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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My dad taught me that the further you get from stock, the closer you stay to home. I really learned that lesson.
Good advice from dad!
Absolutely the truth. Just like four wheel drive will get you stuck farther out in the field.
Dad must have been a really bad mechanic lol
Sounds kinda boring
Home is where the heart is! "The further you get from stock, the closer you stay to home". Put your heart into your build.
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: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Cafe
Great comment, thanks for the background on "Cafe Racer". So cool to hear about your Dad riding in during that era. And yes, plan to stop by the Ace Cafe during the holidays to see first hand! Cheers from Colorado!!!
@@xaviermelendez2639 *whispers: Just don't expect TOO much from the food! 😉😂 It's all about the atmosphere, history and general vibe of the place. They have a small gift shop inside as well, plenty of tees and memorabilia. Hopefully I'll get to the States one day, trouble is the place is so big and there's so many different places I want to see! PS: also. How's this for luck? My dad managed to see his absolute idol play live in London on his one and only UK tour. The guy was Buddy Holly!
The term "Ton-up" is nothing to do with a jukebox and is nothing to do with the Ace Cafe The "ton" is a hundred miles an hour "ton-up" is over a hundred miles an hour these terms apply to cars and bikes all over the world and are not exclusive to some old cafe in England that most likely wasn't even know of by most people around the world who used these terms, to use a modern term, "back in the day" Didn't your father know that ?
Here check this out, maybe your dad is in it kzhead.info/sun/ZpaCXbuDnZeqhKs/bejne.html
Ha, right on. 👍 So many "expert historians".
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
Knocked loose profile pic!!!!
@@demoniclemon5052 You know it!
I just received a '78 kz750 Twin, completely disassembled, engine whole, carbs whole but separate, everything seems to be here, minus the tank. Checked last night and the engine moves real easy. I'm bout to do somethin. Salute
@@BangChief_AllIsOne Hell yea! I just popped the top off my '80 GS550L to do valves. Rebuilt this bike after buying it for $500. Once you get it running you'll be so satisficed! Good luck on your build friend
@antonsmith132 Thank you Bradda. Salute
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.
Yes pod filters are a problem, but not due to CV carbs. There are 2 issues that go together: 1) air/fuel ratio, 2) intake resonance. Pod filters allow less restriction in general, and need different jets, and the slide cutaway and needle size/taper is designed for stock operation. 70's and later bikes are already lean, so more air leans them out further. Resonance - the box is designed to make use of the waves moving within the intake tract and actually give a boost within an rpm range. Pods loose this boost, which typically occurs at midrange rpm. CV carbs eliminate the need for the accelerator pumps needed on cable operated slides. CV carbs also automatically adjust to weather and altitude changes while operating "on the needle", since intake vacuum controls the slide position. On multi-cylinder bikes CV carbs will perform just fine if properly jetted, no need to go to cable slide carbs.
Another problem is when you open up the exhaust system , it messes up CV carburetor operation.
And they eliminate any rear suspension travel
Pod filters are designed for one thing and that is to relieve idiots of their money 😉
@@carlatamanczyk3891 If you remove the "Collector", yes. Edit: The CX500 for an example has an "collector" under the engine block - Before the "Pipes" / Mufflers. If you just change the Mufflers, you don't really have to change anything else. Also, in regards to CV Carbs; you just have to adjust / put the proper needles in. It ain't about performance, its about looks usually to get the "see through" look / remove the big airbox. If you put a longer piece of pipe between the Carb and the Airfilter, you may have to not change alot.
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.
I hate to see pretty much any carbureted bike cut up, other than crotch rockets. I would like to see all of those cut up. I will be happy when the flat black on top of flat black on top of still more flat black craze is over, but I doubt I will live long enough to ever see that. It is impossible to buy a decent looking new motorcycle anymore. Other than some crotch rockets, which I want absolutely nothing to do with, all other bikes look like they were just literally dipped in a vat of flat black paint. Since flat black does not reflect light, you cannot see the lines of the bike, it's just a solid black blob.
Cool. I haven't seen this craze in Northern Ohio (but doesn't mean it's not here too). What area do you live in?
@@buckybarnes3803 Belgium, Northern Europe
@@buckybarnes3803 What craze is that?
Good point! I've been riding BMW R75/5 (short version) for some 20 vears. My idea is a café racer with 1st: lower weight. 2nd: lower centre of gravity. Maybe a smaller front tire (unsprung weight)? Still think, this could be fun: the electric starter with a 15Ah battery is useless, anyways. Minus 6kg, minding the thick cable. The seat is 6,5kg. That should be easy to make it better....and so on: the ignition coils with holders weight 1,2kg. A twin coil from a Suzuki GS weights 350g... Imagine this bike with a dry weight of 160kg. (Less than a Yamaha SR 500). It should be a fun ride. Before even touching the motor.
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.
that's sounds like the hillbilly vasectomy using cherry bombs and counting down from 20 to zero LOL on the toilet
😂😂😂
Could have been worse; could have been walking like a cow-girl.
Richard Hammond commented on his Norton Cafe racer, it was great, as long as the cafe was no further than 5 miles away.
