Bobber?

[frankTHEtank]

I was just wondering if anyone out there has done a Bobber set up on a GS650 g successfully and could give me any information with help, pictures, guidance, really anything that can help a fellow gs-rider out. Hopefully i placed this in the correct sub-forum. Thank you for your help everyone.

[still_bluenoser]

successfully

Debatable .

[Bonsai]

WTF is a "bobber set up"? Especially when talking "performance/tuning", as a "bobber" is traditionally more or less a stripped down bike with a cut back or bobbed rear fender.

Some would say it was a stepping stone on the way to the "chopper style"

I would suggest you research the style and think about what you are looking to do in terms of your personal tastes. Then proceed very carefully as you don't want to end up with another "FOR SALE: Bobber project I don't want to finish" on CL...

Also, this forum is rather elitist and doesn't really welcome modified bikes the way some do. I'd mebbe check out Bobbertalk, Chop Cult or The Underground Chopper Forum.

Bonsai

[Go Mifune]

WTF is a "bobber set up"? Especially when talking "performance/tuning", as a "bobber" is traditionally more or less a stripped down bike with a cut back or bobbed rear fender.

Some would say it was a stepping stone on the way to the "chopper style"

I would suggest you research the style and think about what you are looking to do in terms of your personal tastes. Then proceed very carefully as you don't want to end up with another "FOR SALE: Bobber project I don't want to finish" on CL...

Also, this forum is rather elitist and doesn't really welcome modified bikes the way some do. I'd mebbe check out Bobbertalk, Chop Cult or The Underground Chopper Forum.

Bonsai

Some guys care some dont, I am one of those that says live and let live or chop as you wish. We are not nor are the majority of the people on this site 'elitist' like you say.
Post your project in the project section and lets see what you got.
Cheers.

[Nessism]

Also, this forum is rather elitist and doesn't really welcome modified bikes the way some do.

Bonsai

Yea, we're funny that way. We like our bikes to stop, turn, and not blow everyones eardrums out.

[frankTHEtank]

thanks for the replies, Bonsai aka the motorcycle nazi needs to take it down a notch, i am a noob with motorcycles, i built my first car together with my father, so i kind of know what im doing with a wrench in hand, anyways, thanks for the input from everyone. ill try and keep a thread going on my future project.

[still_bluenoser]

proceed very carefully as you don't want to end up with another "FOR SALE: Bobber project I don't want to finish" on CL...

Great advice! kijiji is polluted with hacked up bikes that dont run going for the price of an angle grinder and a box of cutoff wheels.

[Bonsai]

thanks for the replies, Bonsai aka the motorcycle nazi needs to take it down a notch, i am a noob with motorcycles, i built my first car together with my father, so i kind of know what im doing with a wrench in hand, anyways, thanks for the input from everyone. ill try and keep a thread going on my future project.

Me, the "motorcycle nazi" Gimme a friggin break... I have like 5 posts so to tag me as anything is bull**** extrapolation on your part.

For the record only 1 of my 6 bikes/projects has not seen some some significant modifications either out of necessity or personal preference. Two choppers, one "bobber", one that is evolving into what will ultimately be called a "bobber" by someone or another, and a GS that I really haven't decided on just yet.

Maybe I did stretch the generalization regarding the attitude of the forum but in reviewing threads where people show off their "bobber" or "chopper" most of them degenerate into a sniping session incited by this "minority" labeling it soemthing like "crap", leading to a discussion pronouncing it "unsafe" or "unridable" with the thread killing concession to the effect of "well to each his own..." From my perspective it's pretty polarized here; maybe polarized is more acceptable than "elitist"- I'm not so sure tho after the Harley bashing thread...

Anyhow, note the post right after your starter....

How exactly would you like me to "take it down a notch"?

I asked a question of someone who seems to be jumping on the "bobber bandwagon" with no clear idea about what they are after- key indicator "Bobber set up on a GS650 g successfully". So again, what exactly is a "bobber setup" in your mind?!? Cus the modern "fad" doesn't necessarily jive with the original style as defined by the people who were "there"... Again, I'd check out the sites I mentioned cus they're the guys doing it, more so than here. In fact the ones posted here are usually covered in greater detail over on those sites...

