HISTORY
Before there were choppers, there was the bobber,
meaning a motorcycle that had been "bobbed," or relieved of excess
weight by removing parts, particularly the fenders, with the intent of
making it lighter and thus faster, or at least making it look better in
the eyes of a rider seeking a more minimalist ride.
The heavily valenced fenders of the 1940 Indian 440 four.
An early example of a bobber is the 1940 Indian Sport Scout "Bob-Job" which toured in the 1998
The Art of the Motorcycle exhibition.
Indian Scouts
and Chiefs of the time came with extravagantly large, heavily valenced
fenders, nearly reaching the center of the wheel on the luxurious 1941
Indian Series 441
while racing bikes had tiny fenders or none at all. The large and
well-appointed bikes exemplified the "dresser" motorcycle aesthetic and
providing a counterpoint to the minimalist bobber, and café racers.
In the post-World War II United States, servicemen returning home
from the war started removing all parts deemed too big, heavy, ugly, or
not essential to the basic function of the motorcycle, such as fenders,
turn indicators, and even front brakes. The large, spring-suspended saddles
were also removed in order to sit as low as possible on the
motorcycle's frame. These machines were lightened to improve performance
for dirt-track racing and mud racing.
In California dry lake beds were used for long top speed runs.
Motorcycles and automobiles ran at the same meets, and bobbers were an
important part of the hotrod culture that developed in this era.
The first choppers were built in America, and were an outgrowth of
the milder customization trend that had originated after WW2 when
returning soldiers and others began modifying cars and motorcycles,
frequently to improve performance in top-speed races on dry lake beds in
Southern California and similar desolate spaces such as unused
airstrips in other parts of the country, or on the street for street
racing. These early modified motorcycles were known as "bobbers", and
there are many common features between bobbers and choppers, with
choppers differentiated being more radically modified, and especially by
having the frame tubes and geometry modified ("chopped" by welding) to
make the bike longer.
The earliest choppers tended to be based on Harley-Davidson
motorcycles, at first making use of the Flathead, Knucklead and Panhead
engines - many of which could be found in surplus military and police
motorcycles bought cheaply at auction. As new engines became available
they were soon utilized in choppers. British bikes, particularly Triumphs,
were also a popular motor for choppers early on. As the Japanese
manufacturers began offering larger engines in the late 1960s these
motors were also quickly put to use by chopper builders. The Honda 750-4
was the most widely used Japanese motor for chopper builders early on.
Choppers have been created using almost every available engine, but
builders have always shown a preference for older air cooled designs. It
is rare to see a chopper with a radiator.
Over time choppers became more and more about achieving a certain
look, rather than being primarily performance oriented modifications.
The modifications that had had their origin in hotrodding evolved into
an artistic and aesthetic direction. By the mid 1970s stock Japanese and
European performance motorcycles would outperform most bobbers and
choppers. The one exception to this was the drag racing arena, which
placed a premium on pure engine power, rather than handling over curvy
courses. Chopper styling continued to be influenced by drag-bike
modifications throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
While all choppers are highly customized bikes, sometimes even being
built from scratch using all custom parts, not all customized bikes are
choppers. In Europe at roughly the same era that choppers swere invented
and popularized in the USA, bikers modified their bikes (primarily
English brands like Triumph, BSA, Norton and Matchless)
in a different way, to achieve different looks, performance goals and
riding position. The resulting bikes are known as "cafe racers', and
look very different from a chopper.
As the popularity of choppers grew, in part through exposure in movies such as the 1969 classic
Easy Rider,
several motorcycle brands took note and began to include chopper
influenced styling in their factory offerings. None of the factories
were willing to go all out and do things like abandon rear-suspension to
achieve the classic chopper look, however. As a result these bikes were
given the name "factory customs" and are not considered choppers.
Over the decades since the first choppers were created many different
trends and fads have taken hold and held sway, so that that it is often
possible for someone to look at a chopper and say that it's a "1970s"
style or fits into a specific era or sub-type. Currently some builders
specialize in building choppers that very exactly fit into these styles,
they are frequently referred to as "old school" style choppers.
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