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
These days we call them "Harley Riders"
@@hodaka1000 LOL nailed it
@@hodaka1000 Utterly retarded. "Harley riders" likely put on more miles in a year than any Cafe Racer biker does in a lifetime.
Well the term is most definitely applicable to most of the guys building these butchered up “cafe” bikes now. Ride the poor barely running thing across town to a hipster bar and back that’s about all they’re good for. I’d think guys running around doing wheelies on the highway on ratty crashed sport bikes are much closer in essence to the serious riders of the past
However the parts that era spawned were the height of British chassis development like Seeley, Spondon, Rickman etc.
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 Camaro..... I used to love the JC Whitney catalog that came in the mail, sure do miss it!
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.
Great point! Thanks
I've heard this is a bigger issue in Europe, Australia and New Zealand than it is in the US. I'd be curious to know where you're located Kermit.
@@daveco1270 The frozen North....
I submitted a full list of modifications and a set of photographs as I needed an agreed value and my insurance company here in the UK were great. Agreed value and all mods listed. Oh and the guy said he thought she is beautiful 😊
I nearly got into trouble with my insurance claim on my written off car as I had aftermarket rims on it and did not tell them. I thought I wasn't a modification as such, like lowering it or engine mods. This is in New Zealand. You need to let them know if you make any changes to it, otherwise they can use it as an excuse to either not pay out or they lower the payout amount
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
Agreed, a bike with knobbies is not a cafe racer. A cafe racer with knobbies is dumb. Those belong on scramblers..
yeah those aren't cafe racers
Porsche did that on their 911 in the past, for very successful rallying and they looked cool. I can agree that the original ‘59 caferacer cult is about speed and not scramblers, but hey, this is the third caferacer revival now… things and taste do also develop in time 😂
@@motolab.EuropeanMotorcycles Today is provably not a "development" but a rerun of the 1980s when anything with a quarter fairing was dubbed "cafe". Everything that is ANTI-functional doesn't belong on a cafe machine on principal. Scramblers are for dirt and work nicely.
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
What about the guy who wanted to go hunting in 1965. Someone gave him an junky Mauser 98 and he went to great lengths to make that gun a work of devotion. Some were hackers, some were artists. The guns were sold by the pound cheap, no one cared but the ones done right were accurate, looked beautiful. Even if they are beautiful you can't get top dollar these days.
not living in a country where military rifle ownership is illegal,...? @@gymshoe8862
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
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.
I built an xs650 starting with just a frame, swing arm and engine. I sourced other parts to build and fabricate an enduro or classic adv bike style. 79 IT250 forks, taller shocks on the rear and I sprung it on the light side so that its a nice squishy ride on the road. Hand made 4 inch foam seat thats more narrow than original. It turned out pretty good and its very comfortable. It just depends on what you build. Its not a super sticky street machine like its shorter brothers but its a go anywhere bike with a no matter how long attitude.
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..
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.
I honestly agree. I feel we are stewards of vintage bikes. Keep them around in original shape. I do have a "cafe" style bike. It's based off a new chassis and came that was from the factory. That's the way to do it imo
I agree with much of what you say in this video. I have looked at plenty of used bikes that were the year, make and model I wanted, but awfully modified. Some functional mods are vast improvements, like an upgrade from a breaker point ignition to electronic. Most customizers should commit to keeping the bike they "made their own" since they will be likely to lose money on resale.
I hate when they paint the frame (some color other than black) to match the rest of their crazy color scheme. I can repaint a gas tank and side panels, even fenders... but now I gotta strip the entire bike down to repaint a bright green frame... no thanks.
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.
I prefer bikes to be stock unless the modification is an upgrade or an improvement of a fault. As for cafe racers, what I disliked most about them was their origin. This probably led to a lot of dangerous driving.
Totally agree. After I retired as an engineer, I decided to have some fun and got a job at a Kawasaki dealer as parts guy, then quickly as service manager. What used to burn my ass was when these kids, who never rode a motorcycle in their life, would come in and buy a ZX-6R, which already had too much power for them, and then they'd want to buy some aftermarket exhaust. I'd try to explain that the 600cc 4-cylinder market is so competitive that Kawasaki engineers have already wrung just about every bit of horsepower out of that little engine that they could, and you bolting on some different exhaust that your equally ignorant buddies said will give you 15 more horsepower will actually decrease your power. I could never dissuade any of those knuckleheads from ruining their power and already-terrible driveablility. By that I mean those bikes don't hit the meat of their powerband until you are moving over 60 in first gear and above any US speed limit in 2nd. You want to ride fast on local tight twisty roads? Good luck, as a KLR 650 will beat you - up to about 50 mph. I know that because I did it on my KLR against some young guys on ZX-6Rs. They couldn't believe an old guy on a 650 single dual-sport could pass and pull away from them on their "mighty" SuperSport bikes. It's called "torque," guys.
It’s all about the mood for me. Some days you just want a polite, reliable ride out to the shops or the office, so I’ve got a basically stock Bonnie for that. Other days I want to feel like a hooligan, so I climb on my scrambler with an obnoxious exhaust, unnecessary knobbies, and other aesthetic mods. Life’s too short to do the “smart” thing all the time.
totally agree. I ride a motorcycle not a fashion statement
@@n.mcneil4066 faster faster faster until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death.
