Minimalism and understatement do not always go hand in hand. In this case, it is the whole point of the design. Bringing the designs from their history books and fusing them with cues of early performance models, manufacturers catered to the 'bob-job' from the 1930s through 1990s custom scene.

Stripping excess bodywork from a motorcycle, shortening the fenders and having a bob-tail, here is our list of the top seven Bobbers of 2018 that run on huge engines yet harks back to a different time – ostensibly the post-WWII era when returning servicemen stripped their bikes of all unnecessary weight for the sake of going faster.

Triumph Bonneville Bobber Black

Calling it a “pure Bonneville hot rod” the British manufacturer captured the American way of the ‘30s when they launched the brutally beautiful factory custom Bonneville Bobber last year. Now, the same guys went high on vile and had revealed a dark amalgamation of the mechanicals and stature of that very bike. It’s called the Bonneville Bobber Black.

This Bobber is the stealth version of the original Bonneville Bobber. It gets blacked out on just about everything including the wheels, the exhaust, the headlight shroud, the saddle, the levers, handlebars, engine covers – the list goes on. Regarding overall design, the entire silhouette of the Bobber Black completely resembles that of the standard Bonneville Bobber. These minute but extravagant changes separate it from its sibling to give a menacing character.

The heart of this Bobber is the same category-leading, high-torque Bonneville 1200cc engine with a dedicated Bobber tune. Triumph’s 1200cc gives this Bobber a power figure of 77 horses and 77 ft-lb of torque. The Bobber Black gets the unique twin airbox setup, carb-styled twin throttle bodies, special intake and exhaust system, output shaft, and elegant packaging that allows the straight-line exhausts to hide the Euro4-compliant catalytic converters.

If you thought that the Bobber Black was all just a visual experiment, you are in for a surprise. The Black, in fact, gets an aggressive and more muscular stance, thanks to its ’fat’ 16-inch chunky black front wheel that replaces the original 19 inchers and a bigger 47mm front Showa cartridge forks rather than the 41mm KYBs’.

Similar to the Bobber, the Bobber Black too will feature everything from riding modes (Road and Rain) to switchable traction control, ride-by-wire throttle, ABS, and a torque-assist clutch. Additionally, a single button cruise control from the Speedmaster also makes way here. You can score one of the 2018 Bonneville Bobber Black models in a glossy Jet Black finish for $13,150 or opt for the even more ominous looking Matte Jet Black for $13,400.

Indian Scout Bobber

The folks at Indian decided to capture the American way of the ‘30s and built this brutally beautiful factory custom bobber. Capturing the post was America of the 30s’, this Bobber has taken Indian Motorcycles to a realm outside their comfort zone that creates a mean looking menacing machine rather than a vintage charm on the motorcycles that seem to have come from bygone eras.

This Bobber is a blacked-out and stripped down amalgamation of the mechanicals and stature of an Indian Scout. It gets updated with many cosmetic changes to give it a stealth outlook while blacking out just about everything including the wheels, the exhaust, the headlight shroud, the speedo, the mudguards – the list goes on.

The liquid-cooled, 60-degree 1133 cc V-twin comes with a sharp looking, chrome-on-black décor, but it is far from an “all show and no go” mill. It puts out 94 ponies and 72 pound-feet of torque but being a short-stroke engine, you have to wind it up to 5,900 rpm to get the full grunt out of it. A six-speed, sliding-mesh gearbox sends power to the rear wheel via a fiber-reinforced belt drive.

The sporty and firm handling is attributed to the low-slung profile of the slammed stance that delivers better feedback to the rider. Another significant change was the cartridge forks and the extensively tuned front suspension to give a much stable ride all the way to its 125 mph top speed. The rear setup, however, remains unchanged with the dual hydraulic coil springs. The bike comes fitted with 298mm disc brake at the front and a 298mm disc brake at the rear, which provides enough halting power.

This 2018 Indian Scout Bobber comes with a price tag of $ 11,999 for Indian Motorcycle Red, Thunder Black, Star Silver Smoke and a new Bronze Smoke option while the Thunder Black Smoke will retail at $ 12,499 and has ABS as standard.

Harley-Davidson Street Bob

With the Street Bob, Harley Davidson is offering the customers a factory built bobber with the heightened handlebar, low slung seating position, chopped fenders and minimalist body panels. Having switched from a Dyna build to a Softail design, the Street Bob ties into the era when juice-forks were brand new, and you had to wear a kidney belt to handle rough roads and/or long trips for the lack of any sort of rear suspension beyond the give in the rear tire.

