Dannomite
New Member
This is a bit of a rant and I'm posting it here because no one I know around me will know what I'm taking about or give a shit. You guys will at least know what I'm talking about even if you don't agree with me.
No matter what you do for fun, there are always going to be snobs who scoff at what ever they don't see as being proper. I get it and am a bit of a beer snob myself (whole other topic). But, what has really been getting under my skin lately is cafe racer snobs who look down on any cafe racer that isn't a "true cafe racer" like a Triumph, Norton, BSA or combination of all three. No matter what has been done to a Japanese bike, it will never be a cafe racer in their eyes. This is what puzzles me and makes me shake my head.
From my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but cafe racers originated in Great Britain and the whole idea was to take a stock motorcycle and strip anything off that didn't need to be there and tune the bike with the pursuit of speed and handling in mind followed by appearance. It appears to me that GP racers of the era were the main inspiration for their creations. Being that most of these guys were teenagers or at least young men without much money, they had to do all their mods on a budget and piece other bike parts together to get what they wanted. It was about making something out of nothing and I don't think that any of them would have given a shit what type of bike was used as long as it worked and could do the ton. Triumphs, Norton and BSA are just what they had available to them. I bet if you could send back a early 1970's Honda CB750 to that era, they would all shit their pants and be eager to get their hands on one.
All this shit talk about a "true cafe racer" being a certain brand is just garbage in my mind. The true spirit of the cafe racer is lost when one fixates on the badge. The guy that can afford to build a Triton today isn't anymore of a cafe racer that some poor schmuck (me) with a rusty Honda and the know how to turn a wrench and modify his ride.
No matter what you do for fun, there are always going to be snobs who scoff at what ever they don't see as being proper. I get it and am a bit of a beer snob myself (whole other topic). But, what has really been getting under my skin lately is cafe racer snobs who look down on any cafe racer that isn't a "true cafe racer" like a Triumph, Norton, BSA or combination of all three. No matter what has been done to a Japanese bike, it will never be a cafe racer in their eyes. This is what puzzles me and makes me shake my head.
From my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but cafe racers originated in Great Britain and the whole idea was to take a stock motorcycle and strip anything off that didn't need to be there and tune the bike with the pursuit of speed and handling in mind followed by appearance. It appears to me that GP racers of the era were the main inspiration for their creations. Being that most of these guys were teenagers or at least young men without much money, they had to do all their mods on a budget and piece other bike parts together to get what they wanted. It was about making something out of nothing and I don't think that any of them would have given a shit what type of bike was used as long as it worked and could do the ton. Triumphs, Norton and BSA are just what they had available to them. I bet if you could send back a early 1970's Honda CB750 to that era, they would all shit their pants and be eager to get their hands on one.
All this shit talk about a "true cafe racer" being a certain brand is just garbage in my mind. The true spirit of the cafe racer is lost when one fixates on the badge. The guy that can afford to build a Triton today isn't anymore of a cafe racer that some poor schmuck (me) with a rusty Honda and the know how to turn a wrench and modify his ride.