The problem with Cafe Racers

Cafe Racers are still one of the most popular form of custom motorcycles in the world. But are there consequences to what is lost when you turn a motorcycle into a cafe racer?

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Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing."

[edwinbrown]

My dad taught me that the further you get from stock, the closer you stay to home. I really learned that lesson.

[antonsmith]

In my opinion (as someone who rides to ride) the nice thing with cafe racers is to get a cheap project bike someone gave up on. You can customize it and not worry so much about it. Good to learn mechanics and wrenching skills without much worry. That's how I got my first bike and getting it back to running and riding good taught me a lot of lessons about motorcycles and it still does

[bushmanPMRR]

The thing to remember is where the term "Cafe Racer" originated.
The idea was a record would be selected on the jukebox in the cafe (like a diner 😉) and the rider would run out to their bike and ride it out of the cafe car park to the first roundabout then back towards and past the cafe to the next roundabout and then return to the cafe with the aim being to get back before the record ended. This is what is also often referred to as the 'ton-up boys' from the 50's and 60's in London and allover England. They were never meant to be long distance tourers or commuters or scramblers, it was just all about the bragging rights of having a fast bike.
I learned this from my dad who experienced it first hand as he rode through that era and I'm guessing if you read a list of the bikes he owned you would probably cry! 😉
If you ever make it over to London, The Ace Cafe is a must-see place to stop at. This was one of the original cafes and although it closed in 1969 it re-opened in 1997 and is still going well.
I actually took my dad there on his 70th birthday as a bit of a surprise and as a thank you from a son mad about motorbikes because of his dad, our respective wives weren't too bothered but my father and I had a whale of a time!
Have a look at their Wiki page here:

[mrsmith]

Richard Hammond commented on his Norton Cafe racer, it was great, as long as the cafe was no further than 5 miles away.

[chasebarber]

One of the biggest mistakes people make when doing a café racer conversion is to run pod filters with the original CV carburetors. CV carburetors are designed to reduce sudden throttle changes, and pods are intended to allow better throttle response. This conflict makes CV carburetors incredibly difficult to tune with pod filters compared to slide carburetors, so if you are building a café racer, be sure to include a slide carburetor conversion in your budget/plans. It will run, ride, and perform much better than it would on the CV carbs with pods.

[savagebolt]

Bart, this is a good one! Moral for me is;
1) own a barn.
2) own a variety of bikes.
In my experience, every modification creates a new headache. Let me tell you about the time I bought solid motor mounts for my '68
I used to love the JC Whitney catalog that came in the mail, sure do miss it!

[leuvenlife]

An interesting video Bart, because this is what I do for a living. I'm a motorcycle mechanic at a company that boomed when the Café Racer craze took hold. I have many bikes myself and ALL of my bikes are 100% original. I refuse to cut up a rare or exceptionally good condition bike for a customer, but always do my best to make sure what they receive is both safe and sane. Where I live, a large part of the male population have two left hands, so it is better that I build their bike, rather than have people riding around with their subframes held on with hose clamps (funny, yeah, but I wish I was joking) I never build a bike without mudguards, and always comply with legal regulation requirements, but I can honestly say I will be happy when the craze passes. Then, I will do restorations. Original is best in my eyes.

[andrewoh]

I'm British and was a biker during the cafe racer era. For me the ironic and amusing aspect is that the term 'cafe racer' was originally an insult! It was used to describe people who didn't go anywhere on their bikes - not beyond the local coffee shop.
LOL

[alandavies]

Always liked custom bikes, but over the years I have seen some horrors. One that sticks in my mind is a badly customised Triumph, whose new owner asked me to look at it because it did not handle, the steering head had been cut and re-welded to alter the rake, two light taps with a 2lb hammer removed the steering head from the frame-absolutely lethal. One that made me smile was a rider who could not be bothered to have brackets made for his racing seat so he attached it with two bungies instead. On acceleration the seat of course slid backwards, he then panic braked and it slid forward again, crushing his tackle against the tank, for a couple of weeks after, he walked like a cowboy after a very long ride.

