some are cafe, and some are not.....
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Tex - I don't really get your point. They all could be arguably "cafe" bikes to me just as they all could be arguably "stock" bikes to me.
There are some literally bone stock bikes there being billed as cafe:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973...6QQihZ004QQcategoryZ35599QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yama...11QQihZ008QQcategoryZ6718QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hond...9QQihZ004QQcategoryZ80647QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
All this goes to prove my point which is: Cafe racer motorcycles are more a state of mind and lifestyle than it is a form of bike, and a set of clubmans on your bike do not make manybody a caf racer.
In my eyes a cafe racer is someone who rides an old bike hard on the street or an old bike that lives under the hard life of a heavy right hand. Not the leasuirly sunday rides of a vintage bike owner but a person who is at one with the functionality of his/her machine. Rain does not intimidate the cafe racer. You hear the term applied to people as well as bikes often enough to know that using to hock shit on ebay has no meaning. Let them sell all they want under the guise of ignorance - one will never know what it means until they live it.
There are some literally bone stock bikes there being billed as cafe:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1973...6QQihZ004QQcategoryZ35599QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yama...11QQihZ008QQcategoryZ6718QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hond...9QQihZ004QQcategoryZ80647QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
All this goes to prove my point which is: Cafe racer motorcycles are more a state of mind and lifestyle than it is a form of bike, and a set of clubmans on your bike do not make manybody a caf racer.
In my eyes a cafe racer is someone who rides an old bike hard on the street or an old bike that lives under the hard life of a heavy right hand. Not the leasuirly sunday rides of a vintage bike owner but a person who is at one with the functionality of his/her machine. Rain does not intimidate the cafe racer. You hear the term applied to people as well as bikes often enough to know that using to hock shit on ebay has no meaning. Let them sell all they want under the guise of ignorance - one will never know what it means until they live it.
It's like anything else that has a following. People will co-opt it to sell their shit.
Look at the whole chopper culture. As soon as Discovery put it on TV every douche bag with a t-shirt press and a Vespa was suddenly a hardcore 1 percenter. They had no idea what it meant but it looked cool so they jumped on the bandwagon.
These are the people that bought "Ol Skool" choppers with kickers and Jocky shifters only to discover that they couldn't start or ride them. So, they sell them to people like me at a huge discount. Good for me, sure. Good for the industry? In the short term, yes and even I can't argue that more people riding is a good thing. However, how many of these people will stick with it is yet to be seen.
In the mean time, you see the lifestyle that you live and love sold off in the interest of profit. I'd hate to see the same thing happen to the Cafe crowd but I can already sense it. We know who we are and why we ride and nothing will change that. It just stinks to have people come in, rape your scene and split once their pockets are full.
Sorry about the long post all. Had to get it off my chest.
Look at the whole chopper culture. As soon as Discovery put it on TV every douche bag with a t-shirt press and a Vespa was suddenly a hardcore 1 percenter. They had no idea what it meant but it looked cool so they jumped on the bandwagon.
These are the people that bought "Ol Skool" choppers with kickers and Jocky shifters only to discover that they couldn't start or ride them. So, they sell them to people like me at a huge discount. Good for me, sure. Good for the industry? In the short term, yes and even I can't argue that more people riding is a good thing. However, how many of these people will stick with it is yet to be seen.
In the mean time, you see the lifestyle that you live and love sold off in the interest of profit. I'd hate to see the same thing happen to the Cafe crowd but I can already sense it. We know who we are and why we ride and nothing will change that. It just stinks to have people come in, rape your scene and split once their pockets are full.
Sorry about the long post all. Had to get it off my chest.
Joined
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248 Posts
I agree, the mass of people want to look coo, look the part but don't want to live the lifestyle. I drive my 442 every day and I drive her hard alot. A lot of my friends are into rat rides and they drive their rats hard and alot too. They get pissed when they see guys at car shows with their ride made to look like rats and they only drive them once or twice a week. To me cars and motorcycles are built to be driven and to use them for anything else is completely useless. When I finally get my 750 on the road I plan to ride it hard adn ride it alot.
