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What are Cafe Racers?

The cafe racer is a motorcycle that has been modified for speed and good handling rather than comfort. Cafe racers' bodywork and control layout typically mimicked the style of contemporary Grand Prix roadracers, featuring an elongated fuel tank and small, rearward mounted, humped seat. A signature trait were low, narrow handlebars that provided more precise control at high speeds and allowed the rider to "tuck in" to lessen wind resistance. These are referred to as either "clip-ons" (two-piece bars that bolt directly to each fork tube) or "clubmans" (one piece bars that attach to the stock mounting location but drop down and forward). The ergonomics resulting from low bars and the rearward seat often required "rearsets," or rear-set footrests and foot controls, again typical of racing motorcycles of the era. Distinctive half or full race-style fairings were sometimes mounted to the forks or frame.

The bikes had a raw, utilitarian and stripped-down appearance while the engines were tuned for maximum speed. These motorcycles were lean, light and handled road surfaces well. The most defining machine of its heyday was the homemade Norton Featherbed framed and Triumph Bonneville engined machine called "The Triton". It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day, the Featherbed frame by Norton Motorcycles. Those with less money could opt for a "Tribsa" - the Triumph engine in a BSA frame.

Cafe racers today

While the knowledge of the term remains widespread, it is often applied by the uninformed to nearly any bike with a flat seat and low handlebars. The more recent term "Streetfighter" is sometimes applied to cafe racers, and vice versa. However, "streetfighter" describes the practice of stripping the original-equipment full fairing and other bodywork off spar-framed "race-replica" sport bikes popular in recent years. The canonical profile of a cafe racer and a streetfighter are quite distinct.

Classic cafe racer style has made a comeback recently, thanks largely to the increased interest in vintage motorcycles in general. The baby boomers were responsible for a surge in motorcycle sales in the late 1960s and '70s, and many of this generation now find themselves with the time and discretionary income to recreate the bikes they had--or wished to have--in their younger years.

Find New and Used Cafe Racer's for Sale at Mc Sales

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cafe Racer"