I quite like the mild cafe styling that some factory bikes came out with at the height of the craze. Nice looking (if not as much as it could be), but still being practical enough
I totally agree with you. I still own today a 72 Kawi 500 triple that i butchered into a cafe racer 20 years ago and now trying to find original parts to restore it. Original is beauty!!
Your bike, your choice. What bike you ride is entirely up to you and its no-one else's business. Café racers and any custom bike were never about practicality and never should be. All bikes were built to price-point not to be the best bike they can, that's why tuners exist and why race bikes are faster than stock bikes. But then I've only been riding for 30 years so what do I know?
no-one else's business part is meh. A lot of these types of bikes, as well as choppers 20 years ago, among other types, are bout other people noticing. So it is other peoples business cause the owner of the bike wants it to be. That being said, when those people are chasing a positive opinion for their personnel "expression", they just end up coming off douchey. So yeah, your bike, your choice, but if you do a bunch of douchey shit to it for the vain hope of external gratification, I'm gonna think you're a douche.
To play devil's advocate, if a bike is made to be style over substance, that means the rider is aiming to convey a statement to those around him/her. And if you're making a statement in public, you are making it other people's business.
@@V742 Nonsense. A lot of us like to have nice things, because we like them, not because we want to show off to others. I put a nice painting on a wall to look at it myself, not for others... I get a nice girl for myself, not to show off to others... After riding my bike I want to look back at it and think f yeah, she's a masterpiece! If that wasn't the case, everyone would be riding around in fiat multiplas or some similar box.
@@V742 your argument scales poorly
@@puudub Well said
Last point hit spot on. I was scoping for an original Ducati 900 Monster. However, a previous owner had shortened the Fram by cutting the back part which had me lose all interest, even if the price was half of what was listed
I don't understand why there's not more restomod type projects. It would be great to keep the look as close as possible to the original but to improve the performance of the bike with modern components, especially for handling or braking.
This is exactly the theme of my current cb550 build, and I’ve had difficulty finding similar builds to take inspiration from. Im basically keeping everything stock and modernizing the brakes and suspension. Only putting a new exhaust on because the old one is rusted out.
My biggest issue with this trend is taking a perfectly good, original, and well maintained bike, and just chopping it to bits and throwing on tacky crap to make it fit the cafe racer look. Embrace the bike you got and how it looks, everything is cool to someone and I can’t stand seeing gorgeous bikes be destroyed for aesthetics
What aesthetics though, cafe racers barely even look good
@@xShurax _everything is cool to someone_
More bikes are manufactured everyday.
What if the bike you got is roadkill and needs to be completely rebuilt? That's my situation and I'd rather make it a cafe racer - it's actually much cheaper than doing a full restoration as many of the stock parts were not salvagable. If the bike was less than $1500 to restore I would've done that, but it would've easily cost me over $3000 and the bike's not worth that much, so I'm just having fun with it.
@@Kissamauhau1 The problem with that is, cafe racers a lot of times are built from old bikes. Say, bikes from the 80s. They are not "manufactured everyday" anymore, their times are over and therefore, finding an original, maintained and still working bike from the 80s has a specific aesthetic to it, while making these bikes into cafe racers that barely even work properly and will get you to the next McDonalds and back, no further than that, has the effect that the bike is destroyed and there's most likely no way to regain its original form anymore.
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
Just because there are abortionists murdering classic bikes there are people like Allen Millard
I've had my CB550F1 from new (1977) Fitted wider Borranni rims around 1979 Did the CB750 piston mod around 30,000 miles, (slightly different piston design to the 1973 'Gentleman's Express in Cycle World, took measurements and matched to combustion chamber, minus one degree) Retired it at 106,000 miles but still have it in shed.
Thanks for the cool video 👍 Around 1980 I bought a used Honda 400 twin. This was quite a good bike, so my friend and I put on longer shocks, raised the front fender, put on knobby tires, and a larger sprocket after removing most of the chain guard stuff. This was an awesome scrambler which worked in the dirt and in the snow. We kept the rear foot-pegs so we could ride double, each taking turns as the driver. We even boosted a few cars which had left their lights on. Cheers from Ottawa, Canada :-)
Hey man - sounds like a really fun bike you and your friend put together. I dunno if I agree with the video creator that all these older bikes are great examples of superior design, though I understand things being more rare and therefore less cool to “modify,” especially in some half-baked way. Yours sounds pretty sick to me. Anyway, I’m really wondering what “boosted” means in Canada. You say you even boosted some cars which had left their lights on and in the US, that’d be saying you guys stole them. And maybe you did! Just wondering if I was getting you right on that. Cheers!
@@b.w.22 Ha ha about "boosted". Up here in Canada it means to start someone's car by using jumper cables to another battery, because they left their lights on and killed their own battery. The Honda 400 could boost small cars with jumper cables if they had left their lights on and killed their own battery. Cheers :-)
I experienced the opposite. I bought an 80' Honda CB750 that was modified into a hard tail with extended swing arm/chain and shortened kickstand...very drag style. I converted it back to original, and still regret doing that to this day. It's long been sold off, but I still think about what a mistake it was to revert it back.
