A Bike Built For A Brother From Flyrite Choppers!
Flyrite Choppers has made a big mark on the motorcycle industry by offering bikes under the title, “Traditional choppers and bobbers,” and this couldn’t be more true. Featuring stock rakes, stock stretch and simple designs, their bikes are as built for the ride as they are for the eye. With an honest mission statement, Jason Kidd, Flyrite founder, has taken a small start- up idea of creating basic, bare bones, affordable bikes, to an operation that manufactures approx. 150 bikes a year. In doing this, he has become an inspiration for all of us, and is proof that the American dream still lives on.P>
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Hand Made Tech:
Led Sled Customs Builds A Killer Custom Tank!
Depending on who you talk to, there are several key elements to a Bobber. One that’s top on the list for a lot of us here at The Source has got to be a custom gas tank. When we decided to do this issue we slated out a few ingredients and of course for a good gas tank article we went Source has got to be a custom gas tank. When we decided to do this issue we slated out a few ingredients, and of course, for a good gas tank article we went back to the sheet metal masters at Led Sled Customs.
As it turns out, Pat was just getting into a custom tank for his brother Jeff’s Shovelhead Bobber so our timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
Jeff was in the process of building a hardtail with a leaf spring front end and would want a tank that would go along with that period theme. What Pat came up with was a real work of art but the way he crafted it was just as impressive. He started with an old stock Superglide that used to have the speed strap mounting system, and a pair of valve covers from a ‘00 Mercury.
In the process of this creation, Pat would not only take several inches out of the width of the stock tank,
rework the side panels to accept the tins from the Mercury, but he would also drop the side panels in and in doing so, change the entire flow of the old stock lines. Finishing it off would come in the form of some signature Led Sled grab rails to dress the sides. In the end, they would have a killer one-off tank with minimal investment; let’s see how they did it.
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History Of The Bobber:
Keith "Bandit" Ball Asks If Anyone Knows The Facts!
This is the only era shot we have of a custom Bobber (right). Most were used and abused in competition. This was a tough assignment. There weren't Bobber Shops in the '30s advertising the latest bobbed designs. Even as early as 1914 Harley-Davidson built the Speed Roadster, outfitted for the street that could be stripped for competition on the weekend. Was that the first Bobber? Actually Bobbers could have been born as early as 1919 when Jack Fletcher crested Old Baldy in a hill climb competition on a stripped W Sport Twin. Was it a Bobber?
A rigid Knucklehead Bobber airborne. Whatta ride.
Mike Egan, a restoration expert, and long time friend of Von Dutch and Steve McQueen, added to the Bobber theory, "In Long Beach, California, in the mid to late 1920's Lance Tidwell and John Cameron, of the Booze Fighters, began building and modifying Harleys for street racing. The modified bikes became known as Long Beach cut-downs but fit the Bobber criteria. They used Harley J, JD and JDHs as the platform for their competition customs. Their Bobbers were stripped down touring jobs with modified frames to lower and shorten the machines. They even shortened the gas tanks. Lance and John modeled their cut-down on the Harley factory's limited edition 1914 Speed Roadster, a decade after it was introduced and was no longer available. High performance two-cam engines from the period were their preferred power plants. They were used for road racing and non-sanctioned racing.
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Dave Perewitz - Perewitz Cycle Fab:
Period Bobbers VS. Neo Bobbs!
Back in the ‘40s and ‘50s, Bobbers were the very first form of custom bike. There were no aftermarket parts that you could buy then, so to customize or personalize your bike, you removed and modified your existing stuff. As years went on, people started making parts for their bikes to make theirs different from the rest. In the early days, if you had a bike, you rode it for transportation so they still had to be practical.
Today we have the most practical form of a custom bike in the Bobber. They’re generally easy to ride and handle very well due to how simple and lightweight they are. They are, for the most part, cheaper to build because they are a smaller, simpler bike. Bobbers have a straightforward nostalgic look that most people like and because of this, it makes for a favorite theme for builders and spectators. But this isn’t a new trend; Bobbers have been around forever, moving strong into the front of motorcycling just recently.
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First Ride On A 2008 SPS Sled:
Great Entry Level Hardtail Bike - Super Smooth!
Last issue, we reported on Sucker Punch Sallys’ 2008 model release, and did our first riding impressions on a brand new model called the Hot Rod. Well, in keeping with the theme of Bobbers this month, we couldn’t think of a better way than to follow it up with one of the best production versions of a Bobber that SPS calls the Sled.
The Design:
The Sled is a perfect bike for anyone who may have just started riding or is coming off of a stock model that wants a little custom bike but doesn’t have enough experience to go all out on a foot clutch, hand shift, no front brake machine.
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