I tried to make it clear that you will need a thick skin hmmm with a nickname like "Frank the Tank" I'd expect a little
more...

Some links to simplify your research... I'm done.

http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29707&highlight=sugar+bear

http://www.jockeyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29043&highlight=sugar+bear&showall=1

or...

Sugar Bear Choppers - Chops And Bobbers
June, 2007
By Sugar Bear

A short bike with a Sportster tank and a flat fender is not a "bobber," it's just a short chop. About 99% of the bikes that are called bobbers...well, you get the picture. I've been involved in conversations with youngsters (born after 1960) who claim that what they build are Bobbers. I'm not even sure most of them have ever seen one.

In the '50s, in my area, we were riding chops, bobbers, and garbage wagons (full dressers or baggers, as they are known now) and each had a distinct style! Chops had cut-down tanks (this is before Sportster tanks were made), cut-down fenders, no floorboards, cut-up bars or apes, usually upsweeps with fishtails (normally no mufflers), sidemount taillight, etc. Bobbers had small fatbobs, floorboards, bobbed rear stock fender (usually cut at the rear fender hinge), the stock exhaust (2-into-1), stock bars, basically a cut-down (bobbed) stock bike. Of course we know what a garbage wagon (eh, bagger) looked like. Anyway, you guys are building short chops, not bobbers. This is a cycle that repeats itself time after time. People start building chops, then they build long chops because that's always been considered what a chop should look like. Then after awhile, they begin to realize that the long chops they built are hard to handle and you need gorilla arms to keep it straight and to turn. Of course, these people flunked geometry and physics because they unknowingly set up their bikes wrong. So to be able to get back to riding, they shortened up the bikes but didn't want them to be called chops (because that might seem to infer they don't handle) so they called them bobbers, custom bikes, etc.

I've seen this cycle so many times in my riding history that it's ridiculous. I remember people snickering at me in the early '90s because I was riding long chops and still building them. "That looks cool, but I wouldn't ride one of those." "How does that thing handle in the curves (snicker)." It's very easy to tell who the uninformed are. If you don't know how to set up a long bike so you can ride it with one hand and be comfy, buy a stocker, put some chrome and handlebars on it, and stop ruining the reputation of choppers. If you want a chop and don't know how to set up a long one, do a short one. A long chop is a thing of beauty; there's nothing like it. If set up right, you'll ride it forever and smile away every mile. If in doubt, ask anyone who has ridden a Sugar Bear chop.

[Hammered]

You can bob a 650 g but youll have to consider the angle of the shaft A couple guys here and over at the chopper underground have chopped and bobber shafties and did a very nice job, but all of them were rigids. If you have the time and tools, you can do a nice bob and keep the rear suspension intact. Or mod it to something different like a mono shock or airbag. If you have the time, money and tools, anything is possible.

And dont sweat the "Mr. Suzuki did the right way and the only way" types.

[wkmpt]

Welcome to the forum. There's plenty of information here to help you make your bike your own, no matter which direction you want to build it in.

That said, since you mentioned the word "bobber" (or even if you thought the words "chopper", "hard-tail", etc.) you're going to get your balls busted a little (or maybe even a lot). It's just how some folks here on the boards are, though for the most part they mean well. Keep a thick skin and you'll be fine.

Don't forget the search feature is your friend, there's a ton of information on frame bracing, simplifying the electrical, and so on, to help you in your project.

Good luck!

[Hoosier Daddy]

Welcome! As mentioned, use the search feature here and you will find the info you seek. along with the list of other forums that Bonsai kindly provided I'd like to add DoTheTon.com, even though it is generally a Cafe' websight there are plenty of Bobbers there. Lurk on The Loathed & Fearsome BOBBER CHOPs, Hard-Tails and those PESKY Bratstyles!!.. thread. Here is some good info, hope you don't have to register to read it. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=12664.0
Bratstyle bikes are what some people call Bobbers so have a look at bratstyle.com as well. http://www.bratstyle.com/custom/custom.htm
Maybe one of the Mods here will be nice enough to move your thread to the Projects section.