Tall Man Body Type Bobber Frame Adjustments

by Lon Smith
(Lawrence, KS)

Hi. I was wondering about the ability to adjust the frames to accommodate our particular body types. For example:

I'm 6'5'' with a 38'' to 40'' inseam -- one of the primary reasons I'm interested in building my own bike. Do the bobber plans give guidelines to knowing which dimensions to adjust for greater comfort? And, are there mathematical descriptions of how frame dimensions change or other rule-of-thumb provisions so we can maintain the integrity of the frame? Or what about simply wanting it to be longer? Etc.

I ask because I haven't always been able to make a bike feel comfortable with handlebar, seat, and foot control position. . . and other folks are likely facing their own fitment issues.

So thanks in advance for your help.

Sincerely, Lon Smith

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Feb 21, 2012
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Another approach
by: Robert

Lon,
Another way to approach this is set up a mock up. Hand bars, seat, foot pegs. Move them around and maybe even sit and watch some tv to see what it feels like to sit a long time in this position. Then follow Choppers Guide make the frame that will work for you. Best of luck.

Dec 13, 2011
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Adjusting Frame For Larger Body Types
by: Custom-Choppers-Guide.com

Hello Lon,
Just because you are tall doesn’t mean you are stuck with an uncomfortable ride!! The answer is most definitely YES, you can adjust the frame to meet your needs. It is a bit more challenging than just following the drawing but it is very possible to make this happened. Here’s a photo of one of the Sportster frames that we have:

Now keep in mind that the space was designed for an Evolution Engine. Raising the backbone will really open up this area. You need to really figure out if you are going to be ok with the look and the opening there. If you are planning on having a large fuel tank that will hang down and hide that area, then it might give you the look you are going for. So here are the tubes you are going to really have to take a close look at.

The rear most angle of the down tube that connects to the rear axle plate needs to be opened up slightly. This will move your wheel down closer to the ground and raise your bike by a few inches based on how much you change it.

The axle plate needs to be adjusted to fit up properly with this new angle. While making this new axle plate, I recommend changing the angle on the op as well so that the top rails force your backbone to be higher up.

The bend on your backbone needs to be a sharper bend. This will result in having your neck at the same location.

Your central vertical support tube will need to grow vertically to fill the extra gap created by the angle change.

I recommend that you pencil the tube lines on top of your drawing once you purchase it and it will give you exact angles and lengths. That would be easiest way to approach these changes. Keep in mind that you want to try to keep the bottom of the down rails parallel with the ground or it’s not going to look right. You may need to tweak the bends slightly at the front of the frame in order to make this work.
Let us know if it gets too complicated and we can look into a custom solution for you and design a frame for you. The cost is more for this option, but in the end, you’ll feel confident that you have all of the correct sizes and angles.

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