22/m
1980 Honda CB750
1972 Oldsmobile 442
22/m
1980 Honda CB750
1972 Oldsmobile 442
to me, a real cafe is british. a norton, bsa, or triumph, in the purest sense of the word. even a matchless, ducati, parilla, or id even throw vincent in there. but hey, im a brit snob at heart. its got to top 100, and its got to be at least pre 1969. and yes, im counting out the cb's! a real cafe bike isnt a 4 in my opinion its a twin or single.
jc
jc
Joined
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3,551 Posts
a prerequisite of being a caferacer besides the clip ons or the clubmans is to ride the damn thing to the skatpark with your battelaxe strapped on the tailsection, parking it and then dropping into a concrete bowl (on the skateboard of course).
sunday rides are for douchebags
dude
sunday rides are for douchebags
dude
Joined
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248 Posts
Not me, I'm dark green with a flat black hood (been meaning to getting around to painting the whole car). I did mix it up with a blue and black 71 Mach 1. He jumped me on at the light, almost had him though but he let off before I could pass him. I have a rocket 350 out of a 78 Olds 88 which I rebuild the original rocket 350. For a low compression smog motor it runs a strong mid low 14 1/4 mile. Can't wait to have the new motor done. Heres a picture of my 442
22/m
1980 Honda CB750
1972 Oldsmobile 442
matt, youre all fucking wrong. you gotta do all that, with the same helmet! my dad use to strap his parachute to his 58 cub, ride to the airport, get in the plane, then parachute out with the same helmet. back in 1970. i always thought that was tough.
jc
jc
Cafe , in my view, is a style of bike and style of ridding. A fast bike, made faster with simple modifications, because originally cafe racers were not rich kids buying the latest fad, but real motorcycle ridders making their bikes faster for fun in the city and country roads. Less weight, less accesories, aerodynamic posture for speed, a leather jacket for protection.
Cafe is a spirit, and a style. And it is a way of life , in the sense that a cafe ridder uses his bike every day, and tries modifications geared towards speed and swiftness. It is not about money, the best modern bikes, but about learning how to ride fast, ridding skills, and a bike that will adapt to speed and performance.
Perhaps, yes, the original cafe racers were european, but this is one world, and the spirit of the cafe racer will go around the globe, adapting to the motorcycles and conditions, as well as people it encounters around the planet.
I can see there is a clear difference between a cafe racer ridder, who lives with the spirit of it, and the show offs "looking good" kind of guys, I mean, specifically, the guys with brand new road bikes with leather full suits that match the color of the bike.....and all that corny stuff.....that is nauseating.....<img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle>
Cafe racer DOHC CB750F
http://cardomain.com/id/jaimesix
Cafe is a spirit, and a style. And it is a way of life , in the sense that a cafe ridder uses his bike every day, and tries modifications geared towards speed and swiftness. It is not about money, the best modern bikes, but about learning how to ride fast, ridding skills, and a bike that will adapt to speed and performance.
Perhaps, yes, the original cafe racers were european, but this is one world, and the spirit of the cafe racer will go around the globe, adapting to the motorcycles and conditions, as well as people it encounters around the planet.
I can see there is a clear difference between a cafe racer ridder, who lives with the spirit of it, and the show offs "looking good" kind of guys, I mean, specifically, the guys with brand new road bikes with leather full suits that match the color of the bike.....and all that corny stuff.....that is nauseating.....<img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle>
Cafe racer DOHC CB750F
http://cardomain.com/id/jaimesix
Psyco Driver 69.
I like your car, I am fixing up my own classic car, my equivalent cafe car...if there is anything like that...
It is a 74 Datsun 610......
Currently I am getting it painted the original Orange factory color. I saved some bucks, I am working omn it.....it will come around really nice.
Modifications in sight, dual DCOE sidedraft carburetors, headers and cam.
It will come around pretty good.
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Cafe racer DOHC CB750F
http://cardomain.com/id/jaimesix
I like your car, I am fixing up my own classic car, my equivalent cafe car...if there is anything like that...
It is a 74 Datsun 610......
Currently I am getting it painted the original Orange factory color. I saved some bucks, I am working omn it.....it will come around really nice.
Modifications in sight, dual DCOE sidedraft carburetors, headers and cam.
It will come around pretty good.
Cafe racer DOHC CB750F
http://cardomain.com/id/jaimesix
<<Cafe , in my view, is a style of bike and style of ridding. A fast bike, made faster with simple modifications, because originally cafe racers were not rich kids buying the latest fad, but real motorcycle ridders making their bikes faster for fun in the city and country roads. Less weight, less accesories, aerodynamic posture for speed, a leather jacket for protection.>>
you could almost substitute "choppers" in there. how many times have i read that same thing in the old iron horse magazine?
jc
you could almost substitute "choppers" in there. how many times have i read that same thing in the old iron horse magazine?
jc
The two aren't that far apart when it comes down to how the participants view it. I was and still am into the chopper scene mainly due to my business. I still enjoy building and riding chops and customs but I get more of a thrill from cafe style bikes and the type of riding that goes along with that.
