Thunderbike Carlo's Unique • Harley-Davidson FXBB Street Bob Umbau

Just throw out everything that's unnecessary!

A bobber must have wheels of the same size, say the experts. We know better! The Street Bob is one of the entry-level models in Harley-Davidson‘s Big Twin range. As its name suggests, it is committed to the bobber philosophy, and the same goes for the chopper. Both fall under the big heading of slimming down.

The chopper is a child of the hippie culture of the late sixties, while the Bobber comes from the culture of the immediate post-war period. Back then, people were already half-hearted, but customising made things a little easier: just throw away everything that was superfluous! What was left was a bike with the usual big wheels, the same dimensions front and back, and a shortened rear mudguard, trimmed like the tail of a bobtail. Hence the name ‘Bobber’.

By loading the video you accept the privacy policy of YouTube.
Mehr erfahren

Load video

Alway unlock YouTube

Our new Springer fork

Radical 2.0. This is what a Springer fork should look like in the new millennium, with Air Ride and a snappy brake caliper, of course

Along with the rest of the wheels, the springer fork remained characteristic of the Bobber era. Harley was late in introducing a hydraulic telescopic fork. Anyone who could afford a Hydra Glide from the 1949 model year onwards would have been suspect among the half stars. Most of them rode old, used and therefore with jumpers.

And here we are. Three quarters of a century later, we are launching a new Springer fork. Our Radical 2.0 shows that somehow we are still semi-strong. And if semi-strong is a little different now than it was then, so is our Radical 2.0.

We see our ‘Carlos Unique’ as a unique reinterpretation of the bobber theme, so we start at the very beginning, with the front end. But the Radical 2.0 is also a fine piece of work, cleanly turned and milled in-house, with real shock absorbers and not just post-war springs, with a snappy Radical 2.0 brake caliper above our Spoke brake disc, but above all designed from the outset for the installation of an Air-ride system. This alone makes the Carlos Unique so unique.

One size bigger than the original

Finished off with our FLH wheels in a two-tone finish. Front and rear 21″ and 18″ respectively, one size larger than the originals, with our Radical front fender at the front and 32 Hollywood handlebars from our speedo riser kit at the fork. We upgraded the clutch to hydraulic and carefully concealed the turn signals Stripe under the dash. The Unbreakable headlight has nothing to hide. The grips have our basic design in a satin finish. The same goes for the footpegs, which in-house forward controls. These are also Base Satin to improve feel, grip and pedalling stability.

The FLH wheel and spoked brake disc fit together. Both have ten spokes

Our forward controls has satin finish base footpegs topped with our Unbreakable toppers

Unobstructed view from the right

At the rear, Carlos Unique is no less unique. You may already be familiar with our swingarm modification. It hides the brake system with spoked disc and black powder-coated pulley. The FLH wheel is exposed on the right. On the left, we have fitted our side license plate bracket with Inside number plate, leaving the rear unobstructed as well. This is our Shorty fender with concealed multi-function rear lights. In front of it is the customised Shorty seat shell.

The tank? Well, the tank is actually the original Street Bob tank. We could hardly believe how Chiko’s pinstriping, which plays with historical style elements, changed the overall look. The sound of the vintage Shorty system from Jekill and Hyde is always legal. This sound is simply part of the custom Harley project, because it is always a total work of art.

Stay clean on the move with our hidden pulley brake swingarm kit

Multi-function rear lights are well hidden in the Shorty rear fender

Keep your rear view clear with our side mount license plate bracket with Inside license plate

A new take on the bobber

In all modesty, we have once again succeeded in reinterpreting a bobber for the new millennium. The fact that its wheels do not have the same dimensions at the front and rear, as is traditional for a bobber, well, not even the standard Street Bob tyres have the same format.

Irregularity makes things interesting, irregularity is one of the secret recipes of true art. So we see our FLH wheels as part of a Gesamtkunstwerk that is always unique. And if we hadn’t pointed out the different tyre sizes, you might not have noticed them. Sometimes art is what you don’t see.