James' West Coast Choppers have been successful in producing expensive traditional chopper-style bikes and a wide range of chopper-themed brands of merchandise such as clothing, automobile accessories and stickers.Ī distinction should be noted between true chopper (or chopper-style) motorcycles, and custom motorcycles, or 'custom cruisers'. Today's chopper era Ĭhoppers have enjoyed a large following. Performance parts are added or modified to increase speed. Then the engine and transmission are removed and the frame is cut up and welded back together to make it lower and lighter. To build or chop a traditional chopper an unmodified factory bike is used (usually a rigid Harley Davidson) and everything unnecessary to either move or stop is stripped or chopped off. Nevertheless, some choppers have extremely long forks as one biker said, "You couldn't turn very good but you sure looked good doing it." The Girder and Springer front ends were the most popular forks for extending in this fashion, although this does make the bike harder to handle at slower speeds. The degree of neck rake and length of front end was modified on these bikes with this in mind. Then in the 60s, motorcyclists found that a longer front end allowed the bike to run smoother at faster speeds. This type of home customization led to the rise of the " bobber". Rear fenders were "bobbed" or shortened just enough to handle a passenger and keep the rain and mud coming off the rear, and sometimes removed the mirrors, or replaced them with tiny ones, such as the type used by dentists in their work. Motorcyclists bought up surplus military bikes and removed all the unnecessary parts like windshields and saddlebags to minimise weight. Motorcycles and Hot Rods were the perfect hobby for them. Many veterans had been trained to work on automobiles and motorcycles and were looking to add a little excitement to their post-war lives with their newly acquired mechanical skills. In the United States servicemen returning from World War II were looking for a thrill. While the decreased weight and lower seat position improved handling and performance, the main reason to build such a chopper was to show off and provoke others by riding a machine that was stripped and almost nude compared to the softer-styled stock Harley-Davidsons, let alone the oversized automobiles of that time. Laws required (and in many locales still do) a retention fixture for the passenger, so vertical backrests called sissy bars were a popular installation, often sticking up higher than the rider's head. Shops also custom built exhaust pipes and many of the “after market kits“ followed in the late 1960s into the 1970s. According to the taste and purse of the owner, “chop shops” would build high handle bars, or later “Big Daddy” Roth Wild Child’s designed stretched, narrowed, and raked front forks. Also common were many chromed parts (either one-off fabricated replacements or manually chromed stock parts). Many choppers were painted preferably all in either flat black or in shiny metallic “metal flake” colors. Also, the standard larger front tire, headlight and fuel tank were replaced with much smaller ones. įorward-mounted foot pegs replaced the standard large 'floorboard' foot rests. These machines were lightened to improve performance for dirt-track racing and mud racing. The large, spring-suspended saddles were also removed in order to sit as low as possible on the motorcycle's frame. In the post- World War II United States, servicemen returning home from the war started removing all parts deemed too big, heavy, ugly or not absolutely essential to the basic function of the motorcycle, such as fenders, turn indicators, and even front brakes. Choppers would grow into and explore the dimensions of the space between the stripped-down bobbers and weighed-down dressers. The large and well-appointed bikes exemplified the "dresser" motorcycle aesthetic and providing a counterpoint to the minimalist bobber, and cafe racers. The sun sets on the golden age of fours while racing bikes had tiny fenders or none at all.
#MILITARY GIRDER FRONT END ON TRIUMPH BOBBER SERIES#
Indian Scouts and Chiefs of the time came with extravagantly large, heavily valenced fenders, nearly reaching the center of the wheel on the luxurious 1941 Indian Series 441. An early example of a bobber is the 1940 Indian Sport Scout "Bob-Job" which toured in the 1998 The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition. Before there were choppers, there was the Bobber, meaning a motorcycle that had been "bobbed," or relieved of excess weight by removing parts, particularly the fenders, with the intent of making it lighter and thus faster, or at least making it look better in the eyes of a rider seeking a more minimalist ride.
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