Customs built in the ‘bobber’ or hardtail style. On the typical bobber motorcycle, excess bodywork has been stripped away, and the fenders are usually removed or shortened.
All unnecessary hardware has been removed to cut weight—including the mufflers in many cases—and a single seat is usually fitted. Old-school handlebars are often installed too, with the wiring run inside for a clean look, along with classic ‘Bates’ style lighting.
For owners of bobber motorcycles, these custom bikes are the purest form of motorcycling.
Harley is the brand most commonly associated with the bobber style, but we’re also seeing many Triumph and Indian motorcycles—especially since those two brands have factory bobbers in their range.
The Heritage Softail Classic is the kind of bike most non-riders think of when they hear ‘Harley’—oodles of chrome, saddlebags, riveted leather and massive fenders. At over 700 pounds wet, it’s designed for long distance touring—and it isn’t the sort of machine you expect to find in a teeming metropolis in tropical Southeast Asia. So…
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Certain bikes tend to attract formulaic builds. And when it comes to customizing, BMW airheads in particular tread a well-worn path. But a handful of workshops like to stretch boxer builds into new directions, and one of those shops is Titan. You may remember Titan for their magnificent ‘Bavarian’ BMW R50/3 bobber from three years…
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We’ve never run a feature on a bike from South Korea before. The local custom scene is tiny, and builders are heavily restricted on the modifications they can make—with a legal system similar to the German TÜV. Frame mods are totally out, and it’s not even possible to register a new bike with a carburetor.…
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It’s been ten years since Winston Yeh launched Rough Crafts, less than a year after Bike EXIF started up. It didn’t take him very long to establish a signature style, and even though it’s evolved over the past decade, it’s still instantly recognizable in his work. This low-slung Harley-Davidson Softail Street Bob pays testament to…
Read more »Eastern Spirit Garage have mastered the art of building cafe racers. They nailed the formula when they broke onto the scene seven…
Read more »We’re constantly amazed by the skills of some after-hours builders: folks who have full-time jobs, but spend their evenings and weekends crafting…
Read more »There’s a whole category of touring bikes that are short on sex appeal but long on character. One such machine is the…
Read more »Some custom shops crank out the same style of build, over and over again. But for Federal Moto that would be terminal.…
Read more »The past few years have seen a big change in the way a lot of custom motorcycles are created. Technology is everywhere,…
Read more »The best thing about the Japanese custom scene is that it defies all conventions. Stroll around the annual Mooneyes show for example,…
Read more »When Indian delivered a new Scout Bobber to young Dutch designer Luuc Muis, there was a catch: he had just 20 weeks…
Read more »Building a custom motorcycle isn’t exactly a walk in the park. But turning customization into a viable full-time business is even harder.…
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