While I agree 100% that a Magna does not easily fit the traditional British Cafe Racer look, it does fit the US Hot Rod or Street Rod look really well.
Without going around the same loop of what is a cafe racer and where do function and form fit together, it's possible to see a Magna as fitting into the general context of retro rod which after all is what cafe racers today are. They are a style of bike that mimics the UK Rockers of the sixties in as much as they follow a general theme of looking like performance bikes from a past era.
What all that means in 2011 is up to each of us to ponder.
In that general sense of invoking the speed gods of a prior era sort of way, a Magna is good place to start if that's what you have and you are not slavishly following the CB350 trying to look and perform like a T120 or 6750SS.
It comes down to what do you want the bike to do and how do you want it to look. Like a retro street rod - easy. Like a Norvin/Triton/RGS etc, not so easy.
Without going around the same loop of what is a cafe racer and where do function and form fit together, it's possible to see a Magna as fitting into the general context of retro rod which after all is what cafe racers today are. They are a style of bike that mimics the UK Rockers of the sixties in as much as they follow a general theme of looking like performance bikes from a past era.
What all that means in 2011 is up to each of us to ponder.
In that general sense of invoking the speed gods of a prior era sort of way, a Magna is good place to start if that's what you have and you are not slavishly following the CB350 trying to look and perform like a T120 or 6750SS.
It comes down to what do you want the bike to do and how do you want it to look. Like a retro street rod - easy. Like a Norvin/Triton/RGS etc, not so easy.
