A bobber is a custom motorcycle that usually has had the front fender removed, the rear fender”bobbed” or made smaller, and all superfluous parts removed to make it lighter

The bobber was the earliest simple and stripped down custom motorcycle hand-built by individuals with mechanical skills and often part of the early biker clubs scene before there were any such thing as choppers. It is a style of custom motorcycle which took shape in the 1940s and 50s, generally thought to have been started by returning WW II American servicemen working on ex-military motorcycles and inspired by lighter European motorcycles they had seen and ridden.

The bikes reflected their owners and were often homemade but today there are many companies that create such vehicles. The style has also influenced motorcycle manufacturers such asHarley-Davidson.

The style continues to be favored by some to this day. Hybrid styles have emerged such as as a “bobber chopper” and retro-bobber.

Bobbers vs. choppers

Bobbers are related to choppers in that they represent a minimalistic approach where the motorcycle is stripped of parts or accessories not needed but bobbers generally leaving the characteristics of the stock frame.

The principal difference between a bobber and chopper is that bobbers are typically built around unmodified frames. Chopper frames are often cut and welded into shape. Bobbers 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.

The term chopper started to be used from the late 1960s onwards, for motorcycles whose frames had been customized to have a greater angle at which the front suspension protruded with smaller fuel tanks and tall handlebars called ape hangers. For many owners, the difference between bobbers and choppers doesn’t come down to what’s on the motorcycle but what isn’t on it and whether it has a short front end or a long front end, stretched suspension defining it is a chopper.

Whereas customized motorcycles can be extremely expensive, bobber builders tend to adopt an economical approach involving old, second hand, recycled parts and hand machined items redolent of the period before the mass-market motorcycle accessory industry had developed.

Streetfighter

Bobbers are considered to be the first streetfighter style motorcycle.

Royal Endfield Modified into Bobber Motorcycles

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