Rat Bike?

There is a fine line between RAT and Garbage lol.. I think people took Rat Rod and ran with junk but really rat rod came from guys who have built there 1930's+ cars/trucks/motorcycles and started to chop them put wider tires on them loud exhaust and what not and raced the piss out of them. They had put a lot of there money into the motors and worked on the body's here and there but left them in primer red/black or rust they didnt have the money to build $30k+ rods so they did what they could and drove them. I think people went to the MAX and make stuff look junk and give rat's a horrible name! Most rats have bad ass motors and nice wheels and tires there panels are rust or what not but all in all the bike/vehicle needs to have good lines and fabrication.
 
Huh... I guess we do have two totally different ideas about what a rat bike is. Maybe it's just me, but if someone said, think of what a rat bike looks like.. I'd think of a bike with a ton of junk hanging off it before a "rat rod".. yeah that's it! You're talking rat rod and I'm talking pure rat. Like ratty.
 
Rat rod vs. Ratty is like the endless discussion of "is it a bobber or is it a chopper". Everyone has their own ideas which is fine since it creates a bunch of sweet bikes to drool over. It's gonna be a long winter :(

Travis, I would call that pure rat. Not my style but it's interesting and more power to him. He made his bike his and now he's getting some internet fame.
 
Bike,ride, chopper, chop, scoot, bob, bobber, rigid, rat, on and on. Why must all bikes have a title? It's such a foolish argument. You can call my bike Penelope if you want. I call it mine. Maybe Choppamajiggythingamabob? Who cares? So we can identify it in a parking lot? Just say it's the rusty one.:D Ride it and be happy.:bike:
 
a_robotham said:
Rat rod vs. Ratty is like the endless discussion of "is it a bobber or is it a chopper".
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Hi Rob, Ok here it is by the book! History book that is. Back after ww2 the GI’s and others where buying war surplus bikes and taking parts off them to make them lighter and thus faster. The term “bobber” came from removing the lower part of the rear fender (after the hinge) cutting the fenders and removing anything that was'nt needed to go down the road, again the goal was to make them lighter,faster and different (your own). Taking a stock bike and removing stuff is a “bobber”. Choppers came later, taking a stock bike and changing how it was made, not just the removal of parts. They changed the original design and most of the time did it badly! As in unsafe mods to the frame, rake etc… “Cutting it up” or “chopping it” is a "chopper". These first choppers where definitely “form before function” but got better over the years as they learned about rake and trail, better building materials (metals) etc… John Harman, Sugar Bear, Ben Hardy are just some of the innovators of what became “choppers” Anyone know the story behind this famous picture?

 
That's the famous Hollister bike riot photo from July 1947. That guy is Eddie Davenport and is posing for photographer Barney Peterson. It was staged according to most historians. That photo eventually went to Life magazines and transformed all motorcyclists into "bikers" and outlaws. (from Outlaw Machine bt Brock Yates, A great read)
 
Tech7 said:
That's the famous Hollister bike riot photo from July 1947. That guy is Eddie Davenport and is posing for photographer Barney Peterson. It was staged according to most historians. That photo eventually went to Life magazines and transformed all motorcyclists into "bikers" and outlaws. (from Outlaw Machine bt Brock Yates, A great read)
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And we have a winner :D That was fast Tech, I know you new the answer because you could not have even googled it that fast! :laugh:
 
"I used to be into Hot rods and muscle cars but It got too tiring to wash and wax and clean my ride to go to a show then miss out of a trophy because of some Doctor or Lawyer who paid someone to build and maintain their car"

"He asks me one day to build him a rat bike to put in the back for shows."

Sounds like the same shit to me. You rag on someone that either has money to pay someone or doesn't have the skills or time to do it himself. Yet your buddy wants you to build him a piece of shit "looking" trailer queen of a bike?
 
bloodthirstysystem said:
when triumphs came out the harley guys had to lighten their bikes to keep up. first guy to do it was named Bob
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Ya his name was Bob :laughing: I know we can't nail it down to like a "first guy on the moon" type of thing but we can get an idea of time and place. Like hot rods, we know they started with kids in shop class with no money and most likely started on the west coast.
 
Yeah too bad those goldwings are so damn expensive! Well they're not really in the big picture of things, but they hold their value well for how many miles they usually have on them. That says something about their reliability though.
 

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Here's a bike that belongs to a guy I met today, and I discovered he's an old family friend. One of the most soulful bikes I've seen. It's a '48. I wouldn't call it a 'rat' but it's probably something like what their builders are shooting for. This one just evolved.
 

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Ugly in the best possible way. It is a true rat, with all the miles, history and practicality that that entails. Mostly we call 'em "daily rider". Nice scoot. I especially like the refrigerator.
 
Kinda reminds me of a buddies bike. This was his DD for a couple years. Rode it from Dallas Texas to Oregon last summer.
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