Do Bobbers handle?

[Paulrxs650]

Hi nvr2late, you're not that far from me then and the roads we have up here are no doubt as rural as yours. The hardtail I have manages them but you need to be careful and any distance is a challenge. You will not go far wrong with your plans as you state. A design like that will handle most of what Yorkshire can throw at it

 

[jd750ace]

Just because you have ridden one all over hell and creation does not mean it handles well. I can get a wheelbarrow full of wet concrete across a yard without making a mess, but I'll be damned if that's the preferred way to go. Any of you wants to come and chase my pipsqueak SV650 through some curves with your "handling" bobber come right on and try to keep up. Passable operating manners and a well sorted GOOD handling bike are not the same thing. For a lot of folks, all they have ever ridden is cobbled together shit, and if it scares the fuck out of them, they are convinced it's a demon. Old 2-stroke "legendary" bikes are like this. RD350s and Kawi triples in particular "Fastest fucking thing ever made" Bullshit card on table. Being unstable and poor handling is scary, but not fast, even though it feels like things are happening way faster than you can process it. It's called your ass getting ahead of your brain. If you want to ride hard and fast, you should first try a machine that was MADE to do that, so you know what the high water mark is. You might not be quite so enamored with your sawzall special after jumping on even a modern standard with decent suspension, moderate power, and radial tires.
As the old guy at Race Tech says, "The best you've ridden is the best you know"
Ride safe. Follow with flame if I fucked with your "bad ass" ego.

 

[DIRTY DOG]

sorry I did not mean to make this a pissing contest compair apples to apples
he know it's not a sv650 or a gold wing,compair it to a stock xs650. fast is fast no matter what it's on I been fast ( 8.70's on a kz1000 drag bike I had back in the 90's)
road a busa the other day it's fast but thats apples to orange's not apples to apples.
just as your special to your sv650 Just say'n DIRTY DOG OUT !!! i WON'T SAY ANY MORE
ABOUT.

 

[barelycompetent]

Well said Dog, I believe it has all been said in previous posts as well. Everyone has their own opinion, and no one person is right or wrong. I would however add one thing, and then I too will say no more.

As the old guy at Race Tech says, "The best you've ridden is the best you know"

I cordially extend an open invitation to you, the next time you are in my area let me know and I will happily let you take my Harley hardtail bobber for a spin. Then afterwords I will buy you a beer and we can discuss just how bad it was. If I didnt love it, I wouldnt ride it, and that goes for any bike.

 

[nj1639]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.........how do the Brats handle?

 

[jd750ace]

Original question " how well do they handle" answer, not very fucking well co.pared to a whole big bunch of the motorcycle world. He didn't say shit avout apples, oranges, figs, or friggin dingleberries. My wheelbarrow full of concrete analogy sums up my thoughts on "building" a Western Auto mini bike with no suspension out of a perfectly decent old motorcycle. Ask yourself this: how does a go kart handle?

 

[mrriggs]

What do you mean by "handle". To me, that means going around corners fast.

You also need to define "bobber". That is a whole other can of worms, but if your idea of a bobber involves lowering the bike then the answer is obvious.

Regardless of what suspension is used (or not used), the bike will not go around corners fast without adequate ground clearance.

 

[Trex]

Bobbers handle great....compared to stretched out digger style choppers. Not so much compared to a purpose built cafe racer. I loved my bobber for cruising the strip, car shows etc. Shows some attitude and creativity...perfect for that application. Love a cafe for the twistys and fighting traffic. Love a stock bike for comfort on long rides. Love a tracker for back roads. It's all about applications. Right tool for the right job. I take the .22 for target practice....the .44 if I'm fishing in bear country.
My latest build is a cafe/tracker hybrid built to ride in traffic to work on rougher Alaskan roads. Many cues from cafes to lighten the bike, improve handling, up the the torque and hp.....mid pegs and moto bars to keep upright and comfortable and balanced in the center so I can see and dodge obstacles. Kept the mags for tougher and stiffer low maintenance operations in changing terrain.
Application...combat assholes and potholes!

 

[jamesgs4]

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.........how do the Brats handle?

pretty much like a stock bike. shitty compared to an R6, great compared to a wheelbarrow loaded with manure.

 

[livingdeadmc]

Bobber. Lolz

 

[Flyer888]

nvr2late as you can see everyone has an opinion - nothing wrong with that. The stock 650 is not what you would call a corner carver - at least not when compared to something like an R1 or other modern sport bike. And the truth of the matter is that when you turn any bike into a hardtail the cornering ability goes down hill - try going thru a corner fast with a hardtail and hitting any kind of rough spot or bump and see what happens to your traction as the rear tire is bounced off the pavement.
I realize that the term "handling" covers a lot more aspects of riding a motorcycle than just cornering ------ just adding my 2 cents worth. : )

 

[Fndirtygreaser]

pretty much like a stock bike. shitty compared to an R6, great compared to a wheelbarrow loaded with manure.