This video helped me realise I don't like cafe racers, what I love are STOCK vintage bikes, those chromed front and rear fenders are gorgeous
Your bike is personal to you. I knew someone who was about what it looks like rather than riding it. He would start it, sit on it, walk it backwards out of the garage, let it idle and talk about how much it went up in value today, then slip the clutch and put it back inside and that was it. Gotta admit, that Honda (blueish 350?) was awesome! Had a CL 350 chopper back in high school, rigid frame, 12" longer forks and single saddle with sissy bar.
I totally agree with you Bart. Many good original bikes have been irreversibly ruined in the pursuit of what will ultimately prove to be nothing more than a fleeting fad. Such a shame.
I'm building a cafe racer out of a 2002 Honda XR-100. Its been a long process starting out with an off road bike but its also been fun and I've been enjoying building, fixing, tuning, and riding it.
I'm a new rider and honestly Was towards the cafe racer for the looks. I only planned to use it for communiting around my small city, but after watching, maybe I should opt for something else. Thanks for the video. Lots to consider.
Can do what I did and buy a royalenfield continentalgt650 perfect for commuting and reliable with car styling
I share your opinion on these as well.... Working on a few bikes and attempting to modify one myself led me to the conclusion that almost everything was in it's place and done that way for a reason. I would think not twice but 10 times before sacrificing functionality for simply "looks". I enjoy riding my bike more than just looking at it sit nicely in a corner.
I built my first cafe racer in 1997-98 when I was 17. My grandfather was really into cars and so I kinda picked up that tradition. Being young tho, I bought this motorcycle and totally stripped it down and made a pretty good example of a cafe racer. My grandfather although totally supportive explained the idea between restoration and customized. Since that time I only deal in basket case bikes when I'm gonna do a customized. Anything else gets the restoration or rejuvenate treatment. I've made way more on those restoration/rejuvenate bikes. I do love riding the cages I've made. Even all the problems.
Agree. BTW we're still young
love the message. im building a bobber as daily driver and a few of the points you mentioned acutaly changed alot! Thanks for saving me some money
My yoshimura muffler on my crf300l made a huge difference. Hard to believe am doing any more damage when the acceleration is smoother and the motor runs cooler. I think this muffler theory works on older bikes before emission standards.
My old 1984 CX 500 I had back in the 90's ran smoother with faster acceleration after I ditched the Airbox, rejetted the carbs and ran after market exhausts ... I also ditched the fairing, stock lights, stock saddle, dropped the seat rail by an inch , and did a full 6 wire rewire, and ended up with a very comfortable, reliable, fast and nice sounding Personalised Bike 🙂
To me the traditional Cafe Racer is somewhat construed to the modern day concept. Originally it was all speed, handling and performance. Everything about the bike and rider had a purpose. Along with practicality. Going back to 1950s/60s England and its weather, guards/fenders had to be there. Nice big headlight because most of their racing antics were done at night. Big speedometers were the rage so you could see your speed. Because that was the aim, going faster than the next guy. Personalising your style, bike and gear was high priority to show individuality. I think the Bobber/Chopper influence somewhat has merged with Cafe Racers. Now it's strip everything, style over performance. A bike with a stock engine, pod filters and short straight through pipes will go worse than well thought out and researched performance upgrades. Knobby tyres and super thin seats. Tiny lights and small speedometers. Stock but lowered suspension. And ergonomics to look cool rather than aid the rider in better handling.
I started off in the car community first. Both communities have a tendency towards gate-keeping. However, with cars there are many different sub-communities where you can find a group of people who like doing to your car what you want to do. Whatever you want to do to your ride, there’s probably a community who accepts/welcomes it no matter how sacrilegious. I’m relatively new to bikes and it seems like the threshold of acceptable modification seems to be narrower and there’s a stigma against purely-aesthetic bikes. I fall in the camp of not giving a crap. It’s your bike, your time, and your money. Do what you want!
It is basically the opposite.
I appreciate a lot of bikes I wouldn't want to own. I wouldn't want to own an OCC chopper, but idc if somebody likes that sort of thing.
Thanks for your thoughts. I'm looking at all my options before making a purchase and this vlog helped
Glad to see there are no "thunbs down" on this vid ! Thanks Bart, great information ! ;)
the problem with cafe racers is no one even knows what a caffe racer is supposed to be anymore. They've been turned into some twisted pseudo-motorcyclist hipster art project and 9 out of 10 cafe racers are a pain to look at and are completely useless for their original purpose....
Yeah! Whatever you like is the only real way to motorcycle! Go gatekeeper!
So you’re saying my Hayabusa scrambler build is maybe not the best idea?
That’s is THE best idea
Fuel injection, you're good. Go crazy👍
I’ve had so much fun on my triumph scrambler and have worked hard to upgrade it where it looks nice and still has functionality, I haven’t chopped it up to bits lol. And still able to put lots of miles on it comfortably:)
I LOVE a cafe racer! Aesthetically they are my favorite looking motorcycle by a long way. This video is spot on though... I would love to make my own one day, but would never rely on it as my daily rider.
Maybe once a weekday and both of the weekends every week?
I acquired several basket case single cylinder Ducatis. Most of them are incomplete, and cannot be restored to original unless the correct parts become available. My plan is to build traditional cafe racers out of the ones I can't totally restore, using as many original or period aftermarket parts as I can find. I will not be altering the frames, but have no problems doing other improvements to the engines & brakes. If a future owner can find the parts, a total resto will be possible.
