Harley Davidson 1942 WLA Bobber from Switzerland

1942 WLA Bobber by Marc Baier from Zurich, Switzerland.

Source:
http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.com

Ferry Clot - Panafina - 2009 AMD World Championship Competitor

"Panafina" by Ferry Clot, Hot Dreams Marbella

Harley Davidson FL 1956, original Panhead engine & rigid frame.
Engine rebuilt at home to OEM specs. plus magneto Morris, carburator Linkert M74 with Sidevalve velocity stack, Colony pushrod covers and modified S&S gear cover.
Frame modifications: Front downtubes replaced. Rear end shortened 2" and rised 2.5" with top tubes replaced. Tranny mounting plate raised 1".
Fork: Harley Davidson Springer fork converted to girder.
Hand made components: Petrol tank, oil tank inside petrol tank, oil lines, front and rear fenders, wheel axles and hubs, handlebar, grips, headlamp bracket, forward controls, seat, upper motor mount, tail lights, kick start, hot rod style spark plug caps and many more.

www.amdchampionship.com

T H E D I G G E R - Vintage Custom Bike

The Digger first started to appear in the early 70s in the chopper world and it is often credited to be first built by Arlen Ness (back then Ness built cool bikes). The style that makes a chopper a digger is typically a long and low look. Other common this you will see are diamond and hexagon shaped gas tanks (which are usually long and long gas tanks as well), drag pipe exhaust, and large old school style drag wheels.

Notice the long and low look on this Arlen Ness digger.

To get the long and low look for the digger, they were usually built with low gooseneck frames and would have a big rake to the front fork. The frames usually have backbones that have been chopped so they can be lengthend for the long look.

Pink Taco has the longer frame to give it is digger look

Some people say the style was influenced by the drag bikes of era and they were meant to resemble dragbikes.  The main story of it is Arlen Ness attended a drag bike event in the early 70′s where he saw a bunch of Harley sportsters. This give Arlen Ness an Idea, take a sportster, chop the backbone to lengthen the frame, put a longer rake on, add a diamond shape tank and add a 70s style drag tire.

Here he and she are inspired by drag bikes. Notice the Diamond gas tank.

The origin of why its named the digger has its own story as well. My guess of why it’s called the digger is because it’s based of a drag bike and back then dragsters were known as diggers so it is a digger stylebike. The other story I have heard is because of how low they are (though not as low as a lowrider) they looked like they were digging into the ground so they name digger was given.

Thanks to Arlen Ness diggers grow in popularity through out the 70s and become some of the bestchoppers ever built.  Diggers still seem to have a strong influence on modern choppers today! They may have been on of the two influences for pro street choppers (the other was pro street hot rods).

Michal Schumacher's Bike.

Several of Schumacher friends had conspired to present him with a going-away gift that didn't require a ribbon. Knowing that Schumacher was also a big bike fan, having several in his garage back home in Switzerland, they came up with a plan thanks to a Ferrari owner in the Los Angeles area who suggested, "Hey, why not build him a one-off, very cool, custom bobber?" And, of course, paint it Ferrari red. He knew just the place: the Garage Company, home of vintage and classic bikes as well as the shop's unique line of retro-bobbers.

Dubbed the "MS Bobber" (a.k.a. Speed Boy Special), the bike seen here was built from the ground up in just 22 days after Yoshi, the Garage Company's honcho, got the word about the project.

Based on a 1981 80-inch Shovelhead, the hot-rodded engine features S&S rods, KB pistons, Rowe valves, a Sifton cam and Crane Lifters, all fed from a classic "peanut" gas tank via an S&S E carb and treated to what the Garage Co. calls a "natural finish." Details include a vintage H-D six-inch air cleaner for easy breathing. The Shovel shifts gears through a matching 1981 H-D four-speed gearbox benefiting from a Primo clutch/primary drive combo while the whole drivetrain is embedded in a 1981 H-D hardtail frame with a 33-degree rake.

Matching engine, tranny and frame keeps the nostalgia factor at full throttle, as does the Springer front-end teamed with a set of vintage triple trees.

It's a Bobber, so 16-inch doughnuts are a must front and rear, and classic Firestones at that. Drum brakes are there if you feel like slowing down.

In the fit-and-finish department, the bike wasn't just painted Ferrari red in commemoration of Schumacher's 10 years with the manufacturer, but specifically 2006 factory Ferrari F1 red. Jim's Cycle Painting sprayed it on with special graphics created by Bob Iverson. While the Bobber is a non-chromer, it does sport some nickel-plated goodies courtesy of Supreme Plating.

They say greatness is in the details, and the MS Bobber has a list of them including: oil tank and hand controls from Tedd Cycle; Autometer gauge; CCI headlight; solo seat by Back Drop USA; and the Garage Company's own take on handlebars, license mount and LED taillight.

Chicks & Bikes #2

BMW Bobber by DBBP-Design

BMW bobber by Mark van der Kwaak of DBBP Design, Netherlands.
R90S engine, R75 gearbox, R51 frame with raked neck, Harley-Davidson Springer fork.
www.dbbp.com