What's a "bobber"?

I've seen this and it pretty much looks like a bike that has been lowered and the rear fender cut off? I'm sure there is more to it than that so could someone explain?

It is basically a style type. Generally with large bars and minimalist add ons. I think that they are usually smaller cruisers to start with, Sportsters and such.

Something you become right after you kneel in front of the guy.

GPS almost made me spit coffee on the keyboard.

So are bobber bikes like the equivalent of hipsters in the human world?

Its a style with a stripped-down, minimalist approach, including fenders. The style became popular after WW2.

Look up H-D FXDB "Street Bob" and FLS "Slim" for a modern interpretation.

A bobber is a British term for a bike that has been "bobbed" or cut short and trimmed down. The point back in the 50's was to trim weight so that your Triumph or BSA could "do the ton" or hit 100mph. The basic formula is to cut off the rear section to make a solo seat with an aerodynamic cowl to reduce drag. Then you ditch the handlebars and add clip-ons to the front fork tubes (or use clubman bars) to allow the rider to lay on the tank and be more aerodynamic. Then take off anything you don't really need to lower the weight. They are also called "cafe racers" because the thing to do in London in the 50's was to race from one roadside cafe to the next.

Today, these bikes are popular with hipsters because they are vintage, cool, and affordable. But they also appeal to older guys reliving their youth and GRM types because they are so cool to build and fun to ride.

Classic post-war bobber

In a historical sense, the bobber style was born when American soldiers returning home from World War II were left without the existential thrill that comes with living outside the envelope. They’d lived on the edge of death for months and even years, and a return to civilian life proved, well, less than thrilling for many of them. When ex-soldiers discovered that they could buy surplus Army bikes for peanuts, they set to work stripping them down to their minimalist core components in the quest for speed and simplicity.

read more here:

http://www.barhopperchallenge.com/2011/08/the-birth-of-the-bobber-motorcycle/

I figured I could slip the term "limber-cock" somewhere in here.

So bobbers are supposed to be the American version of cafe racers? Cause when you look at them they don't really look cafe racers. But same idea just different types of bikes, and different execution.

If you type "bobber" in google images, you don't get too many that look like what fasted58 posted. You mostly get ones similar but with high bars or weird bars.

In reply to octavious:

As the europeans would say, we're idiots.

Bobbers are not American Café bikes.

Cafe' Racers are named for the British guys that ran from café to café as fast as possible. You can't add horsepower so you add lightness. Google "Do The Ton". They are the precursor to a sportbike.

Cafe' bike.

Bobbers are what all these Harley knuckleburgers want to be; can't add hp so add lightness. It's a bike stripped of everything.

Bobber. Harley, Honda, Guzzi, don't matter. Loud, usually a hard tail, always homemade.

The whole bobber thing has been bastardized by the guys with goofy handlebars, cans of flat black primer and too many iron crosses, who are cutting up old Japanese UJMs until they're pretty much unridable and useless. The picture posted above by fasted58 is fairly close to the classic style, although that particular bike appears to be a modern rendition.

Bobbed means chopped, but it's not a chopper. I think the term sort of evolved from bobbed hair back in the flapper era. Think F. Scott Fitzgerald...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernice_Bobs_Her_Hair

A bobber is a cut down bike, stock frame (geometry)(except for lightening).

A chopper is similar but the frame geometry is altered and usually has high bars.

This is a product of the TV bike build shows where anyone with a sawzall, a pair of vice grips, and a hammer thinks they can build a custom.

Most of the 'bobbers' I see, esp. on Craig'slist) were once functional bikes and are now fenderless, rattle canned, unrideable pieces of junk.

This. Search CL. 90% of "bobber" will make you gouge out your eyes.

Oh and this is my buddy LowPunk's XS400 "bobber." THIS is what a Japanese bobber should be: light, fast, and functional.

I would say that is semi-functional. I wouldn't ride any motorcycle that could exceed 20 mph without a working front brake.

Hasn't failed to stop yet.

nedc wrote: I would say that is semi-functional. I wouldn't ride any motorcycle that could exceed 20 mph without a working front brake.

Quoted for truth. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Fine for a trailer queen that is just out to win awards, but for something your life depends on? Keep that thing far away from me.

ddavidv wrote:

nedc wrote: I would say that is semi-functional. I wouldn't ride any motorcycle that could exceed 20 mph without a working front brake.

Quoted for truth. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Fine for a trailer queen that is just out to win awards, but for something your life depends on? Keep that thing far away from me.

And the same goes for suicide clutches and jockey shifters and removing run switches from the bars.

Ahhh, see I always used Cafe Racer and Bobber interchangeably. I think keeping one uniquely British and the other American makes sense.

bentwrench wrote:

ddavidv wrote:

nedc wrote: I would say that is semi-functional. I wouldn't ride any motorcycle that could exceed 20 mph without a working front brake.

Quoted for truth. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Fine for a trailer queen that is just out to win awards, but for something your life depends on? Keep that thing far away from me.

And the same goes for suicide clutches and jockey shifters and removing run switches from the bars.

Careful now, I actually am more comfortable with the jockey shift then any other way, maybe because that's how I was taught to ride originally.

Combination of all the above is what I would stay away from. Speaking from experience. When I was younger I knew a guy that had 2 bikes. One was an old Indian w/roller foot clutch and tank shift. The other was an old Super Glide w/extended forks, spindly front wheel w/no front brakes, suicide clutch and jockey shift. Couldn't get it into neutral while moving which made for interesting stopping. Had to time it just right to put your right foot down while left foot held the clutch. He let me ride that bike, almost dropped it when stopping.