What is it with this 'Bobber' craze?

Aah5 · 01-23-2013, 11:59 AM

Educate me, what is it about a Bobber that makes it so attractive?

I can understand Cafe Racers & Street Trackers, the stripping unnecessary items and modifying to improve performance and handling is Ok by me, I see lots of good looking ones on the road.

The act of cutting up of a bike and removing rear suspension, chopping fenders off, replacing the seat with a board, fitting fat oversize tires and generally stuffing up the ergonomics and handling just leaves me shaking my head.

Nothing in the slightest attractive with these, dare I call, 'bikes'.

Griffin44 · 01-23-2013, 12:02 PM

I agree with you, FWIW.

I love Cafe style. Bobbers are a style I just don't get. It seems the opposite of form following function. Why design a bike to be slow to turn and unridable if there's any moisture on the road?

Griffin44 · 01-23-2013, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

Don't buy one then.

Well crap. Why didn't I think of that? Problem solved. Only hold an opinion on things you own. Got it.

el queso · 01-23-2013, 01:08 PM

Bobbers are like Rat Rods - they used to be cool but it's now been over done. The original concept (going to the 40s and 50s) was a cheap mod to reduce weight, with the work done by the owner in his garage. But now you can buy a $30K bobber complete with flat paint and rust.

It'sNotTheBike · 01-23-2013, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aah5

Educate me, what is it about a Bobber that makes it so attractive?

First, let me say that I forsee this thread going to the basement faster than an express
elevator in the Empire State Building

Now, to your question :

A lack of taste and no sense of design would be the first things that come
to mind as reasons why people think bobbers are attractive.

That's really all there is to it. It's not a profound mystery. You may as well ask
why people get a nose ring, or why people think it is cool to get a tattoo. Some
people have an innate understanding of what makes something beautiful. Other
people just screw something up because it is all they know how to do. So they
get nose rings or tattoos or "build" bobbers or drive around blasting rap music
out the windows of their cars.

Yeah, I could be wrong.

But I'm not.

.

rocker59 · 01-23-2013, 01:39 PM

Define "Craze"

Bobbers have been around, and have been popular since the late 1940s...

Aah5 · 01-23-2013, 01:48 PM

I have no intention of buying one, just can't understand why you would chop a good bike up into a piece of crap and then expect to sell it for such outrageous prices. Only worth scrap value.

DAKEZ · 01-23-2013, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aah5

I have no intention of buying one, just can't understand why you would chop a good bike up into a piece of crap and then expect to sell it for such outrageous prices. Only worth scrap value.

A bike is always worth what someone is willing to pay for it. You don't like them so for YOU that value is "scrap". To another... Perhaps an inner city hipster, the bike is exactly what he likes and wants. He has no interest in riding it on a trip, he only wants to look hip as he navigates the city streets. To him the value is MUCH higher.

The only thing I don't understand is why you started a thread about them if it is something you are not interested in?

zuma · 01-23-2013, 03:18 PM

Bobbers to me are a little like the trend at present for innercity hipsters to ride fixed wheel pushbikes without brakes. Does a fixed wheeler pushie perform as well as a braked and geared bike? No. Is it as safe? No. But somehow it's become cool, no one knows how, but for now considered cool they are.

eliotsajerkface · 01-23-2013, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zuma

Bobbers to me are a little like the trend at present for innercity hipsters to ride fixed wheel pushbikes without brakes. Does a fixed wheeler pushie perform as well as a braked and geared bike? No. Is it as safe? No. But somehow it's become cool, no one knows how, but for now considered cool they are.

Get off my lawn ya damn kids!

grisezd · 01-23-2013, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zuma

Bobbers to me are a little like the trend at present for innercity hipsters to ride fixed wheel pushbikes without brakes. Does a fixed wheeler pushie perform as well as a braked and geared bike? No. Is it as safe? No. But somehow it's become cool, no one knows how, but for now considered cool they are.

I'm a fat middle aged guy who prefers to ride his fixed gear bike because it's simple and fun. No gears clattering, no crap on the handlebars, only one cable (I run a front brake). The cows and occasional farmer I pass on the way to work would probably think I'm pretty hip if they ever looked up as I went by. Oh, and my 12.5 mile commute takes right around 40 minutes no matter what bike I pedal. And it's fun.

I never got choppers until I spent some time on some (I work as a test engineer at a proving grounds) and had a blast trying to get them to turn. I didn't care for all the chrome, but I got a feel for the feet up, arms up, bombing riding position. It was fun. And going fast was scary and fun. The most scary and most fun pitched me to the ground at 110mph. The wrist hurt for months, but the long slide was fun once I got used to it.

Last summer my son and I bobbed an old Kaw something or other. It cost me about $300. We started the project by taking off anything we thought looked dumb and wound up with a pretty clean looking bike. It has a skateboard deck covered in kayak foam for a seat. It still has shocks because they looked right. I think that many of you would hate it. It's fun to ride and fun to look at and we had fun building it.