I ride dirt, street, drag and track days. I, like most of you out there, enjoy it all on two wheels or four. My only beef is when an outside entity that has no interest in preserving or maintaining a lifestyle (for lack of a better word) comes along and uses it to make a buck.
Just my 2 cents.
I ride dirt, street, drag and track days. I, like most of you out there, enjoy it all on two wheels or four. My only beef is when an outside entity that has no interest in preserving or maintaining a lifestyle (for lack of a better word) comes along and uses it to make a buck.
Just my 2 cents.
In general I feel that any use of the word "lifestyle" to describe oneself is...well...gay.
Face it...a real "cafe" guy, or real chopper guy....if they are really living the "lifestyle" would never be here discussing their lifestyle....cause it don't include internet forums
My life style is the "fuck you" lifestyle. And...although a lot of the guys here may not know it...but that's their liftstyle too. I know it is for a lot of guys that hang out in the infield. Not a mean fuck you....just a...if you don't care for me, my bike, my life, my opinion...then fuck you. Get out of my space bitch.
Like Matt when he's drunk
JohnnyB
Face it...a real "cafe" guy, or real chopper guy....if they are really living the "lifestyle" would never be here discussing their lifestyle....cause it don't include internet forums
My life style is the "fuck you" lifestyle. And...although a lot of the guys here may not know it...but that's their liftstyle too. I know it is for a lot of guys that hang out in the infield. Not a mean fuck you....just a...if you don't care for me, my bike, my life, my opinion...then fuck you. Get out of my space bitch.
Like Matt when he's drunk
JohnnyB
You could replace the work cafe ridders with choppers , I believe some chopper guys are not into cruising, but into ridding as fast as their bikes permit, with a difference though, they look for ape bars,long and tall front ends...flashy paint jobs....and their ridding practices are different, swiftness and cornering is not their thing.
The similarity resides in the determination to follow a philosophy.Cafe racer is not the only motorcycle movement there is, it is one of several. In europe, there is Vespa riders.....yes, sounds corny, but there is one, and some of those ridders do not fit the common description of a nice kid on a Vespa , it is meaner men, yes, kind of derranged to play the mean kid on a Vespa....but I can see that was the product of european streets, small, narrow,no real need for a monster big bore bike......
In Asian countries, you can find the equivalent to Cafe racers in small bikes. Due to economic problems , govermental constraints, what ever the real reason, those asian guys ride 125's, 175's ... a 250 is a big bike there. The Honda 50 is still made and sold over there ....and there are cafe racers in small bikes, making those small bikes meaner and more corner ready.
It is a frame of mind, it progresses, evolutionises with the bikes and people it seeds in around the world.
Cafe racer DOHC CB750F
http://cardomain.com/id/jaimesix
Some of the most devoted hard core riders I've ever seen are the "moped" riders of Europe. Riding hopped up Honda SS50's, DAX 70's, Vespas, etc. They are hardcore in the UK and Holland. They've sent me videos of their antics in the past. And a bunch of them, like 300, make a yearly dash from Holland to Paris where they intentionally cause all kinds of mayhem and video it.
Basically, legit hard core riders come in all forms and with all bikes, from mopeds to Harleys, to ***** on bikes.
I hate them all. Cause my lifestyle is hate. Hate is easy and fun. I've got a giant hole in my soul that no amount of hate will ever fill up. I hate you, I hate me, I hate haters.
I even hate kittens and tiny baby birds.....and Panda bears. In fact I want a Panda Bear fur coat....with it's face made into a hood.
JohnnyB
Basically, legit hard core riders come in all forms and with all bikes, from mopeds to Harleys, to ***** on bikes.
I hate them all. Cause my lifestyle is hate. Hate is easy and fun. I've got a giant hole in my soul that no amount of hate will ever fill up. I hate you, I hate me, I hate haters.
I even hate kittens and tiny baby birds.....and Panda bears. In fact I want a Panda Bear fur coat....with it's face made into a hood.
JohnnyB
Joined
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532 Posts
JB, you're one sick puppy.
FC
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