Cutting corners in a stripped-down 'bobber'
Published Sunday, December 18, 2005 by hogbiker | E-mail this post
Harley-Davidson's head of design, Willie Davidson, never met a trend he didn't like. It's unlikely any other motorcycle executive is as close to his subject matter as Davidson. He regularly turns up at bike show-and-shines, national events, charity rides, and anywhere else large numbers of Harley riders congregate, and has his ear to the ground and his finger on the pulse of the biker community.
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In a nutshell, the Street Bob is an FXD DynaGlide with a monkey wrench thrown at it. The "Bob" part comes from some early -- postwar -- Harley owners' predilection for stripping their bikes down to the bare essentials to lighten the load and squeeze a bit more performance out of them. As well as getting rid of oversize saddles, running boards, front fenders, excess chrome trim, and just about everything else, they'd sometimes chop off the back half of the rear fender, to give the bike a "bobber" look . . . as in bobcat. The Street Bob isn't truly a bobber, but ...
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