BUILDERS AND SELLERS OF BARE BONES, CLEAN, FAST, CHOPPERS AND BOBBERS
RESTORATIONS - MODIFICATIONS - CUSTOM BUILDS
Harley-Davidson
Motorcycles for Sale
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Chopped Harleys-Where It All Began-1946-1959
Harley 1%ers vs. The Nicest People - The 1950s
Harley-Davidson Dressers vs. Choppers-The 1960s
Chopped Harleys-Psychedelic Cycles-1960-1969
Harley-Davidson - Tora! Tora! Tora! - The 1970s
Chopped Harleys - Changing Times - 1970 -1979
Harley-Davidson RECLAIMED - The 1980s
Chopped Harleys - Against The Wind - 1980 - 1989
Chopped Harleys - The High Tech Era - 1990s
Harley-Davidson Rules - The 1990s
Harley-Davidson Customizing
American Chopper - The Fine Art of the Custom Motorcycle
BOBBER MOTORCYCLE
A Bobber is a
motorcycle that usually has had the front fender removed and the rear fender "bobbed" or made smaller. This
style of custom motorcycle took shape in the 1950's and continues to be built today. Bobbers are related to choppers
in that both represent a minimalistic approach where everything is stripped from a bike that is not readily needed.
This includes the characteristics of a stock frame and shortened rear fender.
History
of the Bobber
The bobber motorcycle came before any other type of custom motorcycle
that we see today. When servicemen started returning to the United States from overseas after World War II, they wanted bikes more like the European bikes they had seen. Also, the men learned many mechanical skills that they wanted to start putting to use. The men began forming biker clubs and eventually started tearing into their bikes and removing the fenders to make them seem lighter, like the European bikes.
Before there were any such thing as a chopper or even a chopper bobber, there was a simple bike, the Bobber.
Controversy About the Bobber Name
There is controversy over the true look of a bobber. Some say a true bobber must have small fatbobs,
floorboards, a bobbed stock rear fender (usually cut at the rear fender hinge), stock exhaust, and stock handle bars - anything
that is called a bobber that doesn't follow these standards is determined to be a shop chop or custom bike, not a bobber.
The principal difference between bobbers and choppers is that bobbers
are typically built around unmodified frames while chopper frames are often cut and welded into shape. They also often
lack most of the chopper's aesthetic characteristics such as chromed parts and elongated forks. Thus, bobbers are fairly
easy to create from stock motorcycles and are generally hand built.
It wasn't until
the 1960's and 70's that the term chopper arrived on the scene. Motorcycle enthusiasts were looking for a way to change their motorcycles again and they did. After the movie "Easy Rider" they
had found what they were looking for. Builders started removing parts they deemed unnecessary, like the windshield,
fenders, crash bars, and even the headlights. If it was for show and it didn't make the motorcycle run or if it wasn't
holding the bike together, it was discarded. It was after this that the original bobber made its way to be known as
a bobber chopper.
Later people started changing the angle at which
the front wheel was sticking out. The size of the gas tanks started getting smaller and the handlebars got taller when
they adder ape hangers. Since there wasn't any type of fender, the size of the tire started to get played with as well.
The most sought-after look for a bobber chopper is a thin front wheel with a very large rear tire. In biker lingo, a
bike with a very chunky or wide rear tire is called a Fat Bastard.
It has been said
that the difference between bobbers and choppers doesn't come down to what's on the bike and what isn't. It comes down
to whether it has a short front end or a long front end. If the bike has been customized and changed with nothing done to the front end, it is a bobber.
If the front end has been stretched out, then it's a chopper.
CHOPPER MOTORCYCLE
Before there were
choppers, there was the bobber, meaning a motorcycle that has been "bobbed", or relieved of excess weight by removing
parts, particularly the fenders, with the intent of making it lighter and thus faster, or at least making it look better in
the eyes of the rider seeking a more minimalist ride. An early example of a bobber is the 1940 Indian Sport Scout "Bob
Job", which toured in the 1998 The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition. Indian Scouts and Chiefs
of the time came with extravagantly large, heavily valenced fenders, nearly reaching the center of the wheel on the luxurious
1941 Indian Series 441 while racing bikes had tiny fenders or none at all. The large and well appointed bikes exemplified
the "dresser" motorcycle aesthetic and providing a counterpoint to the minimalist bobber and cafe racers.