If you take yourself serious enough with all of this judging you might miss out on some fun. That would be a shame.

corndog67 · 01-23-2013, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zuma

Bobbers to me are a little like the trend at present for innercity hipsters to ride fixed wheel pushbikes without brakes. Does a fixed wheeler pushie perform as well as a braked and geared bike? No. Is it as safe? No. But somehow it's become cool, no one knows how, but for now considered cool they are.

I just bought an expensive bike with no gears, but it has disc brakes. 29 inch wheels, sort of off road tires. My wife has one with the little skinny tires and it flat out hauls ass. It isn't an image thing, they actually work pretty well, and there is nothing to wear out, go out of adjustment, or cables to break.

ph0rk · 01-24-2013, 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grisezd

If you take yourself serious enough with all of this judging you might miss out on some fun. That would be a shame.

Accepting other people's choices without judgement or comment is un-american:

Do it my way, or you're doing it wrong.

Yikes! · 01-24-2013, 05:22 AM

I don't even have a bobber. No float fishing for me.

Dave.0 · 01-24-2013, 05:37 AM

I built my wife a bobber out of a Suzuki savage because she wanted a bike to putt around town and go out to lunch on.

Here was the appeal for me - it's cheap, I can work on it, and she really likes it.

I'm certainly no mechanic, but I can take parts off, grind off other stuff and paint crap. It's fun for me to work on and you can't really mess it up. Its got a single exhaust from a sportster, I wrapped the header and painted the muffler part with flat white header paint - cliche, you bet, but who cares, and it still looks cool when a 40 y/o women pulls up on it, backfireing and all that. I have a pretty tricked out r100 cafe bike, professionally done, and really sweet with a lot of difficult to source parts, but when we pull up somewhere her bike gets all the attention, and she loves that. And that makes me smile

01-23-2013, 11:59 AM	#1
Aah5 ^OP russ Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane,Australia Oddometer: 53	What is it with this 'Bobber' craze? Educate me, what is it about a Bobber that makes it so attractive? I can understand Cafe Racers & Street Trackers, the stripping unnecessary items and modifying to improve performance and handling is Ok by me, I see lots of good looking ones on the road. The act of cutting up of a bike and removing rear suspension, chopping fenders off, replacing the seat with a board, fitting fat oversize tires and generally stuffing up the ergonomics and handling just leaves me shaking my head. Nothing in the slightest attractive with these, dare I call, 'bikes'.

01-23-2013, 12:02 PM	#2
Griffin44 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jan 2010 Location: Ontario Oddometer: 190	I agree with you, FWIW. I love Cafe style. Bobbers are a style I just don't get. It seems the opposite of form following function. Why design a bike to be slow to turn and unridable if there's any moisture on the road? __________________ 2010 BMW S1000RR

01-23-2013, 01:39 PM	#6
rocker59 diplomatico di moto Joined: Mar 2004 Location: The Trans-Mississippi Oddometer: 14,347	Define "Craze" Bobbers have been around, and have been popular since the late 1940s... __________________ Rocker59 (aka guzzimike), Aux Arcs (NW Arkansas) Moto Guzzi: LeMans 1000 CI, Sport 1100, V11 LeMans Nero Corsa IBA #24873, MGNOC #21347 “Just keep playing, no matter how weird it gets.”

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01-23-2013, 01:08 PM	#4
el queso toda su base Joined: Mar 2009 Location: colinas del norte, california sur Oddometer: 438	Bobbers are like Rat Rods - they used to be cool but it's now been over done. The original concept (going to the 40s and 50s) was a cheap mod to reduce weight, with the work done by the owner in his garage. But now you can buy a $30K bobber complete with flat paint and rust.

01-23-2013, 01:48 PM	#7
Aah5 ^OP russ Joined: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane,Australia Oddometer: 53	I have no intention of buying one, just can't understand why you would chop a good bike up into a piece of crap and then expect to sell it for such outrageous prices. Only worth scrap value.

01-23-2013, 03:18 PM	#9
zuma Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jun 2009 Oddometer: 170	Bobbers to me are a little like the trend at present for innercity hipsters to ride fixed wheel pushbikes without brakes. Does a fixed wheeler pushie perform as well as a braked and geared bike? No. Is it as safe? No. But somehow it's become cool, no one knows how, but for now considered cool they are.

01-24-2013, 05:22 AM	#14
Yikes! Boris Badenov fan Joined: Jan 2009 Location: Hooterville Oddometer: 1,120	I don't even have a bobber. No float fishing for me.

01-24-2013, 05:37 AM	#15
Dave.0 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: May 2011 Location: The coldest part of Arizona Oddometer: 460	I built my wife a bobber out of a Suzuki savage because she wanted a bike to putt around town and go out to lunch on. Here was the appeal for me - it's cheap, I can work on it, and she really likes it. I'm certainly no mechanic, but I can take parts off, grind off other stuff and paint crap. It's fun for me to work on and you can't really mess it up. Its got a single exhaust from a sportster, I wrapped the header and painted the muffler part with flat white header paint - cliche, you bet, but who cares, and it still looks cool when a 40 y/o women pulls up on it, backfireing and all that. I have a pretty tricked out r100 cafe bike, professionally done, and really sweet with a lot of difficult to source parts, but when we pull up somewhere her bike gets all the attention, and she loves that. And that makes me smile