Bobber Built, Step by Step Guide

Step by Step guide about How To Build a Bobber Motorcycle

A bobber is a custom motorcycle using a chopper as a base more often than not. Think about brands like Harley-Davidson, Indian, but also models like the Suzuki Intruder, Honda Shadow, Kawasaki Vulcan or Yamaha XV. The term 'bobbing' stands for chopping of as much of the motorcycle as you can to make it lighter. In this blog, we will give you a Step by Step guide about How to Build a Bobber Motorcycle. This blog is interactive, so the pictures you will see are clickable to find your bobber parts. 

1. Find yourself the right motorcycle. 

When you are looking to find the right bike for your project, there are a lot of options to consider when building a Bobber. In this blog, we are going to help you out a bit and address the most picked options so you can narrow your search more easily. Next to that, we are gonna help you find the right parts later on! 

A bobber can basically be made from anything with an engine that rides on two wheels. But what makes a bike better than the other? Well.. that depends on the amount of money you want to spend and on how good you are with building motorcycles. 

Experienced builders
For the more experienced people with some deeper pockets and knowledge, we would definitely recommend going for Harley Davidson models. Most people will choose for the Twin Cam Big Twins and try to find some skinnier models. Older Sportster, let's say about 20 years can be found for a very fair price. Making a Sportster into a bobber will definitely give you a ride most people could only dream of.

 
Harley Davidson Sporter Bobber

New to building
When you are new to building motorcycles it is not a really good idea to start of with the somewhat more expensive models in the marked such as Harley-Davidsons. As good as they are, in the 1960's-1990's entire europe was flooded with Japanese bikes. What model to take? That will be a matter of taste. As with Harley Davidsons, it is easier to go for slimmer models as you will have to chopp down less of the motorcycle. You will see a lot of people building with Suzuki Intruders, Honda Shadows, Yamaha XV's and Kawasaki Vulcans that are chopped to a bobber tough, but that is mostly because the big V-Twin engine just looks to good!

Yamaha Virago 750 Bobber

2. The Initial Changes 

Making a new technical design is not so easy, as there are quite some builders who do it without drawings. We do recommend to plan out you're built before starting. To do you can best start by gathering pictures of bobber motorcycles and see what they have in common. Once you found out what you like in a bobber motorcycle and what parts needed where you can start fitting them together. For this we have 2 ways, oldskool and newskool. 

Download a picture of your preferred bike to photoshop and start cutting away parts you don’t like to see the bobber coming to life would be a new way. Someone handy with a like programs can add parts and see what is gonna look like what, fairly easy, when you know how to do this.. For others we are gonna go

Oldskool: 
We are gonna print out the same picture as we had used for photoshop, but will now do it by hand. Get yourself some tracing paper and draw the parts you are now gonna cut of, such as frame, wheel etc. Once done you can either put it above the same sized picture with the preferred parts such as shorter fenders, different handlebar etc or put the traced paper on a blank one and fill them in yourself. This is a great option if you want to see your bobber motorcycle built come to life. 

3. Changing the fenders 

Fenders are one thing to start with, especially the rear one, you won’t find a bobber with a big rear fender, is simply would not be an actual bobber. Bobber stands for getting as much weight of that bike, so let's get started with short fenders. For most bobber builds the front fender is taken off and the rear one is shortened. This is not a hard job to do. Just check the size of your tires and get a fender that is about 5-10cm wider, that will give you some room for if you are ever gonna take just a bit of broader tires and still make it look slim. Find our special selected bobber seats by pressing the photo underneath. 

4. Bobber Seat

One thing about bobbers is sure, and that is that there are no bobbers with duo seats. As you may know, most bobber have pans seats that float above the rear fender. For this is reccomended to take a pan seat with two springs underneath. A lot of blogs are recommending to take more expensive and durable seats. Honest man’s truth is, this is just sales talk. A bobber seat is easy to put on and of and most bobbers are not used to ride around Europe with. Therefore, just buy one in the budget that you like and instal it, its not that big of a deal! 

5. Bobber tank

As said, bobbing is about getting some weight off that motorcycle. Therefore bobbers often have a smaller tank compared to the original one. Of course a 6L is not necessary, but the big old touring tanks are not for bobbers. We want a slick wasp tank, sporter or mustang tank dependable on the rest of the design. When installing the tanks just watch the width in the middle, it has to fit your frame! 

6. The Lights and mufflers 

To complete the bobber style you will have to adjust the headlight and mufflers. There are no big old headlights and huge mufflers on the bobbers. Instead, check around the internet for some inspiration for these parts. We often like the yellow headlights, but that its completely up to your personal taste! 

So, want to get some inspiration and start building? Of course you do! Whenever you are doubting and unsure about what to do next, never hesitate to ask us. We love real builts and are always more than willing to check your pictures, listen to your story and help you out. Did you really prove yourself and want to show of the motorcycle to the world? Contact us and we will share your photo's!