The Harley Davidson Street Bob has the typical family-shared curvy and stretched out sloping fuel tank, atop of which sits the instrument console on a blackened base. The squared side body cowls further add to the retro appeal of the motorcycle. For this latest avatar of the Street Bob, Harley Davidson has blackened out the engine as well as side cycle parts, unlike the chromed components of the previous model of the motorcycle.

The Mil-8 brings a massive, 107-inch (1,746 cc) displacement to the table with no less than 110 pound-feet of torque on tap for your riding pleasure. Given the fact that the Street Bob is the lightest motorcycle of the ‘Dyna’ family, the Street Bob has a good power to weight ratio (in Harley Davidson’s standards).

Complementing with the excellence of the torquey engine, the Street Bob has a set of hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and adjustable hydraulic coil springs at the rear. The Street Bob comes with single disc brakes at both front and rear, which are coupled with the ABS for safe braking and short braking distances.

This is Harley’s entry-level, Big Twin cruiser, so it falls out at the bottom of the pricing scale at only $14,499 in Vivid Black. As always, the King of Paint has a fistful of paint schemes up for grabs, but the solid colors will set you back another four Benjamins and the two-tone package rolls for $15,249 MSRP. The optional ABS package runs another $750, and California buyers can expect to pay $200 to get the requisite emissions package.

Moto Guzzi V9 Bobber

Moto Guzzi always makes it a point to keep both retro and the modern fumbled into the same machine. These V9s are no different. They both amuse and bemuse with a thrilling and willing engine to carry it forward. The charming machines are carefully handcrafted in the historic Mandello factory which is both fun to look and ride.

The Bobber seems to be more of a masculine silhouette with a traditional darker and sportier nemesis. The black theme is seen everywhere including the flat drag-style handlebar mounted on the lovely aluminum bar, mirrors, springs, and the exhaust. Giving in to the Bobber feel is the chopped rear fender and the thin narrow seats that may not be comfortable on the long run. What makes this Bobber run is also the same thing that makes it aggressively hot – chubby 130/90 and 150/80 – 16-inch tires that distinguish it from its stablemate.

You cannot neglect to notice the 853cc longitudinally-mounted 90-degree twin. Underwhelming is the motor’s 55 hp at 6,250 rpm and 46 lb-ft at a low 3000 rpm which is enough for the town. A single plate clutch transmits this to the rear through a 6-speed gearbox and a shaft type final drive. Exhaust is through a 2-into-2, stainless-steel system with a three-way catalytic converter and twin Lambda probes.

Though the V9 is tuned for a soft ride, suspension setup on the bike is basic and standard non-adjustable forks with 5.1-inch travel and pre-loaded adjustable rear shocks with 3.8 inches of travel. They were comfortable for modest speeds, but at higher rates, the shocks do not take hard hits well. Pair of Brembo 4-pot 320mm disc and 2-pot 260mm disc provide predictable stopping power at a peg-scraping pace. Electronic rider aids include dual-channel ABS by Continental and standard Moto Guzzi traction control (MGTC) having two modes, “1 – dry” and “2 – wet,” which can be turned off if you think you are a pro.

Coming in just a skosh higher is the Bobber at $10,490, and it comes in Nero Massiccio (Massive Black) or Grigio Sport (Sport Gray). All come with a checker graphic on the fenders and fuel tank for a nice splash of contrast.

CCM Spitfire Bobber

Reminiscence of the Supermarine Spitfire, a British fighter aircraft from the times of World War II, the CCM Spitfire is the brainchild of a specialist division within the shackles of CCM called ‘the SkunkwerX team’. This Bobber is the most authentic and brutally honest take on the post-war America in the 30s’. The spoked wheels, whitewalls and the floating seat sold it.

The newest member of the Spitfire range is the new Spitfire Bobber that comes with a stripped-back bobber styling but still carries the cues from the rest of the motorcycles in the range. This organic look comes courtesy of the single floating seat, swept back bars, slammed suspension and chunky white-walled tires that keeps the vintage affair going around in the air. Avon AV72 Cobra tires get white-walled, wrapped around 16” lightweight wheels and get laced with the CNC billet hub to give sufficient grip to rip the road.

