Bobber

[James England]

Could someone please tell me what exactly a 'bobber' is. I've seen it mentioned a few times. Could someone define what one is? Maybe a few points it has to have in order to be one? Or things it shouldn't have?

[DiverRay]

The "old" form is a motorcycle that has had the big fenders, and most everything else removed or cut to save weight. They used to "bob" HD and Triumph bikes so they would make better dirt bikes, or just for racing on the street from bar to bar.

[James England]

So, is 'bobber' a relatively new word for it then? I've never heard it before although I see it's used in the UK too now......

We used to call bike cafe racers because they were supposed to be used for zooming between cafes...

[motoman]

A bit different than the cafe style, which came from your part of the world originally and caught on here mid to late sixties-early seventies. Some members here have some pretty sharp looking xs bobbers and am sure would gladly post a pic. for ya.

[b.walker5]

Hi James.

In my view "Bobber" is code for taking a perfectly good and functional bike and butchering it beyond all original recognition to turn it into a perfectly un-rideable, and sometimes hideously ugly, example of somebody's fertile imagination.

I stress the point that this is "My View" and I fully accept it's not a widely shared view, however we are all individuals and 'each to their own'. Sometimes I admire the skill and craftmanship that goes into some of these 'creations' but for the most part I'm left wondering "why the fcuk did they do that???"

Google 'Bobber' and you'll see plenty of examples, some good and some appalling. Up to you to decide if you like them or not.

[BA80]

Yeah, Here's a really ugly one

This is the one that Montreaux_Blue (RIP) used to ride before he bought the Limey Accent bike from Karla Jones.



A long ways from a butchered and hidious. That thing hauled a$$ too.

I used to give him a hard time about it not having a back seat.

Guess I should throw a pic of Limey in here too........just because...

[DGXSER]

Chpper used to mean a bike that was cut up and changed dramatically, bobber was one that got parts removed to lighten it up, not so much cutting "chopping". Now days seem to use the terms pretty interchangably.

[crazy steve]

Don's got the closest definition so far...

A 'bobber' is a bike that's had stock parts removed/cut down for both less weight and sometimes a styling statement. Sometimes lowered, stock forks, usually single seat. You can 'bob' a bike and still retain all of the original bikes' ride/handling. Kind of the US version of a cafe bike...

A 'chopper' is just that; a bike that's been seriously 'chopped' on, usually hardtail, extended forks, sometimes a big rake. Here, you're willing to sacrifice ride/handling for 'the look'.

You do see the terms used rather sloppily, and there can be bikes that would fit either catagory, but that's basically it...

[Shacknasty]

I have come to dislike the term "bobber', in fact, I have a hard time even writing it. The old dudes that came home from WW2 and took all the unnecessary weight off their bikes and bobbed the fenders to make them go faster never used the moniker "bobber'. They called their bikes "cut-downs" or sometimes "bob-jobs".

Between dufus hipsters calling every bike with flat black paint and red wheels a "bobber" and throwing around the phrase "old school", sometimes I just wanna puke!

[11Rider]

Chpper used to mean a bike that was cut up and changed dramatically, bobber was one that got parts removed to lighten it up, not so much cutting "chopping". Now days seem to use the terms pretty interchangably.

^^^^That's the answer^^^^

[b.walker5]

Yeah, Here's a really ugly one

Looks like I struck a nerve. Perhaps I should have ended my post with "Let the Games Begin".

I did state, if you care to read, that it was "My View" and that it was not 'widely shared'. Sorry Greg, but i make no apology for having an opinion, and whats the point of having an opinion if it cant be expressed. You know, 'freedom of speech' and all that stuff.

[fredintoon]

Could someone please tell me what exactly a 'bobber' is. I've seen it mentioned a few times. Could someone define what one is? Maybe a few points it has to have in order to be one? Or things it shouldn't have?

Hi James,
a bob is a short haircut.
From the 1920s:-
If skirts become much shorter, said the flapper, with a sob,
I'll have two more cheeks to powder and a lot more hair to bob.

[James England]

Hi James,
a bob is a short haircut.
From the 1920s:-
If skirts become much shorter, said the flapper, with a sob,
I'll have two more cheeks to powder and a lot more hair to bob.

Thanks for answering my question. All the others kept talking about motorbikes and I couldn't understand why!

[James England]

"cut-downs" or sometimes "bob-jobs".

That rings a bell actually. I remember the phrase from the 60's.

[James England]

Thanks folks. I am now fully enlightened! I must say, Montreux Blue's bikes do look good, even given my penchant for 'standard' bikes. Looking at the work, attention to detail and love that obviously went into them both (especially Limey), I felt sad that this person whom, I've never even met is no longer with us.

Yes, I've seen some shocking butchery on bikes. Mind you, the same thing happens on houses here. Someone takes a lovely Victorian house and 'modernises' it by removing the fireplaces, putting plastic windows in and so on. I suppose bikes aren't immune from something similar.