I once had a 1978 Yamaha RD400 Daytona with pipes, rear-sets, and low bars. It looked fantastic and was pretty practical.
Well presented, I like the idea of customizing a bike, but not making any permanent changes and saving the original parts. This way it can be easily converted back to stock
I see quite a lot of cafe racers for sale on eBay, Marketplace etc that are selling for a lot less than they cost to build (this is usually stated in the advert). I can only assume the pleasure was in the building of these bikes but not the real world riding. Also saddens me, as a ‘classic’ BMW owner, how many old desirable BMWs (e.g. R90S) have been mercilessly chopped up just for a passing craze
The pleasure is usually in both the build and the ride (or drive if it's a car). I know it is for me anyway. The money spent on doing any custom work or restoration work is a sunk cost - you will almost never get all of that money back, but that's just part of the hobby
Recently subbed to your channel. For me weight reduction of bike and rider is the #1 aim to achieve. Next - decent Ergonomics, your body will thank you for it. Next - the suspension and brakes need to work properly. These are all number 1 points in my book of motorcycle-lifing. Decent tyres help too. Way over-rated are loud exhausts though a bit of thumpness can go a long way in the ear of the beerholder. I usually loose attention when seeing builds of a styling exercise with compromised chopped suspension, bad choice of tyres and questionable ergos
100% agree with every single point in this. I've worked in a shop where we built custom beemers. Ours were mechanically sound, with complete overhauls and replacement of every part that could've had some wear over the years and kilometers. We also never built racers for all the reasons you stated, our best selling models were trimmed down and blackened GSs and rigid rear swing builds. Those were more expensive than stock models of the eras, but we prided ourselves in using as little aftermarket parts as possible while still making it look good, so you could easily get a repair or service done at any competent BMW shop. With every single custom BMW in this video I immediately spotted several red flags, except for the stock R80/7, only the rear fender looked kinda funky.
I agree, sometimes cafe racers look more like art than practical. I have a 34 year old Lowrider, it is mostly stock, except for the exhaust, carb, aircleaner, cam, head light, rear shocks, front springs, handle bar risers (it had the flat bars as standed, they were a bit low) and a small fairing, and USB charger. You know, little things :)
I totally agree with you. I find the originals much nicer than a custom chopped up one!
But others don't - that's the point of customizing.
@@ahotmic That's true and that is why I said that I find.......It's a choice I wouldn't be interested in! don't get me wrong I have done a Cafe Racer years ago and I liked it too!
The most recent Cafe Racer craze and all of the fun and interesting conversions are great to see. I'd say, just from my perspective, the only types of mods that get me questioning it all is Cafe Race Scramblers. For the life of me, I'm not sure how much scrambling folks will do with that sort of set-up... 🤔😅
The majority of the bikes that I've restored and sold went to people that say "This is the bike that I rode when I was younger". They really don't pay much attention to the custom rearsets.
The pod filters on our cb-550 conversion did give us a lot of trouble. In the end I think that they give too much airflow compared to the old box filter and that really screws with the vacuuming of air into the engine and the carb that is on it stock. We had to give it a lot of extra work for its powerband to be functional. I respect wanting to maintain history but tbh apart from some museum pieces and restoration passion projects I don’t think its a big deal to modify old systems. It may be heresy but I’d love a 60’s mustang EV conversion with new electronic integration more than an all original, in the shop every month, restoration project.
So the heyday of the cafe racer was probably the late 50’s and 60’s. If your bike could do a ‘ton’ you were the man.
A friend did a cost no object restomod on a Norton. When it was all done and he rode it he realized that it was still just an old bike. It had a drum front brake and said the bike seemed to go faster when he applied the brakes, lol.
Your friend must have been a really 💩 mechanic...
@@PurityVendetta My friend does everything to perfection.
@@georgekrpan3181 So he was unable to make the front brake function on a pretty lightweight bike and you think he was a good mechanic? 🤔 I have a drum front brake on my domiracer replica and can lift the rear wheel if I'm too enthusiastic, and it was made by Norton in 1958. Why didn't he fit something like a Fontana 4ls if it was a 'cost no object restomod'? I call bs on your comment and suggest you might be a 🤡
@@PurityVendetta Neither my friend or I are a clown but you're acting like one.
100% agree. breaks my heart to see all these hacked up vintage CBs for sale on fb.
Great video. I had an old BMW R80 many years ago. I was never tempted to do anything wild to it, but for almost the whole time I had it, I thought it was lacking a bit of power, nothing major, it just felt like it needed another 20 percent or so to match the weight of the bike. So while I wondered if maybe the bike needed modifying with different carbs or air filters (ie, non-stock), in the end it turned out that the there was a problem both with the throttle and one of the carbs. I took it to a good mechanic who discovered and fixed both problems, using entirely standard parts, and boom, the power, weight and handling were suddenly in perfect balance. So the bike didn't need any after-market mods, it just needed to be returned to factory specs with factory parts, and all was good. The original designers knew what they were doing.
