg
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SO it being pink, would that be classified as a Pratbike? - Pink-Brat?.. ;D another whole new genre of bike based on "a small Japanese single or twin with cut down seat and fenders that somewhat resembles a traditional bobber" BUT pink?!!.

this is all far too confusing.. ???
 
Ethanol said:
This is closeish... not mine but similar to where I'm going. Minus the bars.

custom06.jpg


Or this:

35852_1373654733869_1006825394_30899042_5977706_n.jpg


Not pink though. Pics soon!
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love peanut tanks...you're going pink? I was given a tank so i changed my whole bike up...it's still a process but hopefully firing it back up this weekend:

DSC01028 by jeffe suarez, on Flickr
 
Swagger was right when he pointed that true cafe style bikes were a function of a time and a place. There have been a few built since then that follow that same ethos of performance and handling, but even back in the sixties there were lots of Honda, James, Frances Barnett, Suzuki, AJS POS little bikes with big tanks and clip ons etc that were slower than stock and uncomfortable to ride.

Today's equivalent is a rce replica and alls port bikes today look like their racing brothers and all go way faster than any of us could sensibly use.

But that brings us back to what the heck to call these particular abominations with fat wheels, no performance etc. Do we have so little imagination that we can't come up with a label other than to claim they are like the ones made by Mr Bratt in Kyoto. He simply followed a similar style to many others.

There must be a better name for the general bobber style, or should they all be classified as bobbers because they fit that description? Just because we say they are Cafe racers doesn't make them cafe racers now does it? Oh I forgot. That's exactly what the republicans have been doing for years, and it seems to work for them.

Seriously though - Neo bobbers. It has to be.
 
teazer said:
Swagger was right when he pointed that true cafe style bikes were a function of a time and a place. There have been a few built since then that follow that same ethos of performance and handling, but even back in the sixties there were lots of Honda, James, Frances Barnett, Suzuki, AJS POS little bikes with big tanks and clip ons etc that were slower than stock and uncomfortable to ride.

Today's equivalent is a rce replica and alls port bikes today look like their racing brothers and all go way faster than any of us could sensibly use.

But that brings us back to what the heck to call these particular abominations with fat wheels, no performance etc. Do we have so little imagination that we can't come up with a label other than to claim they are like the ones made by Mr Bratt in Kyoto. He simply followed a similar style to many others.

There must be a better name for the general bobber style, or should they all be classified as bobbers because they fit that description? Just because we say they are Cafe racers doesn't make them cafe racers now does it? Oh I forgot. That's exactly what the republicans have been doing for years, and it seems to work for them.

Seriously though - Neo bobbers. It has to be.
Click to expand...

why not: locO stylE... I like the sound of that. ;D
 
I think Teazer misses the point of the bikes all together.

what the heck to call these particular abominations(??) with fat wheels, no performance etc.
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First, none of these things are built as "performance" bikes. Anyone with half a clue can see that clearly and without any doubt. Nobody in his or her right mind is going to look at either of those pink bikes and think "Hoo boy! Ima gonna tear up the canyons on THIS baby!".......
Do you? If so, your parameters for a 'performance oriented' bike are vastly different than mine.
So let's see, sub-500cc thumper for the most part...not gonna breaking an R1's heart anytime soon.
Standard (more or less) seating position....hardly a 'performance oriented' style is it.
Tire choices obviously made with other than racing/canyon carving in mind. Hmm.......
Starting to see a pattern? I am......

Not built to shred....

Second and more important.
Abomination? Seriously? (modified somewhat to be less vitriolic) Just because you see something as an 'abomination' most certainly DOES NOT mean that I or anyone else does. Or should be compelled to.

Neo-bobber indeed. Appending 'Neo' onto something is about the silliest thing I have heard of in recent years....and there's been some awfully silly shit lately.

Neo; a combining form meaning “new,” “recent,” “revived,” “modified,” used in the formation of compound words: neo-Darwinism; Neolithic; neoorthodoxy; neophyte.

By your logic(sic) everything should have 'neo' pasted to the beginning of it's name. There was once a sportbike so anything that's called a 'sportbike' now should be a neo-sportbike. This place should be 'Do The Ton Neo-Caferacers'. Neo-chopper, neo-bobber, neo-hotrod, neo-food, neo-bs.
 
I think the bottom line is if you (the general you) want to call them something different you're swimming up stream. It's too late. You can't change or stop a cultural thing like this. They're just gonna be called bratstyle until something else comes along.
 
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