Ironhead Bobbers
Before Choppers, there was Bobbers...
This Harley Davidson motorcycle website is about Harley Ironhead Sportster Bobbers and Choppers, whereby our priority is to show you the creative results achieved by people doing their own thing in the garage or garden shed.
While we have nothing against those glamorous superbikes that you see in those TV shows on the Discovery Channel, we find little excitement in the way those bikes are built. It's like those gardening programs, they make everything look simple, and money plays no role at all.
Another factor which makes those TV showbikes less interesting is that in the end they all seem to reflect the same super image. A super image that we have seen many times before already. Along with their skulls and flames T-shirts, that are now even worn by people who can't tell a Harley from a Suzuki.
What we are after here is to show you the Bobbers, Short Chops, Choppers, Pubracers, TT Bikes, Ratbikes and Lowriders built by people like you and me, working with normal budgets. And we also aim to showcase the work of artists like Taber Nash who work hard to make a living out of their own raw talent.
Bobbers and Choppers - An Introduction
A Bobber can de defined as a motorcycle of which all components which do not contribute to speed and accelleration have been removed. A matter of weight shedding within the limits of the law...
In short: Remove all ballast like fenders, side bags, buddy seat, turn signals, etc., and you've got yourself a Bobber.
Chop the frame and you've got a Chopper. If you want to mount a longer front fork without lifting the whole front end of the bike, you will have to increase the rake of the front fork by cutting, re-arranging and rewelding the frame.
The Harley Sportster Ironhead Engine
The Ironhead is the loudest and meanest of all Harley V twin engines.
This compact power pack is the weapon of choice for many creative minds
who like to get their hands dirty and build their OWN Harley Davidson motorcycle.
And many of these guys are true artists. They've got their own ideas on how a real bike should look like.
Bobbers Without a Cause...
Call it rebellion. Or an expression of freedom and independence. Fact is that many of these fat bobbers, slim oldschool choppers, sleek lowriders and dirty ratbikes are true works of art. Check out these Ironhead Bobber photo albums and you will soon find confirmation of what you already knew: No two rebuilds are the same, they are all completely different.
And all these bikes are wild at heart. Just like the souls who build them.
Ironhead Oldskool / Bobber Gallery
Ironhead SHORT CHOPPERS - Photo Galleries
Just for clarity, and with all due respect to anybody's own personal opinion, once a stock bike or Bobber has the rake of her front fork increased considerably, we call her a "Chopper".
Among Choppers we see two groups: "Long Choppers" and "Short Choppers". The latter are also referred to as "Short Chops":
