Sprockets

My dad and a couple of his buddies built some Harleys in the 30s they called bobbed, not bobbers. They just pulled off every thing that didn't make it go. One of the features I recall from the picture was the front fender installed as a rear fender and no fender up front. The term dad used when he talked about it was his bobbed Harley. Mom made him sell it when they got married for a Desoto. Sheesh. I suspect if the trend got up as far as Maine it was probably common before the war.
The famous Hollister photo from about 1947 shows a typical bobber.

Damn Cookie it would be nice to get that old 45' back in the family huh?

I have only had one Harley around and it did not leave me with a desire for more. I know it's not the same as the new ones at all but a 1949 61 cube panhead was a pig to ride compared to the Norton.

bigstu said:

Bill
Can you fit a 130 tyre in without the chain fouling?

Click to expand...

Not with stock chain and primary. Back when some friends and I were racing Commandos, we found that we could just barely fit the 120-18 tires of the day. In particualar, the Dunlop 120 was a little wider than the other brands, and the chain would rub against it. I later fitted wider tires, but had to move the gearbox over to the left by .200" or .250" and run a 520 chain for clearance. You can only do that with a belt primary, because that let's you get rid of the inner cover.

Ken