Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/774093
2017 TRIUMPH BONNEVILLE BOBBER FIRST RIDE P72 cuts in at 7000 rpm on the ride- by-wire digital throttle. This offers two easily select- able riding modes, Road and Rain, each delivering the same full 76 bhp power output at 6100 rpm, just with a different degree of urgency via separate dedi- cated throttle maps. Using the sweet-shifting gearbox to keep the engine turning in the slightly fatter part of the horizontal torque curve between 3000- 5000 rpm is the way the Bob- ber will invariably be ridden, with the switchable single-stage traction control on hand to A BOBBER HISTORY LESSON For those not au fait with this iconic piece of two- wheeled Americana, the bobber was the forerunner of today's custom bikes, initially concocted in the late '40s and early '50s by GI's returning home from war. To do so, they invariably used a Harley-Davidson or Indian as the basis—but also vintage-era Triumph twins of the Marlon Brando/Wild One pre-Bonneville genera- tion. As more and more war veterans were discharged, the massive shortage of civilian machines ramped up prices, leading them to ac- quire now-unwanted military dispatch bikes which they then "bobbed" by cutting back the rear fender, aka mudguard—hence the term "bobtail"—as well as stripping off other unwanted parts to make the result as light as possible for street racing. Going from a dead stop to flat out as fast as possible was the bobber's mantra, as practiced in the illegal street drags staged throughout the USA back then. There were plenty of uncompleted freeways comprising Eisen- hower's fledgling Interstate Highway System where you could drag race pretty safe- ly—often for big money in side bets—before the freeways got completed and such racing commercialized, after they built special drag strips to take it off the streets. So, a bobber represented a minimalist approach to bike building that was made for go, not show, hence any- thing that didn't constitute a necessity was deleted. Kind of like on the latest variant of the 10-strong Triumph Bonneville family. The bobber later mutated into the chopper in the '60s—but that's another story, though it's worth not- ing in today's America the garish, raked-out custom choppers that were all the rage a decade ago before the advent of sub-prime mortgages, are now so very yesterday, with the clone manufacturers who built them mostly gone to the wall, leaving the more mini- malist and far more rideable bobber-style customs to enjoy a resurgence. Hence, one of Harley's recent best-sellers has been the bobber-style Forty Eight, and while the Indian Scout, Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber and Yamaha XV950 Bolt are also firmly in its firing line, Triumph's authentically styled new Bobber launched at Mi- lan's EICMA Show last month and in dealer showrooms as early as February arguably encapsulates better than any of them the minimalist styl- ing ethos, muscular stance and purposeful attitude of a period bobber. It's interesting to see where this style of bike came from. Likewise if you want the Quarter Mile drag bike package.