What is a Cafe Racer

OK I just bought a Guzzi V7 Cafe Racer and it polarizes opinion like no other bike I've owned.
People either love it, or slag it for being so low on power.
Yep.
It's got a mere 50bhp but surely that doesn't detract from the Cafe Racer ethos.
I get this all the time.
How can you ride something so low on power.
Overtaking milk floats on that could present a problem, etc. etc.
So why, (I say), am I having more fun on my little Guzzi Cafe Racer than I've had on any Japanese superbike I've owned.
It seems to me that people who can't get their heads around midlleweight low powered racers have no real idea what these bikes are really all about.
Here's my opinion on what constitutes a Cafe Racer.
They must be small and compact.
Any engine will do but I think mid size V Twins are the best choice.
To me the real fun of these bikes is having an engine you can thrash to within an inch of it's life without risking your license and more importantly your life.
Modern biking culture seems to be obsessed with big number willy waving these days, but I do sometimes wonder if the average rider has any real idea what those numbers actually mean.
Anyway.
I am heartened looking around this forum, and seeing what people are building.
Nearly all are mid size engines producing very modest power output just like my bike.
I mean a CX500 racer.
Who would have thought it years ago, but now thinking about it, I cannot think of a sweeter engine to build a Cafe Racer around.
Keep up the good work guys

I agree wholeheartedly about the power output, you don't need a 160 bhp, nitrous powered monster that's capable of 200 mph, that's not what it's about. The original ethos of cafe race culture was taking the 'vanilla' 500cc Norton that your Dad would ride to work and making it individual.

If you look at the cafe racers of the 50's and 60's (which is where this all started) they were predominantly British iron, 500, 650, 750 cc machines that rarely got above 55-60 bhp, but the guys (and sometimes gals) who owned and rode them strove to get the best out of agricultural engines, with push rods and rudimentary carburation (how simple is an Amal monobloc!) to make a machine on a budget that they could ride every day and still have fun on evenings and weekends.

The goal was always the magic 'ton', the race from the Ace cafe to Hangar Lane and back before a record finished playing on the juke box. Your Guzzi would be more than capable of that!

Why don't we still build Tritons, TrisBas, Norumphs (God forbid!) and the like? Some still do but the bikes are rare and the parts rarer so subsequently building a Triton from scratch is a costly exercise, and you'd still be lucky to get a bike that would out-perform and out-handle one of today's 500cc commuters, and it's about doing it yourself, recreating a spirit, not buying a fully faired F1 replica out of the box.

So tell the naysayers to read up and understand what it's all about before critiscising!

pauliexjr wrote:

I agree wholeheartedly about the power output, you don't need a 160 bhp, nitrous powered monster that's capable of 200 mph, that's not what it's about. The original ethos of cafe race culture was taking the 'vanilla' 500cc Norton that your Dad would ride to work and making it individual.

If you look at the cafe racers of the 50's and 60's (which is where this all started) they were predominantly British iron, 500, 650, 750 cc machines that rarely got above 55-60 bhp, but the guys (and sometimes gals) who owned and rode them strove to get the best out of agricultural engines, with push rods and rudimentary carburation (how simple is an Amal monobloc!) to make a machine on a budget that they could ride every day and still have fun on evenings and weekends.

The goal was always the magic 'ton', the race from the Ace cafe to Hangar Lane and back before a record finished playing on the juke box. Your Guzzi would be more than capable of that!

Why don't we still build Tritons, TrisBas, Norumphs (God forbid!) and the like? Some still do but the bikes are rare and the parts rarer so subsequently building a Triton from scratch is a costly exercise, and you'd still be lucky to get a bike that would out-perform and out-handle one of today's 500cc commuters, and it's about doing it yourself, recreating a spirit, not buying a fully faired F1 replica out of the box.

So tell the naysayers to read up and understand what it's all about before critiscising!

Well put Paulie!

Also please correct any body that say cafay racer this is a modern interpretation our bikes are kaf racers
right off soap box
Steve

Great thread. This bike-media obsession with speed and ultimate performance is finally backfiring, cos what many of us want is biking culture, pride of ownership, and riding something with a little soul, not traction control and ABS.

Like your V7, my newest bike is also a modern take on the old school bike, a Ducati Sport Classic 1000... I've never enjoyed being slow quite so much.

It's well on the way to being quite heavily customised, but is nearly there - back towards the original style of it's mentor, the 750SS.

My next project will be a Guzzi, as they make stunning bikes for this type of ride. Keep fiddling with yours. The more you remove, the better they get. The cafe racer cliche: "add lightness" is what it's all about for me!

Via La Cafe Racer.