Choppers would grow into and explore the dimensions of the space between the stripped-down bobbers and weighed-down dressers.
In the post-World War II, servicemen returning home from the war started removing all parts deemed too big, heavy, ugly, or not absolutely essential to the basic function of the motorcycle,
such as fenders, turn signals, and even front brakes. The large, spring-suspended saddles were also removed in order
to sit as low as possible on the motorcycle's frame. These machines were lightened to improve performance for dirt-track
racing and mud racing.
Forward-mounted foot pegs replaced the standard
large "floorboard" foor rests. Also, the standard larger front tire, headligh and fuel tank were replaced
with much smaller ones. Many choppers were painted preferably all in flat black or in shiny metallic metal flake colors.
Also common were many chromed parts . According to the likes and funds of the owner, "chop shops" would build
high handle bars, or later "Big Daddy" Roth Wild Child designed stretched, narrowed, and raked front forks.
Shops also custom-built exhaust pipes and many of the "after market kits" followed in the late 1960's and 70's.
Laws required (and many locales still do) a retention fixture for the passenger, so vertical backrests called sissy bars were
a popular installation, often sticking up higher than the rider's head.
While
the decreased weight and lower seat position improved handling and performance, the main reason to build such a chopper was
to show off and provoke others by riding a machine that was stripped and almost nude compared to the softer-styled
stock Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
Traditional Choppers
In the United States, servicemen returning from World War II were looking for a thrill. Many veterans had been trained to work on automobiles and motorcycles and were looking to
add a little excitement to their post-war lives with their newly acquired mechanical skills. Motorcycles and hot rods were the perfect hobby for them. Motorcyclists bought up surplus military bikes and
removed all the unnecessary parts, like windshields and
saddlebags, to minimize weight. Rear fenders were "bobbed" or shortened just enough to handle a passenger
and keep the rain and mud coming off the rear, sometimes removing mirrors, or replacing them with tiny ones, such as the type
used by dentists in their work.
This type of home customization led to the rise of the "bobber". Then in the 1960's, motorcyclists found that a longer front end allowed
the bike to run smoother at faster speeds. The degree of neck rake and length of the front end was modified on these bikes with this is mind. The Girder and Springer front ends were the most popular forks for extending in this fashion, although this does make the bike harder to handle at lower speeds.
Nevertheless, some choppers have extremely long forks. As one biker said. "You couldn't turn very good but you
sure looked good doing it".
To build or chop a traditional chopper, an unmodified
factory bike is used (usually a Harley-Davidson rigid frame) and everything unnecessary to either move or stop is stripped or chopped off. Then the engine and transmission are
removed and the frame is cut up and welded back together to make it lower and lighter. Performance parts are adder or modified to increase speed.
Today's Chopper Era
Choppers have enjoyed a nice following and custom builders bave been successful in producing both expensive
and affordable, traditional chopper-style bikes and a wide range of chopper-themed brands of merchandise such as clothing,
automobile accessories and stickers.
A distinction should also be made between choppers
and bobbers. While both tried to improve performance by removing any part that did not make the motorcycle perform better,
they differed in an important way: bobbers kept the original factory frame, while choppers have a modified
form of the factory frame.
When individuals were stripping their stock motorcycles
and bobbing their fenders, the term Bobber was born. When they started cutting (or chopping) and welding their frames
thereby repositioning and restyling them, the term Chopper was born. Chopping was the next phase in the evolution that
followed dirt track bobbing.
While some assume that the chopper style motorcycles
were built purely for aesthetics, there is a real performance advantage to the raked front end on choppers. These motorcycles have a much more stable feel at high speeds and in a straight line than motorcycles
with original factory front suspensions. However, like any other modification, there is a downside: the
raked front end feels heavier and less responsive at low speeds or in curves and turns due to the longer trail measurement associated with
increased rake.
Changing the rake and trail of a motorcycle design
requires modification of the design itself. This is a job that requires in-depth input from a motorcycle designer who
is experienced with such design changes. A triple tree can be raked, or designed so the lower tree sticks out further
than the upper tree, thus increasing the rake of the forks in relation to the steering head rake. This positions the
axle closer to the frame rake measurement line, or shortening the trail. When adding raked trees to a raked frame (which
sports a longer trail), the trail is shortened to a more manageable level. Adding raked trees to a frame with shor rake
and trail can be hazardous, as shortening an already short trail measurement can lead to an unstable situation as speed increases.