[GillK]

I agree with this video. Had a CB750 that I turned into a cafe racer. I think it's fine to have a cafe racer, but you definitely cannot use it as regularly as a factory bike. I started to get very annoyed riding the cafe racer. A lot of people on the road loved it, but it wasn't enjoyable anymore. Just pretty to look at. I ended up selling the bike.
I now have a CB750 Four. It is mostly stock and I am restoring to factory condition. Owning a modified vehicle, whether that is a car or a motorcycle, really makes you appreciate a factory vehicle more and more.

[midwestflymagazine]

I own several motorcycles, including the ultimate boring dad bike (and also my favorite): a Versys 650. One of the best experiences I ever had was building a brat style bike out of a 1977 XS750. I'm not going to argue that the bike is great to ride because it's not, but I will say that I learned a ton by doing the project. I had to really understand every system on the bike and that deep dive into how a motorcycle works was worth every minute and dollar I spent. I do not recommend a custom cafe-style bike as your only bike. But, man, the process of building one is super fun and worthwhile. My two cents.

[garyhoward]

I can relate to this. Have an old Lemans Guzzi since 40 years which I had completely transformed by a famous German mechanic some 10 years ago. After 3 years, I got fed up with it, did not recognize it anymore and gradually brought it back to original. Happy again now..

[grahamnelson]

What bothers me most about cafe racers is when they do mods that are for totally conflicting riding styles. Like putting knobbies on a bike with low clip-on bars. It just makes the bike objectively bad at everything.

It would be like throwing mud tires on a lowered corvette

[jaycottrell]

What you said about keeping historical survivors brings to mind all the vintage Mausers, Arisakas, Mosin-Nagants etc (historical military rifles) that, decades ago were "sporterized" asnd customized by "gunsmiths" and kitchen table diyers who never imagined that these guns that were dime a dozen and would never be worth much in their original configuration. Which is exactly what is in demand now, and no one wants the sporterized guns

[kermitthefrog]

Hi Bart...seems you missed an important part of the whole modification thing. Many insurance companies will not insure modified motorcycles. If you modify the bike and do not tell them, they can easily get out of paying as the bike no longer conforms to regulations. Minor changes such as lower bars are generally ok and even things like LED lights may cause issues. If you are thinking about buying a modified bike of any type, you need to check with your insurance provider first. Second thing before buying is to check with the mechanic doing your inspection and see if they are concerned in anyway. Take loads of pictures and check with insurance and your certifying mechanic before laying down cash for a modified machine. Just because the previous owner had it insured does not mean that you can get it insured. People often buy a bike that is original then modify it.

[JaapGrootveld]

We are saddled with way too much conditioning already. This clip takes it up a notch.
We are not unique, it is a possibility that we have.
Someone who is really free and works on a motorcycle will build a unique motorcycle, that is a universal law.

And that goes for everything he does. People who tell us what is accepted or not, are of no use to you at all.
We are not bikers, we have the potential to be unique beings. Don not settle for less.

[maprow]

You make a lot of excellent points in the video. A lot of similar concerns could be made for custom cruisers - Ape hangers, kicked out front ends with lengthened forks, 300 rear tire, etc. As an engineer, I just shake my head at people who make their bikes perform worse with these kinds of modifications.

[maximebimar]

I completly agree with you. I use to be a mechanic in a vintage bike workshop in Denmark.
I've seen a lot of caferacer owner coming because of mechanical problems. It could have been any kind of troubles, carburation, braking, weird vibrations....
I think these people were not having a core love with their bikes. They just wanted to cruise them and feel good. They didn't wanted to understand the physics into their bikes. Which I think it is the most interesting. So they could not figure it out how to improve the reliability and the safety of their bike.
The heritage is something important to me. I went too crazy when i saw Hondas beeing cut and welded. I use to say '' original cost was 5000, now it is 500''.
But I ended up buying a started caferacer project base on a Honda cb550f, with few original part and a frame cut. The guy had no idea to go futher, after he has cut the frame. So I built my caferacer. I have two Honda CB550f, an original K3 and a caferacer. Thanks for your videos

[ccrider]

All of your points in this video I agree with totally. In the past myself and friends have modified bikes for improved performance and appearance, sometimes at great expense, only to screw up an otherwise good motorcycle.

[realistvera]

how are you going to contradict yourself by introing the video saying "customizing your bike, making it your own, is one of the best parts about owning a motorcycle." then halfway through saying that if you customize your bike you are ruining history... lol