When I think about Bobbers my mind conjures up images of cruising along a winding coastal road, sitting comfortably atop a lumpy twin or thumper and being in a relatively relaxed state. Tyson Timperley of Speedconcepts however seems to have a completely different point of view.
What you see here is Tyson’s Yamaha R1 (that’s not a typo) powered Bobber named “Fatty”. When it comes to strange builds Fatty comes in at about WTF factor 9. For starters it’s powered by an R1 motor which just so happens to be one of the fastest production motorcycles of all time. This means that Fatty has around about 130kw of power, it could pull a low 10 second quarter mile and it’s capable of doing around about 176mph (283kmh). Secondly it’s a Bobber, which doesn’t exactly set it up for high speed maneuvers, even with the R1 front end. In fact the only place this bike will be going fast is in a straight line, which is probably why it has that enormous rear wheel.
Fatty’s hardtail frame was custom built by Tyson using his own design. A concealed suspension system sits beneath the seat out of view to keep the ride nice and smooth. The radiator which is a Ron Davis racing model, dominates the front end of the bike so a fiberglass shroud that matches the smooth curves of the tank has been used to blend it in to the design (very subtle). The donor R1’s front end, disc brakes, wiring harness and instrument cluster remain but everything else is custom, including the number plates which does indeed mean that Fatty is registered for the street.
It’s a strange one and a bit off topic but we couldn’t let this motorcycle pass by without a mention. It’s crazy, weird, over the top and impractical but we love everything about it! Breaking rules is what custom motorcycle building is all about.
