Triumphrat

neuroboy74 · 04-29-2008

here's a question. . . and i really hope i don't come off sounding like a dilettante here because that's not my intention. . .

at what point is it "cafe-ing" a bike by modding it and when is it just getting a new seat and low bars. i really don't think it's a cafe racer in the latter situation (and, to be honest, i don't think i'd call my bike a cafe racer having new pipes and ai removal as my only non-bolt-on mods--unless you count shocks).

just curious to hear a couple opinions. . . because this is what i think of as a cafe racer

DrewDesign007 · 04-29-2008

eh...mmmm....

McQueen · 04-29-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by neuroboy74

just curious to hear a couple opinions. . . because this is what i think of as a cafe racer

Well, technically, it should be a Brit bike from the 50s-60s to be the real deal. Anything else is really an homage.

More to your point, adding clip-ons and rearsets is really all you need to do to the bike itself -- there are other matters of music, attitude, style, etc. that go along with the bike. Hell, most didn't have bump seats...needed a place for a bird to ride pillion.

The original Rockers who created the cafe racer bikes didn't mod out their engines. The bike was their only means of transport, and they needed it reliable. Plus, they were working class kids who couldn't afford to do all sorts of motor work even if they wanted to.

sweatmachine · 04-29-2008

and a lot of them didn't build/mod their own bikes, they paid shops to do it.

6449 · 04-29-2008

And then there is the attitude ...appropriately explained by the good Doctor..

http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html

neuroboy74 · 04-30-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingmoham

And then there is the attitude ...appropriately explained by the good Doctor..

http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html

i'd never read that, thanks!