Which for much of the stuff out there is very difficult
Great video. I completely agree. If you can't get OEM parts and you're starting with a very incomplete bike, maybe it's alright to tweak the look/operation of a classic bike, however, I personally only make non-destructive changes to my bikes. And I keep all original parts in a bin with the bike in case I, or another owner, decides to fully restore it to stock. Just how I roll.
Very interesting points made. Especially the relationship to the original bikes resonated well with me. I thought the same thing when seeing e.g. higly modified P-51 Mustangs for the Reno air races. For each of these highly modified ones a original Mustang has to die, which in my eyes is a tragedy...
Yeah, but keep in mind, that cutting up old bikes is from every era, they did that in the ‘50 ‘60 ‘70 ‘80 ‘90 and on… classics only become sought after and collectible if they getting rare.. a lot of motorcycles like honda’s or BMW’s are made in significant quantities. A 1982 BMW R80 is not and never will be a collectable classic… a R90S, or R75/5 and R100RS (/7 series) will and are already though … apart from the fact that BMW did produce more than 45000 a year of some R80 models, something different than a Triumph speedtwin from ‘49 with only 3000 made for instance
For practicality I have my car, my bike is (as you have mentioned in the video) my "art" project.
The history of a motorcycle isn't a snapshot in time, it's the entire life of the cycle even if you don't like where it's at now.
In 2018 I bought my brand new Chinese cg125 and slowly moding in to a café racer look(keeping mechanical and frame in the original form), I worked with my bike almost for 4 years(food delivery, courier, loading stupid things with that pour bike) , every scratch and faded paint tells a story and every mod even the bolt on ones feels unique. Despite being the most sold bike in my country my bike is like no other.
I think that if a cafe racer is your only ride it's a challenging choice, but as a second bike/special ride they can't be beat. If you've got an all original classic bike it should be restored properly, but if it's an old beater that's impractical to restore then I can't think of a better project than a cafe racer. I have one bike I ride year round in Canada, so as much as I love cafe racers, it would be laughably inappropriate, lol. Also, let's keep in mind where cafe racers came from. They were meant to as fast as possible up the highway from the Ace Cafe at Hanger Lane in London to the next over pass and back again. Cafe racers should be beautiful, but they should also be impractical because of their heritage. If I had a second bike it would hands down be a cafe racer :^)
in the early 60's my Father used to use his Modded Matchless 350 'Cafe Racer'to ride from R.A.F Saint Athens in Wales to Ashford in Kent regularly, which is over 200 Miles.
@@danewood2309 That is truly cool :^) Thank you for sharing that.
@@danewood2309 I love cafe racers alot. If I could afford a second bike it'd a cafe ricket :^)
"SHOULD BE IMPRACTICAL" my ancient biker posterior! In their era they were not built in ways that made them less usable. Clubmans, clip-ons and rearsets properly fitted are no worse than modern sportbikes which are their descendants and on the British machines of the era are functional. Cafe racers done properly don't svck. As with choppers most who make what they refer to as "cafe" are clueless and their mistakes don't last long. If you do one best look over the real classics to see how it's done properly as their is a considerable difference in outcomes. A modern drivetrain should be at least as reliable as it was new, moreso if it's been simplified.
You’ve convinced me. Just purchased CB250 barn find to convert. But now I’m just going to restore to original!
Cafe racers are just like super/hypersport bikes; great fun. As long as you don't imagine doing anything other than taking them out for a blast on sunny days, they're tremendous machines.
I’ve always wanted to have a CB750 cafe racer, but after riding for a few years, my main priority is having something that’s reliable and comfortable enough to ride for a whole tank of gas. I’d still love to have a bike like this, or a suicide shifting bobber, but only as a second bike
I've owed tons of 70s model cb750s they are one of the most reliable bikes still to date
I used to feel the same way. I have a 79 CB750K in immaculate condition totally stock and I feel like I am destroying history of I chop it and make it into a custom cafe racer. But at the same time I feel like this is my bike and I would love the look and sound of this being a cafe that I designed and built myself. It would be MY bike rendering all the resale value useless and I feel the true point of motorcycles is the aspect of being unique and talking about your bike and what makes it yours.
If there is a true point of motorcycles it is to transport riders
I had a Suzuki GN250 cafe and used it as a daily ride. It was great, and I agree with you on some points you raised: I raised the bar handle a bit for comfort, and extended the seat to fit two people (barely). I made sure the exhaust pipe was well built and air filter was stock, so the engine was great. I put chunky tires in it too, of course =)
You make some good points, but i feel like most of them are missing one important point - the vast majority of people who customize vehicles of any kind have a different mindset. We make whatever we're driving or riding reflect some part of ourselves. We know it kills resale, we know it kills practicality, we know it might not be as reliable anymore, but it is ours, and its built for nobody else but ourselves. The stock bike or car is a blank canvas to us. There's plenty of people that like having everything as is from the factory, especially with classics, and those are great too! But it really is two different mindsets, neither better or worse than the other, just different, and i think that's something that's really been overlooked in this video
You missed the point I think.
Point #1 .... As someone who racked up thousands of touring miles ... often in crappy weather ... on a cafe bike with no front fender. It aint a big deal. The world didn't end . I didnt get an eye poked out. I just had fun.
