Period Correct Bobbers

[Rubone]

Here's a little 45 I did in the early '80s with the leftover stuff that was hanging around my shop. Very little cash involved.
Robbie

[pem]

Ya hey, sorry to interrupt this thread but I came across this photo/article today while researching something else. This is the earliest
I can remember ever hearing the word "Bobber" in relation to a motorcycle. It shows an Indian motorcycle converted to a snowmobile.
Photo is from a 01-04-1917 MotorCyling magazine. Apparently the plans were in a Mechanics Illustrated magazine to build this thing.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program!

[Hollywood]

Cool...maybe a reference to Bobsled?

[RichO]

Eric, I haven't been on here in a while but I would like to make a comment or two about "BOB JOBS". Old George says bobbers are for fishing and it's transmisson and not trans. Hollywood knows George (the birthday boy). Anyway when I moved to Norcal in the mid-seventies all the old guys in town who have passed on now rode bob jobs in the late 30's and thru the 40's into the early 50's. I have tons of photos of them. They used the bikes on the street during the week and raced them in hare and hounds, TT races, and club events on the weekends. They'd take the headlight off when they raced but the front fender and rear tail was off so as not to wrap it around the tire when they went down. Why you don't see alot of original bob jobs today is because they've been RESTORED as per Factory specs as per judging guide lines (AMCA). One of the reason we got the period modified class established was to stop and save some of these original modified examples. I restored my '40 EL to a loaded Daytona AMA gypsy tour machine because I dug that style but after five years I had to bob it because I'm just a California hot rod guy after all. Chris posted a photo of it on this thread (the blue one at the Dave Mann show). So it was like I was back in the day and took a stocker to bob job. Guys are building a lot of bob jobs today from what's left of an original bike and/or parts because they're just to damn cool, and for no other reason. Except maybe you don't have to clean them as often and they're easier to work on. What ever you ride, JUST DO IT!

[exeric]

Rich, you're in the heart of where that custom trend was created. I wasn't condemming bobbers by any means as I love the look too and plan to build one later this year. Expanding on what you were saying, I wonder how many bobbed bikes were turned into choppers in the mid 60s. Which would explain why so many of them disappeared. Well, it is a good look and I can see why so many people are going that route.

[vph-d]

I think interest in bobbers has has waxed and waned over the years. I don't remember many bobbers parked in front of the shop back in the 70s and 80s either, mostly choppers and dressers. But on the other hand my first bike back in 77, a 53 FL, had 3 1/2 gal tanks and a duck tail rear fender, sort of a bobber, because I liked the fat style. hubba hubba
VPH-D

[Rubone]

Expanding on what you were saying, I wonder how many bobbed bikes were turned into choppers in the mid 60s. Which would explain why so many of them disappeared.

I agree with this comment. In the town I lived in the retired dealer would regularly build bikes in a bobber fashion for sale. His formula was a Pan or Knuckle in a stock frame with either a set of 3-1/2 gal tanks (or occasionally a Sportster tank), solo seat, Shotgun or upsweep pipes, stock springer or Hydra-Glide, 16" rear and 18" front wheels, and some extra chrome. All rebuilt they were $750 for a handshift and $850 for footshift. He built and sold dozens, yet virtually none still exist. Most were made into choppers in the '70s and a few were restored. They just weren't considered cool at the time, just a cheap bike.
Robbie

[Iacovos]

So would it be correct to state that the bobber period did not overlap with the chopper period? So 2 different periods?
Also during the bobber period the customization principles used by one to reflect his type of character were reversible back to the original (not heavy mods?)
In the same the chopper era bikes received terminal mods (frame chopping/ replacing/ hybrids etc etc)?
Thanks

[BNSONS]

Like women’s fashions, bike styles have to keep changing to keep people buying.

[Iacovos]

Like women’s fashions, bike styles have to keep changing to keep people buying.

This is very good point. I will be thinking of lingerie

[hairynob24]

In my country the bobber sence is the only way younger guys are interested in vintage bikes ,which is great ,but the old members in the the vintage clubs have to stop thinking period correct ,so as to get these younger blokes to keep our hobby going .

[Blupacer]

Talking bobbers and choppers I here young guys talk about suicide shifters and suicide clutch! Most do not get it. Can someone explain how foot clutchs were modified to make them suicide and we called them Jockey shifters not suicide shfters
Steve

[frichie68]

When my WLA came to me years ago, the back of the clutch pedal had been sawed off and it was spring loaded like a car. If you started to tip left and had to put your foot down ya better hope it's in neutral....

[prjmongo@yahoo.com]

I got interested in old bikes back in the early 70s, and I used to hang out at Puckett's shop in Orlando. Puckett's started in 1936 and they were close to a monopoly for that area, and THE Harley dealer in Central Florida. Puckett's influence went from Orlando to Tampa, and down to Sarasota. Certainly not Southern California but year-round riding, and an active motorcycle culture with participation at Daytona, and many sales to the 2 military bases in that area. I know customizing motorcycles goes back to 1901, and every biker personalizes their bikes but I have to say; I have never seen as many 'bobbers' as you see today. You would have thought a few would have been running around back in the 70s and 80s but I never saw a single one. Buddy Puckett showed me a lot of the good stuff back in the warehouses, and attics of their old dealerships but I never saw anything like the bobbers you see today. Believe me, old man Puckett didn't throw anything away and they did have some weird stuff. I'm not saying these bikes didn't exist because I have seen pictures of gypsy tours, and club runs from the late 40s thru early 60s and you see a few 'bobbers'. However, most of that is from California where the climate, and dry weather would have been kind to a rider on a street version of a Class C racer. I'm willing to take a beating for my comments if I'm proven wrong, but I think most of these bikes are a fantasy and may have genuine parts, but were put together yesterday. A good example is the picture Tomcat1 posted just above. The bike in the background has a known, and legitimate provenence and shows the common custom influence of it's day. the bike in the foreground looks like it could have been done last year. . . . Please, don't punch the face

I would beg to differ I have seen some of these bikes fresh from the barns, basements, garages, and attics. I might counter though that by the seventies if these riders did still ride in lieu of age and babies they had toned down to more conventional and often better equipped bikes. Like touring bikes. They had out grown the toys by then.

[Rubone]

This is what I was riding in about '75. I had already gone through a chopper phase and decided that I preferred performance over style. It has elements of traditional "bobber" building, that is reducing it to its most basic form with performance and light weight in mind. I ran the big tanks because I liked them, and other folks didn't much, so it was a sort of "thumb your nose" thing. I don't recall ever referring to "bobbers" though. None of the old timers I worked in custom shops or dealerships used that term. Bob job on occasion, never "bobber".
I liked big strokers and good brakes, hence the CB750 dual disc unit up front. We actually referred to this style as "Bully Bikes"
Robbie