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The Bobber Black takes you back to motorcycling as you
imagined your bike would be that ‘someday when you had
the money to fix it all up’... and you never did
When I first saw the Bobber pictures
arriving on the laptop search, I
immediately felt massive bike–lust; with
its brooding, gnarly look and presence,
and those feelings are still prevalent
today. Improvements to the 2018 ‘Black’
version prove that the designers got
it right early, as they are mostly small
but significant changes, bringing more
intensity to what was delivered originally
in 2016. The ABS and Traction Control is
present and switchable, and the brakes
are improved with the extra disc and
caliper. The same slick ride-by-wire
throttle delivers great response without
delay, and with Road and Rain Riding
modes – where the rain mode keeps the
same power output but delivers it more
smoothly. The torque-assist clutch is light
and strong, and of course it has the usual
array of trip computing functions in the
single swivelling clock. Of course, it’s a
little bit ‘preaching to the choir’ with me,
as I bought the “Black” version of the T120
as my daily rider, and I love it still, but the
Bobber really appeals in a way that’s hard
to define.
It’s not just the aggressive character, it
has playfulness too – and I guess the best
way to describe it is just this – that the
retro and the modern seem welded in a
seamless, subtle, but muscled, motorbike
that looks sensational, offers masculine
biking cred, exceptional control, and rides
fantastically well. The Bobber Black takes
you back to motorcycling as you imagined
your bike would be that ‘someday when
you had the money to fix it all up’ and
you never did. So now it’s all here, and
delivered in a ‘16000kms-between-
services-package’. You owe it yourself to
own one really. Don’t look back. Just do.
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KIWI RIDER 55