After the end of the World War II, the motorcycle world changed forever. No longer content with what the factories were offering, many riders thought that the big V-twin road bikes of the day were just way too heavy. Speed and handling could be improved on, and piles of windshields and saddlebags were tossed onto the scrap heap in an effort to lighten the load. Fenders were the next parts to get the axe. Who needed all that weight anyway? Front fenders were shortened, and in some instances, totally discarded. Rear fenders were shortened or bobbed at the rear hinge, hence the term bobber.
Keep in mind that back in the early '50s there wasn't a custom chopper shop on every corner like today. Custom parts were something that were, for the most part, homemade and not something that you picked out through a glossy catalogue and just bolted on. With few exceptions, if you wanted to trick out your ride, you were on your own. Bobbers were created by individual backyard mechanics. Later on, with experience in customizing and design, the bobber would eventually give rise to the chopper, but that's a story for another article.
Small shops dedicated to customizing motorcycles eventually started popping up around the country. Southern California was a natural place for the bobber style to explode, and it was there that guys dug right in and began to strip down Knuckleheads as fast as they could. The Knucklehead was a term for the engine that Harley-Davidson first introduced in 1936, and the name was inspired by the shape of the rocker boxes, which resembled the knuckles of a closed fist. The first Knucks were 61 cubic inches, and in 1941 Harley upped the ante by coming out with the 74ci motor.
This '46 FL Knucklehead is a good example of a bobber built back in the early '50s. The bike's original owner was Robert Nadisch of Ohio. Robert, with the help of Speedy Shift Motorcycles in SoCal, created the bike back in 1953. Mr. Nadisch was an avid cave explorer and was unfortunately killed during a cave exploration in 1957. After his death, the bike was stored away in his mom's garage until 1990, when it was sold to a collector from the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. The bike sat for another four years until 1994, when Dan Henke of Purling, New York, was able to acquire it.
Dan doesn't believe in letting a bike sit unused, and after 40 years of collecting dust, he wanted to bring the bike back to life. Dan got right to work. The bike was in fantastic shape for it's age, but Dan wanted to turn it into a reliable every day rider. He started off by completely rebuilding the engine, which had been bored out to 80 cubic inches. He cleaned the 40 years of built-up grime from the stock polished cases and cracked them open. The polished UL-type flywheels were re-balanced, and new modified FL pistons were installed to hum in the 80-inch cylinders.
To Dan's delight, he discovered that the original cam was a Chet Herbert Customs that was in fantastic shape. Chet Herbert was a legend back in the early '50s. Chet and his bike The Brute held the World Record for land speed and drag racing back through the mid '50s. Next, the tranny was given a complete rebuild. Dan replaced the stock gears in the four-speed polished stock cases and elected to leave the tank-mounted shifter and suicide clutch setup intact.
Fortunately, the rigid frame was in fantastic shape. Originally, it had been lead molded by an unknown craftsman over 40 years before, and Dan didn't want to disturb the fine work that his predecessor had painstakingly performed years ago. Plus, the electrical system still retains its original 6-volt distributor system.