Cafe racers at the "Ace" and thoughts on hipsters

[notlob]

http://themainjet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/cafe-racers-tritons-at-ace-cafe.html

I just came across this blog and thought this piece will be off interest.
I have known of the writer Steve Berry for many years he originates from close by to me and was what you might call a squid in his early years as a bike & car journalist, I think today he rides a T140 Bonneville. Also he was un cermoniously sacked as the "Top Gear" presenter and replaced with Jeremy Clarkson.

 

[emcarthu]

liked the article, and I hate seinfeld puffy shirt, leather jackets. it's my opinion social media turns DIY punk rock idealism into its antithesis and comes off as some type of pseudo-elitist fashion statement. STAY OFF FACEBOOK.

 

[Rich Ard]

Did I just get compared to King Crimson and Genesis in the same sentence?

i'm cool with that. And you should see the sweaters my mom makes!

 

[carnivorous chicken]

I like the I'm-gonna-rant-for-a-while-about-the-kids-then-say it's-all-OK deal. Pretty common these days. And I hate to quibble (but will always point this out when I see it), but punk rock came from the USA -- the Ramones invented it, not the English, and the bands that the Ramones were influenced by were American too.

 

[canyoncarver]

I liked this quote from that site link:




The new cult of the cafe racer in North America - and to a lesser extent in Europe and Japan - is nothing less than petrol-powered, piston-driven, open-piped punk rock. It had to happen and its right and proper that it did. The kids have looked at what the media, the government and the old men who run motorcycling have told them what to want and they - rightly - have decided its bollocks. Instead of moaning about pipe-wrap and trousers the old guard should celebrate the new breed. I've met some of these kids, seen their bikes, drunk and partied with them and they totally get the 'Do-It-Yourself' ethos that powered punk rock. And as long as they're building bikes that are fast, low and loud I don't care if they heat-wrap the headers, fit forties Firestones and stick a beige saddle on it.

 

[teazer]

Reads well, but it's utter bollocks. Bikes ith 40's firestone clown shoes, fall over if they are ridden around corners at any sort of speed. Lowered bikes don't handle well. Unlike cars, lower the CofG is not good on bikes as a rule.

The trouble for the "old guard" is that the current style has nothing to do with Cafe Racers of a past era. They are about fashion and that fashion is a sort of steam punk meets brat style meets the forties as a rule.

Not that there's anything intrinsically right or wrong with that, but the look and underlying rationale owe little or nothing to what we more "mature chaps' remember our cafe racers to be. But this is not the sixties or the seventies, so we need to find a better name for the current crop of bike. Brat Style is an Oriental shop, much as Wrench Monkees is and the approach is similar but the seats are different.

I love the original style of cafe racers but old gits dressed up to look like they imagine they looked 50 years ago is just as sad. It's all dress up and good clean fun I suppose, but pensioners wobbling about on old Tritons are about a safe as some of the newer bike they decry.

It's a shame in many ways that the name was re-used and recycled for a new style of bike and new breed of rider, but it's a bit late to piss and moan about that now.

 

[VonYinzer]

I like the I'm-gonna-rant-for-a-while-about-the-kids-then-say it's-all-OK deal. Pretty common these days. And I hate to quibble (but will always point this out when I see it), but punk rock came from the USA -- the Ramones invented it, not the English, and the bands that the Ramones were influenced by were American too.

Close... But even the Ramones weren't first. You're dead right about punk rock being an American creation though.

 

[carnivorous chicken]

Close... But even the Ramones weren't first. You're dead right about punk rock being an American creation though.

Ha! Let's hear your side then. Stooges? Nope. MC5? Nope. NY Dolls? Nope. Dictators? Close.

 

[BmaEngnr92]

I've got a couple of vinyls by The Sonics...they go pretty far back (early 60s). I was thinking the Ramones didn't come around until the early/mid 70s? At work, don't have time to perform a proper search, but Punk was definitely born in America...IIRC The Sonics were from Washington (remember reading an interview with Kurt Cobain years ago where he mentioned them as an inspiration...so I proceeded to go out and find some of their stuff on vinyl). On a side note, we have a killer vinyl shop here in Huntsville. All kinds of gems stashed away/thrown out by older generations (although you can get lucky at yard sales if you're persistent, I just don't have the time 8)).

 

[carnivorous chicken]

I've got a couple of vinyls by The Sonics...they go pretty far back (early 60s). I was thinking the Ramones didn't come around until the early/mid 70s? At work, don't have time to perform a proper search, but Punk was definitely born in America...IIRC The Sonics were from Washington (remember reading an interview with Kurt Cobain years ago where he mentioned them as an inspiration...so I proceeded to go out and find some of their stuff on vinyl). On a side note, we have a killer vinyl shop here in Huntsville. All kinds of gems stashed away/thrown out by older generations (although you can get lucky at yard sales if you're persistent, I just don't have the time 8)).

They're not "vinyls", they're records. Records are made of vinyl and can be collectively referred to as "vinyl" but a record is not a vinyl. Sorry, but that fucking drives me crazy.

Yes, the Sonics are amazing. I'm from Seattle (they're from Tacoma), and I saw them (and no, not in the 60s). But no, that ain't punk. Proto punk? OK. The name punk to describe the music wasn't around yet. And the Sonics don't call themselves punk.

 

[loganrm]

Check out a band called "Death" from the early 70s. Three black brothers from Detroit that made "real" punk music before everyone else. There is a great documentary about them called "A Band Called Death".

 

[BmaEngnr92]

They're not "vinyls", they're records. Records are made of vinyl and can be collectively referred to as "vinyl" but a record is not a vinyl. Sorry, but that fucking drives me crazy.

