As such, the bike can still be found on the lots of Harley’s dealers starting at $15,349, but only as a 2022 model year.. For that, one gets a choice of four exterior colors, a Milwaukee-Eight 114 engine in the frame, and the promise of “a gritty, stripped-down bobber.”
Perhaps more than with any other bike, the Street Bob is also advertised as “a perfect performance base for customization,” and we’ve seen time and time again how shops across the world have taken that phrase literally and got to work.
One of the most recent Street Bob custom projects comes from Germany, where a crew known as Thunderbike is based. The ride, now called Brushed Baby, was shown back in November 2022 as a lowered, prouder version of its former self.
The name is of course inspired by one of the most important changes made to the bike, the fuel tank. A stretched piece capable of holding 15 liters (4 gallons) of fuel, it’s flat in appearance and features a recessed cap but, most importantly, for this particular build, it was left to show the world a very fitting brushed metal surface.
We’ll get a bit ahead of ourselves and tell you already all the 30 bits or so of custom hardware that went onto the Brushed Baby amounted to a little under $10,000 euros (about $10,800), but of that, the fuel tank alone is worth some $1,600.
The two other most expensive bits are the front and rear wheels. Up front, we get a 21-inch multi-spoke piece valued at $1,800, while for the rear, smaller one (16 inches as far as we can tell) the shop charges $1,300.
All of the above amounts to roughly half of the value of all the parts that went into the Brushed Baby, and if you add the $1,500 for the forward controls, you’re well past that point.
Then comes the rest of the list, which includes lowering elements for the front and rear, the fenders going over the two wheels, the headlight shroud, swing saddle, and Avon Cobra tires, just to name a few, and the sum quickly rises to the $10,000 total.
Now, from one perspective, $10,000 just in parts (man-hours and paint job are not included in the cost) may seem quite a lot by any standards, especially given how the sum almost doubles the value of the Street Bob.
Yet, if you look at it from another angle, you’ll see the relatively low starting price of the stock bike allows owners to invest their money into making these rides look and feel unique, and that’s a win for some people.
In the case of the Brushed Baby, the investment seems to have been worth it, as the cold-looking two-wheeler is nothing short of delightful visual simplicity.
