![]() True Sportster bobbers are hardtail motorcycles. If this describes you, then a bobber might be the perfect next-bike for you to build. It is for those who love a simple bike that doesn't cost an arm and two legs to build, and which functions well without the extra flashy seen on show-style custom motorcycles. It isn't for the biker that carries a passenger. Billet wheels with fancy designs are left for the flashy customs with spoke wheels being traditional bobber rolling stock. The springs used in the Springer-style front forks complete the look and feel of the bobber. The rigid frame of a purist Sportster bobber makes the popular bicycle-style solo saddles with springs make good sense. True old-school bobbers don't go for the fancy airbrush jobs with naked ladies, eagles, 3-D flags, and other expensive embellishment. The fuel tank, when not left a single color, incorporates simple artwork such as basic, one-color flames. You will sometimes see sportster bobbers in other colors such as bright primary blue, red, white, or even military olive, but black is by far the most common paint for these simplistic bikes. Most frequently, the frame of a Sportster bobber is painted a nice basic black. If you want to follow the traditional old-school definition of a bobber, you'll want to place your drive train into a rigid frame, preferably one that is low to the ground and stretched a bit to give your finished build a low, long, lean look. The only criteria for a Sportster bobber are that it must have a Sportster drive train and as little extra stuff as possible. All those fancy embellished bolt heads and other shiny baubles are for other types of motorcycles, not the bobbers. Perhaps you have a Sportster in the garage just waiting for this project perhaps you picked up a basket case at a recent swap meet. But not always (I'll cover Sportster conversions below). Sportster bobbers are often, however, built as custom motorcycles using the Sportster drive train which is placed into a custom frame. Strip off all the extraneous parts, chrome that doesn't perform a true function, accessories that are not required to be legal, and change out the saddle to a solo spring saddle, adding red-wall or white-wall tires mounted on stock wheels and you have a basic bobber chopper. However, you can start with a brand new bike if you prefer. It does not store any personal data.Because Harley Davidson Sportster are popular motorcycles, most bobbers begin with a used stock Sportster. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Here are 10 stories of customized Sporties we’ve featured in print or online at Hot Bike. Companies like Triumph and Norton brought midsize production bikes to the US the XL series motorcycles were Harley-Davidson’s answer to them.įor as long as there’ve been Sportsters rolling off the line, there’ve been motorcycle magazines featuring them in one form or another. Post-WWII riders stripped off extra weight from their bikes to gain speed. That’s where the bobber (and later the chopper) came from. ![]() Riders in the 1950s and 1960s had a hankerin’ for small to midsize machines. Given the way I go through bacon, cigars, and whiskey, they’ll probably outlive me too.įor you kids just joining us, Harley-Davidson created the Sportster in the face of growing competition from import companies making smaller-displacement bikes. Introduced in 1957, the midsize bikes have proven their versatility time and again, in a production run spanning more than six decades. Harley-Davidson Sportsters have been in production longer than many of us have been alive.
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