chopper bober, whats the diff?

nuklearzelph · Posted: November 14, 2008, 2:26 am Post subject: chopper bober, whats the diff?

i am really new to custom built bikes. i have seem american choppers a few times. i never heard of bober before. i kinda got the idea of a cafe and a tracker i think. what makes these?

jayel

a bobber is just a stripped down machine without doing any frame mods, or long forks

XSDAD · Full Member Joined: Sep 03, 2008 Posts: 176

But the line gets fuzzier by the day... you'll see alot of "bobbers" that have weld-on hardtails, which technically would be a chopper... It seems to me that many people have their own definition, either it's based on how much $$$ is spent (lots = chopper, little = bobber), or frame modifications as was the original intent of the bobber, or wheither it's pretty or not...

And not to confuse you or anything, but there's also ratbikes, bratstyle and custom that all can be interchanged with bobber and chopper buy the owner or builder... Basically, eye of the beholder.

pumps

Did a quick "wiki" search as taught by my son.
bobber is a motorcycle that has had many of the stock accessories removed to reduce weight or to present a "clean" or minimalist aesthetic. This usually includes safety and courtesy equipment like reflectors and turn signals and may include appearance panels and covers.

A distinction should also be made between choppers and bobbers. While both tried to improve performance by removing any part that did not make the motorcycle perform better, they differed in an important way: bobbers kept the original factory frame, while choppers have a modified form of the factory frame.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...otorcycle)

But as said above...the line is clearly fuzzy....... Wink

Clear as mud now?

weekendrider

I always thought the names were kinda self explanatory.
Chop = cut some thing off, alter the frame didn't make a difference which end.
Bob = take something off, fenders, lights, tin whatever
Where I had problems were the 4-6" over tubes, king-queen seats and sky high sissy bars added to otherwise stock bikes in the early 70's.

drifter

In the original usage, a bobber was a bike with shortened (or "bobbed) fenders and all non-essential items removed. The purpose was to enhance performance (speed and handling). Later the "chopper" came along. This was similar to a bobber in that non-essential items were removed, but it also entailed (usually) a longer fork for better straight line stability, a lower stance to lower center of gravity and increase stability and wind resistance. Bobbers were normally run with the stock frames whereas chopper usually had modified frames (rake, stretch, etc.).
The reason for adding a hardtail to a modern bobber is to recreate the look of original bobbers. They came about in the early to mid century when many, if not most, bikes had rigid frames. Choppers used hardtails or rigid frames more for simplicity and to give that long low look.

Hope this helps.

Dave

nuklearzelph

ok, i think i got the idea

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