When you are looking for a classic bike, the reason is that you are nostalgic about that bike. It takes you back to a memory, a time, an era, a lost culture...or something else long lost that you miss. The fact is, Cletus' garage mods were not a part of that memory you are looking for. You are looking for the actual bike so it can invoke the actual memory. If you are going to mod out a bike, do it with something more modern, something nobody misses yet. I hate it when people do this to classic cars as well.
The worst part about cafe racers is that people buy cheap, great running classics and cut them up, ruin their function and then have the gall to try and charge thousands for it.
I think it is common sense that much of the customization may impact reliability. That said, who cares. Custom bikes are cool and are an expression of the individual that created it (could be considered art on wheels when well executed). If you have the cash to chop up a good vintage bike, go for it (you are not in charge of preserving old bikes). If you start with a low cost bike in poor condition, then you perhaps saved one from the scrap pile. Either way, MAKE IT YOURS!
That honestly sound quite dumb, just because you have the means to do something doesn't mean you should. Say you happen to possess a Brough Superior, which is extremely rare, now do you 1. chop that bike up or 2. restore and preserve? Harleys? Sure go ahead and chop and bob them however you want, they were specifically made to be customised. The Honda Cub? Go ahead make a fun little project out of it, there were so many of them sold that you can afford to chop down a few hundred thousands of them. But even for motorcycles that were made to be customised, there are a few models that you just don't touch, for example: the Harley XR750, who in their right mind would chop up that piece of history. If you do you are just really stupid. Sure make the bike yours by all mean, but there is a time and bike for that.
Excellent commentary, and especially regarding chopping the frame!
I had a custom bike for a long time with no fender or turn signals and a solo seat. Very impractical but I rode the hell out of it and enjoyed it. I took many trips on it and even did an iron butt ride doing 1280 miles in a day. Then I decided I wanted something “practical” and bought a sport touring bike and while it was able to do distances more comfortably and haul more stuff and keep me dryer in rain or warmer in cold it just wasn’t as fun and I tended to ride less, especially for shorter rides. Obviously the answer is to have a few bikes but if you can’t do that I’d stick with something fun over practical.
1280 miles in a day? You'd have to go 80 miles an hour for 16 hours straight. You sure you're not exaggerating slightly?
RE: the point about preserving history - I used refinish mid century modern furniture back to its original glory and one of the most frustrating and annoying things was seeing how many people would paint over the original wood finishes with something like chalk or pastel paint. Heirloom quality rosewood pieces would be ruined by some blonde lady shabby chic-ing it and the point remains the same that there aren't new models of these 50+ year old things being made. What's out there is out there and sooner or later someone might end up with the last working version of something and not even know it.
I'm in the long process of rebuilding my '73 cb450 and im trying to keep it as original as possible. I have had to replace the carbs as the originals are mostly shot. I cleaned the inside of the tank, but otherwise I'm keeping it in its original condition. Since it was stored in a barn since the 90's it is in very good shape. So far I've only really overhauled the charging/starting system with close to stock replacements. Cafe bikes look cool, but as the video points out; the bike was built the way it was and the parts are designed to work work together.
All valid comments except who has only one bike! The cafe is for going for ice cream around the bay, never ridden in the rain, that's for the daily. They are also a learning curve that makes you a better mechanic with a better understanding of tuning. Pods and pipes become no problem after a few builds. Old drive trains with new brakes and suspensions are great bikes although my knees are too old for rears sets and clip ons so my builds are really nakeds, all extraneous weight stripped off.
Preach brother! Another thing to consider is the further you get from stock, the less likely mechanics are to take on the project when you have a problem. Unless youre a pretty damn good mechanic yourself, you could end up pretty screwed when an electrical or tuning issue comes along.
I've riden a white and blue 1987 CB450 TR for like 6 years, and my first idea when bought the bike was to turn into a cafe racer, ran aftermarket pipes that sounded awesome but every mod that I did turned into a problem in long therms, carburators that old don't like open pipes at all, but the proccess of the restauration made me fall in love so much with the bike that I kept as original as possible and now it looks like just came out of the shop brand new, just reinstalled og pipes and its the most beautiful sound ever, the bike seats in my home now as a peace of art since I bought a white Continental GT650 months ago, I travelled a lot with the CB450 and it made me passionated about bikes and travelling so much that I had to buy a new bike to have more reliability, for the second time I bought a bike trying to make a custom cafe racer, but the joy of a bike that runs like a true machine, with no problems whatsoever, is just too good to chop it down or change pipes etc... I'm 26 years old, close to marriage, from Brazil, and this video just translate the concept so well that I had to comment here even though my english is sh**, wish the best to all of you, and thanks for the video! Subbed!
I live in Palm Beach County and we used to have a fairly large vintage motorcycle show in downtown West Palm Beach. Around 7 years or so ago a company was making and selling cafe racers. I remember the prices were around $14,000. The bikes were 1970s based Japanese bikes maybe worth around $3000. They possibly had a few handmade parts giving them the benefit of doubt but there wasn't much to them. I guess at the time hipsters would dish out the cash to look cool in front of the Starbucks. Those bikes cost more than the KTM 890 DukeR I picked up recently. That was a pretty good video NY the way. I go to a lot of my local vintage motorcycle club bike nights and events. I ride a somewhat rare Harley XR1200. It has a throwback look.
