I know it's about personal taste, but

[Downeaster]

I sorta "get" the whole rat bike thing, tho it's not my thing, and I like a lot of the bobbers and choppers I see here and I even sorta like the high-mounted Sportster/peanut tank look, but what IS it with finding the ugliest tank you can (Aermacchi, Hodaka, Honda Dream) and perching it on top of the top frame rail like a giant zit, and calling that "cool" or "sick" or whatever the word is these days?

I don't really care, cuz I don't have to ride it or have it in my garage, it's just that I can't see the attraction.

 

[XSJoel]

I am not a fan of frisco mounted tanks of any sort, but I am a huge fan of the Hodaka and Aermachhi tanks. Although I like a low mounted tank. But hey, what's popular won't always make sense to you. That I learned a long time ago.

 

[gggGary]

It's different and the look sticks a thumb in the eye of old guys like us!
That said my wife wants to do a "stick a bunch of rusty old horse related crap on the bike" custom, horse shoes barb wire old farm stuff etc.

 

[xjwmx]

A big bike can still look macho with ape hangers, peanut sporty tank and whatnot. On the other hand, a little bike needs all the help it can get in the macho department. It can easily look silly. So to my eyes, our bike is too small to go out on that kind of limb with. Like a muscle man with an earring vs. a little guy with one. It hurts the little guy more than it does the big one.

 

[osteoderm]

There are rat bikes, then there are rat bikes... On the one hand, you have those booger-welded rust-painted leaky rattlers whose owners have seemingly embraced the rat-rod aesthetic as an apparent excuse to avoid detail work. Then you have bikes like Lock Baker's "Speed Fetus", where all the ratty attributes are refined, exaggerated, and perfected to the point where no matter how ugly it all seems, you can't help but be fascinated by it.
Personally, I always try to see past style/taste (or lack thereof), and appreciate effort, craftsmanship, and imagination. I see plenty of awesome ideas and work that I can really dig, yet would never even dream of having for my own.

 

[xjwmx]

^Everybody has a mother or aunt who oil paints. They never do it well. It doesn't matter how much effort or good will was involved. The male ones of those do motorcycles...

 

[ReycleBill]

A friend of mine built a 750 Honda with a John Deere seat, used a real bucket for a headlight bucket, a knobby rear tire, skinny straight ribbed front tire and painted it John Deere green-- looked like a tractor but it was cool because it was so different. I wish I could find the pictures.

 

[xjwmx]

An acquaintance of mine did a tractor seat. If you want to see creativity, google up Kosovo Harley. Those people weld up anything with wheels and a motor to get the melons to market.

 

[1974jh5]

I had two Hodakas, a 100B and a Super Rat. Man, nice '4 slice toaster' tanks for those things are getting hard to find! It's probably about time for me to run down a Combat Wombat, then I will have owned the Hodaka trifecta.

 

[54inches]

I am sure I am not going to add anything or change your Mind, but the same old frisco/peanut/sportster, with the same old black engine ape hangers and tc brothers hard tail has been done a few times.

I am looking for something different, but you won't like it! Lol