 

[kopcicle]

How well do bobbers (Brat style) handle?

compared to what ?

Hard tail ? not so much
Reduced , "lowered" front telescoping forks ? not so much
"Most" springers ? erratic and difficult to correctly fit an effective drum or disc .

The XS has a bunch of trail and not much head angle to begin with so already it has the fall into a turn at low speeds thing going on .

Despite all the looks kewl , brat , bobbed , 'tail'd crap you see out there ask yourself this .

If you are going to modify a 40 year old bike why wouldn't you try to make it better unless it's an art project . You ride motorcycles . You look at art projects .

I haven't taken a swipe at the sawzall crowd in ages because it just got old . If the "I've ridden my hard tail to the moon and back" contingent here wants to take offense I'm just going to ignore them for another 5 years . I'll leave you with two thoughts ...

"If a man wants to carry two cats home by their tails, by all means let him. He’ll learn things that he might not have otherwise even guessed, and the experience will be one he’ll not soon forget!"

~S. Clemens

Some ride to be seen
Some ride because they want to
Some ride because they have to

~kop

 

[Sparky]

my bike (bratstlye bobber) handles well enough for cuising around town. i have no doubt that a cafe stlye would be better in the twisties, and i know for a fact that my 06 Vstar cruiser is WAY more comfortable anytime. However, pure performance is not why we have XS 650s. there are loads of bikes that are more powerful, or comfy, or can handle better, or weigh less, or better MPG... on and on and on.

i think a frame with stock forks, proper tires, and good quality rear shocks would handle just as well with the seat hoop still there or cut off, or with (reasonable) apehangars or clubman bars.

 

[livingdeadmc]

hahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahaha hahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Choppers are so dumb. Nothing but a bunch of disgruntled youth with a future full of bad backs. I totally agree, I can't wait until it's 5 years from now and choppers will just disappear. I don't care that they've been around for decades! Come 2019 it's death to all you chopper fucks!

 

[NONclow]

With the obvious absence of an adequate rear fender, apparently these bobbers do "handle".... mud slinging


He he he... wedgie brake... he he he...

 

[kopcicle]

Okay in the interest of fairness I'll post this and a disclaimer to follow .
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/mcy/4421505092.html

attachments as i expect the ad to go away ...

This is a complete one off ground up build
It retains both brakes with the stock 16-19" wheels (although the rims have been drilled on the spokes as a detail)
The front forks have been lowered (correctly) but the front travel has been severely limited (I doubt the total travel exceeds 2") and the rake extended as a compromise to level the bike . The tree offset remains stock .

Visibly anyway this is a complete thought and execution front to back , top to bottom . Actually one of the better examples I've seen as far as attention to detail and compromise between form and function .

I might add that most that I have seen and continue to see are abortifacts . I was in Independent service for nearly 25 years and saw a little bit of everything . Some I wouldn't ride , others I wouldn't even work on . "but can't you just ..."? and I was already walking away .

Look, from my obvious leanings toward a better mousetrap evident from many posts here and elsewhere I can still make concessions to craftsmanship and attention to detail even if I wouldn't ride let alone own a motorcycle like this .

I'll only make one more stab at the sawzall crowd . There are only just so many of these bikes left . I consider cutting up a perfectly good frame to be a sin . The only reason you got this many words out of me this time is that the above example is a constructed frame and not a weld on hard tail of dubious manufacture and installation . If you're going to ride without suspension , if you're going to piece together some Fong Bro's me too contraption , if you really feel that your vision of two wheeled rolling art includes the XS 650 then please , by all means have at it . Just leave my classics alone and start from scratch . You even have a better chance of accomplishing what you want from a blank sheet than you do cutting up what is fast becoming a limited resource .

~kop

 

[Fndirtygreaser]

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhaahah

 

[Iowa Mark]

Do they handle? Only as good as the bike and you are capable of. Like everything in this world, you have to know limitations. I didn't build my bobber to carry suit cases and so, I'm limited on trips. I didn't install clip-ons, rear sets and massive suspension upgrades, so my foot pegs might never get scraped. I built it to get from point A to point B while sitting outside of a windshield in the open air. Of course, I also will drive my 63 VW when there is a perfectly good Tacoma with air in the garage.

 

[RatyXS]

Anything with suspension will handle better then a hard tail. We ride the shit out of these hard tails, but you can only push it so far before they push back, LOL