The powerplant on this Bobber makes use of the same Husqvarna TE630 motor used on all the other Spitfires. This fuel-injected, single cylinder, four-stroke mill produces a healthy 55 hp and 43 lb-ft of max torque. This is enough to make the 297 lb bike to feel like a rocket. The dual-pipe exhaust manifold gives the bike a proper Bobber visual cue. The same 6-speed transmission engages here as well.

The monoshock mounted directly under the seat, is a springless nitrogen charged unit, while at the front, an adjustable WP suspension handles all damping duties. Brembo supplies excellent stopping power to the CCM with top-spec four piston and two piston calipers biting a 320 mm disc up front and 240 mm disc at the rear.

Be sure that CCM will also make this a limited edition affair of 150 units and will be available with a rather steep MSRP of $13,930. A couple of grand more than the rest of its stablemates. If you’d like to individualize your handcrafted Spitfire, CCM have created a range of bespoke options and accessories.

Yamaha Bolt R-Spec

The Bolt from Yamaha’s Starcruiser line is a cool little bobber-style bike with its high tank, short wheelbase and solo seat. It’s a nice around town bike — lightweight and agile — and naked with real-steel sheet metal, it just begs you to customize it. The Spec duo are every bit as snappy and fun to ride as the Bolt, but with some upgrades, both hardware and cosmetic.

Cosmetically, the Bolt R-Spec has all the same modern bobber appeal as the Bolt along with a contrast-stitched saddle and accent-striped paint. These little details set the Bolt R-Spec apart from its more pragmatic sibling. The slim, flat-sided teardrop fuel tank (flangeless, from MY’17) and narrow waist combined with the low seat height.

Using the same engine as the V Star 950, the mill for the Spec duo is the 58-cubic-inch (942 cc) air-cooled, 60-degree V-twin. While the torque figure isn’t overwhelming at 59 pound-feet, it comes on early at 3,000 rpm for plenty of grunt in the low range. The 3D maps for fuel injection and ignition timing give the Specs snappy acceleration in low- and mid-ranges.

Rolling on 19-inch front and 16-inch rear tires and 12-spoke cast wheels, the Specs enjoy a tight turning radius and agile maneuvering, perfect for around-town treks. Braking on both front and rear happens on 298 mm "wave" discs — the same discs found on some sports bikes — for better heat dissipation and improved brake performance. I can almost forgive the Specs for having only a single front brake.

MSRP on the 2018 Bolt R-Spec is $8,399, which is the same as last year. Choose between Armor Gray or Impact Blue, a bit of a change over gray and red the last two years. In 2016, the C-Spec went for $8,690 and came in a rich-looking Desert Bronze with gold pinstriping.

Harley-Davidson Iron 1200

Taking inspiration from their customers, the Milwaukee brand created the new Iron 1200 giving it an all-new character and soul making it look very much like a custom motorcycle. It gets pimped up with equipment that was previously available only as exclusive HD parts and accessories, yet still retains the aggressive throwback styling.

Much like its previous model, the new Iron 1200 retains the low-slung silhouette, having a stance of a roadster. The motorcycle features classic lines which effortlessly amalgamate with modern design cues. But the aura of the bike takes a new course with the satin-black Ape handlebar which was previously available as accessories, now become a standard fitment from the factory on the new Iron 1200.

The Iron model now gets the Evolution 1200 V-Twin engine. For 30 years the 1202cc Evolution motor has been the heart and soul of all Sportster models at HD and the same gives life to the new Iron as well. The 1202cc motor delivers 73 lb-ft (36 % more torque than the 883 Evolution engine with 53.8 lb-ft).

The bike weighs 2 lbs more than the 883 at 564 lbs. Sadly, Harley still equips this Iron with just a single disc brake unit upfront and at the rear with both having dual piston calipers. Impressive suspension travel of 114 mm at the front and 81 mm at the back gives in to a subtle riding experience even on tougher terrain. The Iron 1200 gets its own 43 mm upside down forks with better damping and lesser dive during braking.

The US MSRP for the Iron 1200 is $9,999 for the Vivid black, and the Color option will take that to $10,349. You can get the optional ABS and Security system untethered from your bike which will save you $795 and $395 respectively. Fuel tank paint color options include Vivid Black, Twisted Cherry and Billiard White, always contrasting with the Vivid Black speed screen and the bright-bold graphics.