Despite the personalized nature of choppers, and the wide availability of alternative designs, chopper
builders have overwhelmingly chosen fat rear tires, a rigid-looking frame (even for a softail) and an original or replica air-cooled, push rod V-Twin engine. Today's custom choppers are usually seen as center pieces at bike events around the United States.
WHAT IS A BOBBER
By Lori Chambers
So first of all, what the hell is a Bobber? In recent time although this
term applies to bikes, there are many opinions everywhere. For those of trying to understand the controversy over what
a real Bobber is, I've done some homework.
As the Bobber is discussed in many references,
it is a post World War II historical custom minimalistic style of bike and precursor to the chopper. The front fender
is removed and the rear fender is shortened or bobbed. Most anything that doesn't make the bike run is discarded, making
it lighter and faster. The original bobber is considered the Grandaddy of the custom bike which took off after World
War II. Men returning home from Europe sought to recreate the look of the stripped down, light weight European motorcycles they'd seen. With the exciting wartime
and Depression era unveiling of the groundbreaking Harley-Davidson OHV 61, or Knucklehead, custom bike enthusiasts had some good bones to work with.
By Chris E. Martin
Many people are crazy about bikes and for them it does not count the
number of bikes they have. This craze gives them the possession of some of the most adorable bikes, in the motorcyclist
community, you will find a group of people who love their bikes to be responding to the basics. They are the people
to love to ride bikes that are powerful, fast and just are created by taking an existing bike or new bike tearing apart and
creating a bike which is on their own terms and specifications; this is how the creation of choppers takes place.
To define choppers, is obviously a difficult task, choppers are fairly flexible customized motorcycles which do not possess anything other than what is required for it to go - from windshields and mirrors to the brakes and the
speedometers.
As far as the history of choppers is concerned, the choppers were developed after the Second World War. The former soldiers wanted the motorcycles like the ones they drove during the war, so they bought bikes and modified
them according to the ones they had during the war times. The bikes they built were like the ones where the front fenders
were taken off the bikes and the rear frame came in two sections - the soldiers just took them off the rear-most part.
The new shorter fenders were called bobbed fenders and the people who used the bikes after such modifications were referred
to as bobbers.
After this there were radical changes in the bikes,
or to the choppers, a state in which many people would strip every piece of the bike and rebuild it strip by strip.
Building a chopper requires lots of knowledge about the engineering of bikes. They fabricated the different parts including the exhaust pipes or gas tanks so that they could feel the experience
of their self-designed bikes. It was at this stage that the people began to call these bikes choppers because they had
chopped each and every part of the bike and created something new.
In
the 1960's and 70's some of the movies like "The Wild One" and "Easy Rider" featured these choppers and thus the choppers were in the limelight. It was after this that
the nation saw many chopper enthusiasts, the crazy bikers spent several weeks, and months, to design their customized bikes and all for various needs like comfort, touring, speed and even to create the styling statement.
In the 1980's the motorcycle companies also began to offer the customized bikes or choppers based on some of the most popular designs.
HISTORY OF THE OLD SCHOOL KIKKER BOBBER
STYLE MOTORCYCLE
By
Russell Stephens
The old school bobber motorcycle is an iconic
machine, made popular after World War II. With the influx of retired military motorcycles, young men fresh out of war were looking for a way to express themselves. The popularity of the motorcycle gave these young men the outlet they
were looking for. There was little for the civilian in the way of street-rideable motorcycles, the Harley model line was scarce. The excess bikes that were purchased were customized and created into self-expressing motorcycles known
as Bobbers. As with anything nostalgic, these machines have been replicated many times over throughout the years.
So it is no surprise that with the popularity of motorcycles, the design has come back. Though known by many different
names, such as Bobber, Kikker, or the newest to come out of California, the Hardknock, one thing they have in common is the
early style of the old-school bobber motorcycles.
Although bobber motorcycles are sometimes referred
to as choppers, they are not, as the bobber's frame is 100% original. One could say they are choppers due to the customizations
of these popular bikes, particularly with do-it-yourselfers giving the individual the chance to modify and customize the bike
to their own personal style and attitude.
