Cafe racers = rat rods of the bike world

Am I the only one who doesn't grasp the appeal of cafe racers? I mean, yeah, they're cool looking, but I can't think of a more impractical motorcycle. They remind me of the bike equivalent of this: Looks cool, but you couldn't stand to drive it for more than 30 minutes. The history of cafe bikes is for short high speed jaunts. Who rides that way? Is having a motorcycle more about looking cool or enjoying the ride? I'm not trying to slam cafe bikes; any guy with a pulse will admit they look great. But are they mostly pointless art instead of useful machine? My spine hurts just looking at this thing.

I think you just did grasp the appeal . Looking cool/having fun on short, fast jaunts. 'Round here I only ever see cafe-style bikes out on weekends. They fly past me on the hills, then I catch them up parked at coffee shops in town. Personally, that doesn't kill any of the appeal for me, (nor with rat rods.)

My days of riding long and far are over until the kids grow up. For me something like this would be nice. Simple, fun, short commute and short Sunday rides

Cafe racers were never intended for comfort or convenience. They developed as regular blokes modified their bikes to see who could get from one pub to another the fastest.

Unlike rat rods, cafe racers had/have a measure of practicality and purpose.

I appreciate both, but I'd take the two-wheeled option long before the four-wheeled.

Rat rods like the one above really aren't good for anything besides driving around a fairground at 5mph, while the bike pictured doesn't appear to have worse ergonomics than any number of modern sport bikes - at least it's designed for performance rather than posing. They're no Gold Wing, but that's not what they're designed for. Personally, my spine hurts looking at the rat rod.

If the bike is set up properly, at speed it can be fairly comfortable - there's enough air rushing by to help hold your body up. It also shows some craftsmanship, which most rat rods can't do...bubble gum welds and tractor radiators just don't do it for me.

They have rat bikes, too, ya know. Not all cafe racers are rat bikes, and not all rat bikes are cafe racers, etc...

Rat bike

Thruxton!

The cafe racer aesthetic is an evolution of form following function. Cafe bikes evolved in a little subculture of motorcycling in the UK, among guys interested in going as fast as possible on twisty roads. The racers' crouch that's built in is just that: the body position that affords the best control of the bike.

That desire for cheap speed is at the root so many modification trends: bobbers and choppers in the US, cafe racers in the UK, streetfighters in the Germany... The list goes on, but that common thread of taking what you have and making it faster, better, and ultimately yours is what ties them all together.

Do those trends get co-opted by people more interested in the style than the function? Absolutely. But there are still guys building bikes with an honest goal of cheap speed in mind.

The real problem is now popular and all the cheap old honda/triumph/BSA have been gobbled up and the prices are getting nuts now. Which is making it a pain for me to find anything to bob or restore.

CB450's for 3K in decent shape but stock. 8K single jug triumphs with flat black paint jobs.

At least they are built safe to ride, not like someone with a rusted through A with no front brakes and suicide front end weld together with no common sense.

wearymicrobe wrote: The real problem is now popular and all the cheap old honda/triumph/BSA have been gobbled up and the prices are getting nuts now. Which is making it a pain for me to find anything to bob or restore. CB450's for 3K in decent shape but stock. 8K single jug triumphs with flat black paint jobs. At least they are built safe to ride, not like someone with a rusted through A with no front brakes and suicide front end weld together with no common sense.

I don't know what you mean. UJM's are still as cheap as ever. I've never paid more than $800 for one.

ddavidv wrote: My spine hurts just looking at this thing.

your spine is a Bob Costas.

AngryCorvair wrote:

ddavidv wrote: My spine hurts just looking at this thing.

your spine is a Bob Costas.

Hey, c'mon - he drives a real Mini. He's used to all those creature comforts and sophisticated engineering features.

Oh, wait.........

The Mini sports a pair of Suzuki seats and a leather wrapped steering wheel. Upgrades I do tend to make a car more pleasant to drive as well as faster. My point was that cafe bikes appear to be more style than substance, kind of like putting ape hangers on your Harley. "Look at me! I'm cool!...but I can only stand riding it for 15 minutes." And maybe I'm wrong on that. They still make more sense than those dopey choppers with the big rear tires and no suspension.

Generally speaking, they're not as bad to ride as they might look. If someone's taken the time to sort the ergos, they're tolerable for putting around in a straight line, but they become magical in the twisty bits. Same deal with modern race-replica bikes - some are okay in town, but they all want to be pushed around when the riding gets real.

The point I'm trying to make is that there's function behind the style.

I have yet to hear a thoughtful ergonomic defense of apehangers, however.

Sure, it's not a full on Cafe Racer, but it's close enough, and plenty comfy. I don't see the problem. Sure, if it's an extreme example with NO seat padding, that might get painful after a while, but how often do you see that?

You will note, it is not called a cafe tourer.

I am putting together a cafe CB360 using the stock rear pegs as mounting points for rearsets and it is very similar to my Ducati Monster, which is to say way better then my old Aprilia or any GXSR.

But a cafe racer may not be for you, that is why they make Goldwings.

The riding position on that Honda appears very similar to any number of modern sport bikes. Peel the plastic off a Ninja and see what you've got.

no more painful than riding a 10 speed bike...

ddavidv wrote: The Mini sports a pair of Suzuki seats and a leather wrapped steering wheel. Upgrades I do tend to make a car more pleasant to drive as well as faster. My point was that cafe bikes appear to be more style than substance, kind of like putting ape hangers on your Harley. "Look at me! I'm cool!...but I can only stand riding it for 15 minutes." And maybe I'm wrong on that. They still make more sense than those dopey choppers with the big rear tires and no suspension.

They really don't look anymore extreme than some sportbikes I've ridden. I recently rode my k1200s from TX to TN in one day...660 miles. The stock seat sucked, the bars are low, and the pegs are high, but at least it does have a fairing.

The cafe' riding position is easier on my lower back than the position with foreward controls on a cruiser.

Some Honda cafe racers came directly from the showrooms:

Here's an interesting link: http://www.caferacer.net/forum.html

great pictures in that forum . it seems to me like cafe bikes are are the grassroots motorsports of bikes,they are modified for performance. A stock miata is fine but taking some weight out of it adding a stiffer suspension and adding a sport seat make it a great car but it is also uncomfortable for normal commuting .Care bikes follow the same rules . rat rod bikes are a different story , they seem to be built to show how to make a running bike with the most used worn out part,.Its just a show bike .

I'm love/hate on the cafe bikes. For a while its all I can think about, then i think they're extremely fake and played out. That usually ends when the cool CB400 or the old ratty BMW R65 rolls by the ship and I'm hooked again.

I like it when they're real.

I mean... if this is wrong...

A cafe bike is great for me because all my commutes are typically no longer then 30 minutes. I'm building a 74 CL360 at the moment and I have a total of $10 in it so far and I have pretty much everything I need to complete other then paint and time. I've still got parts to sell too so I'll end up making money. That's the other nice this about cafe bikes, with enough patience they can be built for next to nothing.

Here's a photochop of how I my bike will end up. The exhaust will be different but it isn't far from that picture right now.

Lugnut wrote: I like it when they're real. I mean... if this is wrong...

I love this model Ducati. The local BMW bike dealer has a used one and I'm tempted every time I ride by that place. Here it is http://www.bloodmotor.com/new_vehicle_detail.asp?sid=01312982X11K18K2010J4I19I32JPMQ3235R0&veh=41769&pov=1738581