The pekingduck rogues' gallery of customised CB1100s

[Bazbro_imp]

Time for a controversy...

Coming as I do from a 1960s, UK cafe-racer tradition (I started my motorcycling with my Father in the 1940s/50s, then with my own motorcycles in the 1960s), it's not surprising that so few supposed "cafe racers" inspire anything in me but derision. Most are a cobbled-together collection of tiny "fashion item" custom rear lights, 'bobber' accessories (to minimise the rear end), removal of parts, modern trick exhausts, and expensive paint jobs. None seem to be true to the cafe racer ethos, which had its grounding in Clubman racing and making road 'bikes look like racing 'bikes of the time.

To me, a true cafe racer has to have some specifics anchored in the past (ie tradition), otherwise it's just another modern custom 'bike. Just ask yourself "Could I race this on a short circuit"? Most times the answer will be "He**, NO!!"

This is a Clubmans racing 'bike of the 1960s, intended for short-circuit racing (it's a 'Triton')...
It's a Triumph engine (about the best affordable at the time and clearly tuned), in a Norton "Featherbed" frame (about the best at the time), a Manx Norton racing tank (probably alloy), megaphone exhaust and bellmouthed carbs (for power), clip-on h/bars and racing seat (to get the racing position), alloy mudguards (fenders) plus sectioned chaincase, alloy oil tank, etc., for lightness.


But this is a true "cafe racer" (this is a 'Triton' too)... Do you see how the 'bike follows the lines and essential details of the racing 'bike, all the parts are there, yet it is road legal (in the UK). All this was done for a reason and with style, unlike most modern cafe racers which really are just pastiches and which miss so many vital aspects of a true "cafe racer".


Discuss... (running for cover!!)