cafe racers have officially died and this is hell...

Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention that I would give a lot more weight to Ness's bike being called a cafe racer if it wasn't Hot Bike who did it. Come on guys! This is probably the closest thing to a cafe racer that Hot Bike has ever had, so they're probably in awe of something that doesn't scrape the primary when the rider leans left 2 degrees, lol.
 
I have one thing to add take off the 1/4 fairing... now what do we have? the only thing even reminiscent of a cafe is the 1/4 fairing. Like previously said the thing has forward controls and like 6" rise handlebars. They could at least start with a non stretched non raked frame, mid controls and drag bars. I definately agree with the comments regarding the XR's they have some potential in my mind,

Me im happy with my old japanese lumps, and junk yard / ebay parts. If these die hard HD guys they wanna buy my bike 10 times over to blend in with the heard its fine with me. It means more "jap crap" or what have you for me to waste my time with building so called "not-real bikes"
 
Egli%20%20Harley-Davidson.jpg
xrcr01.jpg
Harley-Davidson_XLCR_1000_Cafe_Racer_1978.jpg
91388320.q1fxjnEr.jpg
styling02_b.jpg
 
Kop, That first picture contains one...interesting front fender. That first Cafe Racer (name makes it confusing on this forum, haha), looks like a hairy beast, with the dual carbs and some other work done. That's good, because they were hardly any more powerful than a standard Sporty in their day, and my-oh-my are those ironhead engines heavy. Believe me, I took one out of a frame once and I thought it had grown roots through the frame and into the concrete. But yeah, those Sporty-based cafe's are getting more and more plentiful, which I personally enjoy.

-Edit- now that I look closer, that isn't even the stock engine in the first one--I wonder if he sourced it from am '83 XR-1000, which was quite a beast, but they didn't sell many:
HD-XR-1000-1983.jpg
 
IMO it looks like any other built Harley minus the bikini fairing. So we're calling it a cafe racer? ???
 
The ness bike is just more of a cruiser than a Cafe racer. I think a stock Crotch rocket is closer to a Cafe racer than that bike. If you think about it the Cafe Racers were the Crotch Rocket of their day.
 
now that I look closer, that isn't even the stock engine in the first one--I wonder if he sourced it from am '83 XR-1000, which was quite a beast, but they didn't sell many:
Click to expand...

That is actually a seriously modified XR750 that has no relation to the original or the alloy sportster or the XR1000 . I can't find the build thread atm but we are looking at a spare none example of git-r-done.
I just wanted to hit on the high points because I know more than a few of the Harley guys have gotten it right .

~kop
 
Wow, this topic has gone a lot farther than I ever thought it would. To answer a couple comments from a ways back: yeah, one of the bigger problems I have with the bike in question is that hot bike decided its a caf, (which it is not) so now the bolt on chrome crowd will take great delight in knowing that that their "choppers" and "drag bikes" that were purchased bone stock and then "customized" from the official catalog of chrome are now cafe racers too. But I don't hate harleys. Its not the bike that really deserves flak, its the ignorant declaration of what it is. In its own right, im sure it does handle like a dream and have all the power to rock it down the street. But in the end there are generally accepted guidelines and criteria for cafe construction that are recognized the world over, of which this bike has none. Its a nice bike, just not a cafe. Oh and the paintjob is fruity too imo.

Oh and hot bike actually has had real cafs in there before. In fact I think its the current issue has some russian guys I think that are building cafes out of sportsters I think. Cool looking stuff, id ride one if I had 20k for a bike :)
 
Mr.E said:
Oh and hot bike actually has had real cafs in there before. In fact I think its the current issue has some russian guys I think that are building cafes out of sportsters I think. Cool looking stuff, id ride one if I had 20k for a bike :)
Click to expand...

Hey, you are correct about this current issue, and it stands to reason that Hot Bike should know better. Anyway, I actually am pretty forgetful here, because I happened to see that Russian one on the news stand a few days ago, and promptly forgot. I really like the workmanship on the bike. FYI, the script on the tank is Russian for "War Crimes." The top motor mount scheme is just nuts:
porsche145.jpg

1153345773_FmPzy-L.jpg

porsche194.jpg
 
+1 von

VonYinzer said:
And for the record I dont hate HDs or the cats that ride 'em. Id love to be able to afford a Sporty to cut up. But it is undeniable that theres a certain arrogance amongst a good number of them. Just as there is a certain bullshit attitude amongst many sportbike riders, and (oh my!) vintage and cafe guys. Ive heard it all. The vintage Triumph guys telling me that my Honda is junk, to the HDs and sportbike guys asking me when Im buying a real bike. Ive also had a lot of great convorsations with folks from the same groups once the dick swingers head back to load theyre bikes on the trailer for the 40min ride home. ;) Just get out and ride/build whatever YOU want. The world isnt ending because someone calls a cat a dog or doesnt feel your vibe. Fuck the world. Leave it all in the rearview and ride.
Click to expand...
 
@platkeyboy, cool! Glad you found the pics from that article. It would have been a few days before I could have made it to wally world to dig it up again. Those bikes are awesome, and if I ever found a cheap sportster id pick it up in a second to build something like that.
 
Mr.E said:
@platkeyboy, cool! Glad you found the pics from that article. It would have been a few days before I could have made it to wally world to dig it up again. Those bikes are awesome, and if I ever found a cheap sportster id pick it up in a second to build something like that.
Click to expand...

I remembered the name, "War Crimes" from glancing at the article, and when I Googled it, I found his entire build thread on jockeyjournal. It might not be the lightest thing on Earth, but man all of that industrial-looking metal is just cool in my book. Looks like something Captain Nemo would ride, haha.
 
Yeah I would agree. Still cafe profile, but the flavor is definetly leaning towards steampunk.
 
5% of the bike I see on this site qualifies as cafe racers anyway

Sent from my HTC Legend using Tapatalk
 
lassenc said:
5% of the bike I see on this site qualifies as cafe racers anyway

Sent from my HTC Legend using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Wow, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed. 5 percent? That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, especially when you factor in how many of this site's members don't ever refer to their bike as "cafe." I would be one of those, because my bike, as lightened and sportified as it is (compared to crappy stock), is not a cafe racer.
 
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