American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 172 November 2013 | Page 23
Plans for Gas’d Rat,
which took third place
in the Freestyle class
at the 2013 World
Championship, include
a rebuild and then a
European road trip
taking in the Faro
Rally in 2014
Rocket Bobs’ Shaved Nuts quickly and easily tidy
up the top of the fork legs on Dyna models
card, but the bike did get the attention of the
dealership’s manager who had a Rocker in store that
he was having trouble selling. After seeing Pete’s
bike, complete with Pintail and Voodoo fender kit
fitted, he asked Pete to take the Rocker away and see
what he could do with it to freshen it up and make
it more sellable.
hen Pete returned the bike it had a new seat
and rear fender, mini turn signals, Big Radius
exhausts and lowered suspension, all of which was
enough for it to sell almost immediately. So
impressed was the store manager with the results of
Pete’s work that he bought in another six Rockers
that he wanted Pete to work on. Unfortunately, as
soon as he had purchased the Rockers the manager
was let go and the potential custom program was
shelved.
However, by this time Pete had already found
workshop space where he could undertake the work
on the Rockers. “Around that time I was doing a lot
of running, and I regularly used to run past a farm,
and one day I stopped and asked the farmer if I could
rent a corner of one of his barns as workshop space.
He let me use a corner of one of his barns rent free
for nearly three years. It was a great time, he never
charged me anything the whole time I was there.
Without him we wouldn’t be here. We effectively
started Rocket Bobs on a credit card in that barn.”
Despite not having the six Rockers to rework,
Rocket Bobs soon found itself busy. Andy Hornsby,
the editor of UK consumer magazine American-V,
had seen the Rocker Pete had rebuilt at Oxford H-D
and subsequently featured it in the magazine with
the inevitable result that people started to take note
of Pete’s work. Pete is quick to point out how Andy
has continued to support him since then, stating:
“Whatever I did, Andy would feature in the
magazine. Whatever new parts I brought out Andy
would run editorial on them. He is one of those
people who has helped us out so much along over
time. We’ve been really lucky with the people we’ve
met along the way.”
he help that Pete received from Andy included a
front cover shot of Pete’s own Dyna and rolling
test bed Voodoo Child. It was also this bike that led
Pete to the World Championship of Custom Bike
Building. By his own admission Pete didn’t at the
time know the Championship existed, as he simply
didn’t read custom bike magazines, mainly due to his
being more interested in performance than paint and
W
Pete Pearson, Rocket Bobs’ founder, with a custom
finished Voodoo rear fender due to ship to the USA
started riding, however young I was, it wasn’t about
the corners or doing wheelies or going as fast as
possible, it was just about riding, and that was
excitement enough. And I got that feeling again on
that Fat Boy in Vegas. I knew then what I wanted to
do, so I started to look at the scene. The Street Bob
had just been launched, and so I started to do my
homework. A year later I had built up a reputation
on US bike forums and I’d got myself a Street Bob,
too.”
he forums that Pete was regularly posting on
included H-D Riders and Harley-Davidson
Owners, where he was talking about the ideas he
had for bikes and possible changes to them and then
parts he had started to fabricate for use on his own
bike with a view to eventually making the parts
available for sale. As is so often the way, it was not
long before a request for parts came Pete’s way and
the first Rocket Bobs product was sold. Despite being
based in the UK, the first official sales was to a
customer in New York, who ordered a Pintail seat
unit. The Pintail is a replacement seat unit that
removes the ?????[?\? ? ?] ?[????\? ? [?B?[?[ ? ? ?[??H ?X]\??]?\??Y\?][??[?? ?[\? H[?Z[ ?X] [?][?\????B??????Y[??]x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
?[?????\?K ?X? ?\?H?\?? ?[??\??] H[^[? ?H[X?H ???[? ? L??] ??? ?]?[^ [??\???YH ? Z?H] ? H????[\[??\[?? \??\??'B??H? HY??X? ?? ?[??[?? H? \??\? ?^?H]?H??Y??[X]H ??? ?\? ] ?Y[? H B?[X[???????]??? \? ?[??\??Y\??Z?B??Z[ ? ?Y[? H[? ?Y?Y?X?[? H[??X\?Y ??]X???? ]]H ?\? [?X?H ?XZ?H H ?\ ?? \??\?\?H ?\? [??[[?? ? Z?H H [YH?]???B??????[?YY? Y?H ??????\?K]x?&\? ?Y?H[??\?[?\?? \??\?\??Y]Y??] H\?Y?? H??X?H?\?????Y?\? ??[??H X? \?H?H?\??H ?? X?[????[??\?H??X?X????]H[[YYX][ B??X?Z]?Y[??\????H]\? ?[XH???B??SQT?P?S?S???P?HPST? H??SP?T? ? L?????