If you're a participant in the planet's most popular pastime, then a bobber is the float on your fishing line, and if you're into winter sports, then it is the person whizzing past you down the slopes on a bobsleigh. If, though, you are a motorcyclist, a bobber is a very particular type of bike - and it is going mainstream. Manufacturers are now producing their own versions of what was once the preserve of the creative home mechanic.
Initially called bob-jobs, they sprang into life as the original race-replicas. In many ways they are the superbikes of the day, stripped down until only the essentials remain, all excess weight consigned to the bin.
The style began almost a century ago as 1930's bikers copied the engineering imperatives of the day's racers - rip everything off that doesn't help you go or stop. The result is a cruiser (the ubiquitous form of American motorcycling) that is the antithesis of the traditional; short, functional mudguards, matt finishes in place of chrome and a distinct lack of gaudy trinkets and tassels.
Harley-Davidson has the Forty-Eight, Triumph has recently debuted the Bonneville Bobber, Yamaha has its XV950 and now Indian has the Scout Bobber.Based on the Scout that first appeared in 2015, a bike that impressed me with its excellent engine and stereotype-defying handling, I was expecting more of the same but with a dollop of cool thrown in.
Minimalist design with a hint of retro is always a winner, and this bike has the looks nailed. Does that make it cool? Hard to say, but the feel-good factor that starts with the reflected glory of its good looks is reinforced by a riding position that somehow transforms you into Marlon Brando and continues with an experience that is the epitome of what every child thinks riding a bike is like.
In a mind not yet encumbered by the laws of physics, imagination provides a motorbike that takes no effort to ride and responds intuitively to every command. You may not be able to steer the Scout Bobber telepathically, but its low centre of gravity means that for a 255kg lump it is a breeze to ride fast and, more importantly, slow.The suspension is surprisingly firm, almost sport bike-like, though the reduced travel at the rear over the standard Scout (sacrificed for those all-important aesthetics) means, inevitably, that bumpy roads will shuffle your vertebrae on a regular basis.
Get lucky with a smooth road and some proper corners and the Bobber will flick through them with the kind of poise normally reserved for bikes that don't come from the US. Lunging between the bendy bits the 1133cc V-twin is the perfect partner for this type of riding, dishing out a useful 71kW and 98Nm, numbers that mean genuinely rapid progress is possible.
More important than the figures is the feeling, and that is of refinement. This is a smooth engine, happy to rev without shaking itself to bits but also content to behave like a cruiser and surf the torque.
The riding position differs slightly from the Scout, but the effect is to make the Bobber feel noticeably different to ride. The footpegs have been moved closer to the rider, the seat is lower and the handlebar position has been changed, giving you a more hunched, round-shouldered attitude. This is good for higher speeds, and for your best slow-speed Brando impressions, but you can forget long distances unless you're into extreme masochism.
But that's okay, because that is not what this bike is about. It's easy enough to ride every day and sporty enough to pump the adrenaline on a Sunday morning. Dynamically I prefer it to the already accomplished Scout, and emotionally the Bobber tugs at my heart.
As a middle-aged man I am no arbiter of cool, but I was young once and the Indian Scout Bobber makes me feel that way again. If that suggests I'm neck deep in a midlife crisis, I've found the cure: it costs only R179,900...