Have you ever been working in the garage trying to follow a “how-to” book? Wouldn’t it be better if it was all put on the TV? Shit, everything else is on TV. Why not a DVD on how to do shit? There is one company out there that seems to have the reader in mind; Wolfgang Publications.
Wolfgang Publications produced instructional guides important to the biker world for several years now. I’m sure you’ve seen the titles such as: How to Build a Cheap Chopper, How to Hop Up and Customize Your Softail, and Advanced Airbrush Art to name a few. They are the industry leader when it comes to distribution of helpful information that is useable by the average guy who does his own work. Well, now they’ve one-upped themselves and created a comprehensive instructional DVD on How to Build a Bobber. Not only does this DVD walk you through one build with a stock bike, it also chronicles a complete build using a bobber kit from the ground up.
The DVD starts with the menu, duh, and it had two choices: Klockwerks or Redneck Engineering. Once flipping through the book, you will see the two distinct build that are going to happen right in front of your eyes.
I sat down and started watching the guys at Klockwerks disassemble a stock 2003 Fatboy and turn it into a retro bobber. This section of the DVD is very informative a flows very well. I was a little biased to this build because I had a Gunmetal Blue 100th Anniversary Fatboy a few years ago that you readers all saw me destroy with my customization ideas. I even installed 16 inch apes and painted the metal rattle can black before riding her to Sturgis last year. Point is, I ruined a perfectly good scooter. This video shows you how to pick a theme in the beginning and attack it without chance to think and change direction. I am in the planning stages of a bike build for my bad ass soldier brother right now, so I was paying strict attention to the many detailed steps in the presentation.
The guys traverse through this build in 4 segments.
Part 1: Removal of front a rear wheels, gas tank, oil tank, instrument panel, front end, and removal of frame “horns”. They explain each action in detail.
Part 2: Springer install, rear pulley spacer, installation of a 180 tire and necessary spacing, rear fender install and adjustments, klockwerks oil tank extension, wheel lacing, and handlebar mounting.
Part 3: Assembly of master cylinder and brakes, exhaust, headlight and wiring, rear pulley, swingarm removal (Weird to have it at this point of the build), pinstriping, oil tank install, front wheel installation, PM calipers.
Part 4: Final assembly and adjustments.
Overall a very good DVD and much easier and more informative than just reading. I only wish they could dub in some Korn or Metallica in the back during some of the more monotonous tasks. Maybe show a few of the segments in fast forward while jamming to some tunes. Maybe that’s just what I would suggest because that’s what I did. I also must confess to killing three Jager-bombs while watching this.
For you old dried up strictly Jack and Coke drinkers, here’s something the younger guys are slinging. You pour a shot of Jagermeister into a shot glass. Pour half of a Red-Bull into a cup and put the shot in the middle. Now, shoot it! I love it because it takes the edge off while making you wake up. Confession: I have been known to do one or two Jager-Bombs before I leave for work at 4:00 a.m.
Shit, you would do the same if you sat up till three the night before working on your buddy’s FXR. But hey, that’s another story. Plus I also needed something to clear the fuzziness from all the beer we drank.
Next was the Redneck Engineering Bobber build. These guys definitely have their shit together. Their segment was broken into a shorter build, but that’s because they started with a painted, inventoried kit. There was no disassembly in this build. The guys did a great job staring with the wiring through the frame. Now I have to tell you, I really blasted the music through this section. It flowed very well and the guys were doing one hell of a job, but my A.D.D. was in overdrive. I took a lot of time fast forwarding and then rewinding and watching the segments that weren’t self explanatory. Hey, it was just like an assembly book; I scanned through 80 percent of it, and went back to read in detail when I fucked something up. The guys build a really slick bobber that would turn heads no matter where you took it.
I enjoyed the hell out of this DVD and wanted to thank Tim Remus for bringing it to us all. He is obviously trying to create the resources so we don’t have to spend a fortune building what we want. Check out their other publications at www.wolfpub.com.
