Hillclimber 62

Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course.
It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905. The longest permanent hillclimb in the UK is at Harewood in West Yorkshire, with a track length of 1448 metres.

In 1926, the brothers Adriano, Marcello and Bruno Ducati founded Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati, producing components for radio's, business was good and a new factory was built in the Borgo area of Bologna in 1935. At the same time, in Turin, Aldo Farinelli designed and built a small
4 stroke engine to be used as a cycle motor for a company called SIATA. Immediately after the war, this engine became available to the public and named the Cucciolo.

A number of companies soon produced motorised cycles based on the engine, but it was in 1950, after around 200,000 units had already been sold that the Ducati company joined forces with SIATA to manufacture their own Cucciolo motorcycle.

After a quarter of a million of these engines around it was inevitable that people would start to race them.

	Ducati Cucciolo (left) and its evolution 60cc engine (below)

The "bobbing" of motorcycles goes back to the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's, to the days of classic Dirt Track Racing, Road Racing and Hill Climbing events.

During those days there was no big after sales market like we got right now, and the most effective way to increase performance was to shed as much weight as possible. So it was that during those days guys would ride their bike to work during the week, and during the weekend they would ride it to a motorsports event, open the tool box, strip off all ballast from the bike, and participate in the race!
After the race the owner would put all parts back on again to make the bike street legal. That is, if the bike had not been crashed too bad during the race...
In the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's "Bobbing" was about the only way for the normal guy to increase the speed and performance of his Bike. It was in those days that Bobbers came into being. These bikes were the Original Bobbers!
This historic racing tradition forms the basis of our general perception and definition of a Bobber:

A "Bobber" is a stock motorcycle without major modifications, except that most or all of the parts which do not contribute to speed and/or performance have been removed or shortened (i.e. "bobbed").

	Rider on hill (left), Race through the Mojave Desert (below)