2 mesi fa
People always want to know what I took off the bike. Nobody ever asks what I left on. Which is sort of the point, isn't it? A bobber is an exercise in restraint - you strip away everything that isn't strictly necessary and then sit back and look at what remains. If what remains is beautiful, you've done it right. If it looks like you forgot to finish, you've gone too far.
Took the rear mudguard off first. Then the front. Then the passenger pegs, the mirrors - well, one mirror, you do need to see behind you occasionally, the law is quite insistent on that point. The indicators went next, replaced with tiny bullet ones that barely qualify as visible. My MOT tester gives me a look every year that says "technically this passes but I want you to know I disapprove." Fair enough, Dave.
The thing about minimalism on a motorcycle is that there's nowhere to hide bad work. Every weld is visible, every bracket matters, every cable route is on display. It's terrifying and liberating in equal measure. My mate turned up on his brand new adventure bike the other day, covered in plastic panels and accessories, looking like a Swiss Army knife on wheels. He asked what I'd been working on. I said "removing things." He didn't understand. That's alright. He doesn't need to.