Exactly!! Have a few factory CBs that run perfect. I know someone who has a few cafe racers they built but can never seem to get them to run right. Why mess with Japanese engineering. If someone wants a cafe looking bike that handles and runs great buy a new one. There are few nice Triumphs. Expensive but will run and ride every time.
my main beef(s) with cafe racers: - very few actually do any kind of actual racing, even tho theres classes for it - non-riders that talk to me about my bike(s) all wanna tell me about their preference for the "cafe racer style" bikes. That's weird and jarring to me, because when I was getting started in the early 2000's cafe bikes were a niche thing. I'd guess even among riders maybe half to 75% even knew what a "cafe racer" was.
Wonderful video. I just bought a 74 CB360. A kid did a lot to it who bought it in non-running condition and got it running, put LEDs on it, lower bars, new seat and chopped the fenders down partially due to rust. It runs decent! And I really enjoy it. I get everything you are saying. Great video.
Whyyyy
@@tennesseeboi6704 why….
@@justindtackett i mean it's cool you got it running but you chopped it up
There are some types of motorcycle that have their negatives? Like... every bike produced? It all depends on what you want out of a bike (or the bike if you're lucky enough to have a few). There is no single all purpose bike. All are a compromise, and you pick (or customise) based on what you want out of it.
Been noticing blocky dirt track tires and large front tires on supposed ''cafe bikes''. I would think, on asphalt , tires with sipes especially wet asphalt would be the ''ticket''. It would also be nice to have high and wide handle bars for when ''those'' tires slide. I guess if you just want to putt around and be a poser, it dozn't matter.
1972 R5 Yamaha. 350cc 2 stroke Fully restored to original except electronic ignition.
Is this the model advertised as ‘Torque Induction?’
@@ibnewton8951 perhaps you mean Reed valve induction that started in 1973. It was merely a Reed plate on the carb.
Yep
The problem with cafe racers is that they're too cool to be practical.
I just got my first street bike a few weeks ago, a 72 CB350. I love old bikes and especially the cafe look. However I know I would never be able to bring myself to chop the frame, or heavily modify one unless it was at a “ point of no return “ in my eyes. My CB350 was at the point of having been extensively modified looks wise to where reverting it to stock would be impossible. It also came with logs of everything done to it, clean titling, and below 6,000 miles. All of that coupled with a low price point due to several smaller issues ( brake lever broken, battery dead, badly damaged tank, off timing) lead to me getting a bike I couldn’t be happier with.
This was interesting and fun to watch. I'm pretty much agreeing all along, and then here and there a picture really grabs me! There' something about tiny straight handlebars and a little single seat... I guess an engine and wheels, and just barely enough stuff for a person to hang on to.... So striking!! Maybe not a good idea, if you want to actually go somewhere, or I don't know, carry anything at all! And I think you DO want to carry stuff! If only emergency stuff to help you get home in a pinch. So I'm torn, and I can see how it could tend to cause bad decisions.
I can completely see your stand point on this. For me, I do love long rides and motorcycles is something I got into as something to do with my dad. My first bike was a stock cafe racer and I've now bought an old 82 CC500 that dads helping me work on. Awesome little project to work on as a family as has given us lots of memories. The whole comfort thing isn't really in my realm as I've never really known anything else, and dads rocking a Kawasaki 1000cc, not really a touring bike anyway. I guess my only point here is that it depends on you why. Why the heck are you riding. Cos you feel like a bad ass? Cos you like the community, other reasons? End of the day each to their own and I just wanna throw out there I appreciate all the cafe racer riders out there and I think what you're doing and have done with those bikes are awesome
I have a 78 kz650b. Did a full nut and bolt build on it. Nothing is modified past the point of returning to original form.
The problem in Australia particularly Victoria is that when you start modifying frames it becomes difficult to get the bike registered. Unless you buy it register it then start chopping. But then you are stuck with it, have to sell it cheap or pay thousands to get a engineering certificate. I would only ever cafe racer a bike which I intend to keep forever. However I find that difficult as I fall in love with a different make or model almost every week......
It breaks my heart to see ads for cafe racer "projects", where some misguided individual has hacked lumps off the original frame, making it impossible to return it to anything like standard trim, then abandoned it. By all means change bolt-on parts, or even paintwork, but make sure you keep the original parts, so a future owner can return it to stock if they don't share your vision. I have made several modifications to my 1978 Triumph T140, mostly out of sight, to make it run better, but I have kept all the original parts, so if someone wants to return it to factory spec, they can.
Last fall I bought an 81 Yamaha Maxim 650 bike that was "Cafe'ed" for cheap It came with all the original parts. I put them all back on. I get way more complements on driving an original looking bike.
I believe you are right a classic should be maintained as it is.
My Brother and I just got our hands on my Dad's (and Grandfather before him) BMW R100RT. Before my father passed away in 2021, he was busy rebuilding it to turn into a Cafe Racer, since he enjoyed that era. He had also acquired another R100CS in pieces that he was wanting to convert also. So for my Brother and I, apart from liking the look of the Cafe Racers, it is also a goal to complete our Dad's work and keep the bikes in the family. Having said that, we have a long road ahead of us as they are in pieces and need a lot of elbow grease.