Yes, the Sonics are amazing. I'm from Seattle (they're from Tacoma), and I saw them (and no, not in the 60s). But no, that ain't punk. Proto punk? OK. The name punk to describe the music wasn't around yet. And the Sonics don't call themselves punk.

Bahahaha...there were other types of "records" before vinyl records...where's the line drawn? Vinyl is the particular type of record I own...I don't own any shellac records (my grandfather has a handful though). It's called a vinyl by me, and that will continue, despite drawing the ire and rage of others as yourself ;D. I must admit, I'm more of a blues guy (got tons of stuff all the way back to 1928 Sessions by Mississippi John Hurt and King of the Delta Blues by Robert Johnson...obviously not originals), but I'll throw one more Punk group out there as a guess: The Velvet Underground. That's all I got.

 

[loganrm]

Check out a band called "Death" from the early 70s. Three black brothers from Detroit that made "real" punk music before everyone else. There is a great documentary about them called "A Band Called Death".

 

[carnivorous chicken]

Check out a band called "Death" from the early 70s. Three black brothers from Detroit that made "real" punk music before everyone else. There is a great documentary about them called "A Band Called Death".

Death actually recorded their first stuff in 1974, when the Ramones were playing in NYC. Great band, but proto-punk if anything.

 

[notlob]

As you say the Ramones influenced early Punk rock in the UK, Punks was a fashion / lifestyle (much like the hipsters are today) the way those early American bands dress was more a precursor to the later heavy metal bands were as Punks dress like nothing before or since and moved the music on in a different direction.

The Ramones et al were the inspriation but movement was difinitely a British thing

 

[carnivorous chicken]

Bahahaha...there were other types of "records" before vinyl records...where's the line drawn? Vinyl is the particular type of record I own...I don't own any shellac records (my grandfather has a handful though). It's called a vinyl by me, and that will continue, despite drawing the ire and rage of others as yourself ;D. I must admit, I'm more of a blues guy (got tons of stuff all the way back to 1928 Sessions by Mississippi John Hurt and King of the Delta Blues by Robert Johnson...obviously not originals), but I'll throw one more Punk group out there as a guess: The Velvet Underground. That's all I got.

Sure, you wanna call shellac records "shellacs" or polysterene records "polysterenes"? Or do you want to call them records? If you have records that go back to 1928, you'd better not call them vinyls, since they certainly weren't made from vinyl. I know some younger folks (it's a very new thing, by the way, last ten years or so) call records "vinyls" and you are apparently one of them. I guess I don't give a shit, you can lead a horse to water, and all that, but people who know better will laugh when you call records "vinyls."

Shit, Velvet Underground was a band of druggie hippies, not punk. Don't get me wrong, I actually like their first two LPs (and not much else), despite the fact that Lou Reed is an insufferable asshole.

Thread hijacked, I guess, but I'm still waiting for VZ's reply. Surprised nobody's called me out for pontificating, too. I guess I'll just say I should know what I'm talking about.

 

[canyoncarver]

Glad I joined this thread....so many experts in here!

 

[carnivorous chicken]

As you say the Ramones influenced early Punk rock in the UK, Punks was a fashion / lifestyle (much like the hipsters are today) the way those early American bands dress was more a precursor to the later heavy metal bands were as Punks dress like nothing before or since and moved the music on in a different direction.

The Ramones et al were the inspriation but movement was difinitely a British thing

Nope. Wrong. You know who was in the audience when the Ramones first played in England? Guys who weren't in bands (or were in shitty bands) but who went on to form the Damned, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, etc. The British got it from the Americans, specifically NYC but it spread pretty fast.

 

[notlob]

Reads well, but it's utter bollocks. Bikes ith 40's firestone clown shoes, fall over if they are ridden around corners at any sort of speed. Lowered bikes don't handle well. Unlike cars, lower the CofG is not good on bikes as a rule.

The trouble for the "old guard" is that the current style has nothing to do with Cafe Racers of a past era. They are about fashion and that fashion is a sort of steam punk meets brat style meets the forties as a rule.

Not that there's anything intrinsically right or wrong with that, but the look and underlying rationale owe little or nothing to what we more "mature chaps' remember our cafe racers to be. But this is not the sixties or the seventies, so we need to find a better name for the current crop of bike. Brat Style is an Oriental shop, much as Wrench Monkees is and the approach is similar but the seats are different.

I love the original style of cafe racers but old gits dressed up to look like they imagine they looked 50 years ago is just as sad. It's all dress up and good clean fun I suppose, but pensioners wobbling about on old Tritons are about a safe as some of the newer bike they decry.

It's a shame in many ways that the name was re-used and recycled for a new style of bike and new breed of rider, but it's a bit late to piss and moan about that now.

I fully understand were your coming from Teaser. I like the blogger was born on the cusp of the decline of the British bike era and got my first bike a Yamaha ss50 (no not a FS1E) in 1976 when the final bell had sounded on the industry, so I had no interest nor affinity with cafe racers or British bikes and as a teenager thought they were awful. As the years pass we all mellow somewhat and now I would like to own one but alas they are out of my price range.

I think the blogger was try to say is that hes glad that a younger generation are getting into bikes and it doesn't matter how they are doing it as the interest needs new blood to continue to survive. Or am I just reading too much between the lines.

 

[notlob]

Nope. Wrong. You know who was in the audience when the Ramones first played in England? Guys who weren't in bands (or were in shitty bands) but who went on to form the Damned, the Sex Pistols, the Clash, etc. The British got it from the Americans, specifically NYC but it spread pretty fast.

Didn't I just say that.

Musically influencing yes, as for the punk movement then only the mid 70s industrial Britain could have spawned that movement.

Even though the man who put the pistols together was a middle class yuppie