the new trend in cafe racers

[1KPerDay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmAaVgUzNh8&feature=endscreen&NR=1

I'm tempted to be a stuffshirt and complain that it's trendy, but I can't. It's good to see more cafe racers out there.  

[MidLifeMike]

Pleasant to watch.
But I am staying with the origin of cafe racer as being a bike that looked like it was for hooligan racing but sat outside a cafe most of the time.
Something like "arm chair quarterback"

Wait for the return of CAFE cars which had an entirely different origin.

[JReazor]

Wait for the return of CAFE cars which had an entirely different origin.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy?

[squeezer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmAaVgUzNh8&feature=endscreen&NR=1

I'm tempted to be a stuffshirt and complain that it's trendy, but I can't. It's good to see more cafe racers out there.  

Sure they're trendy, but there's nothing not to like.

The reasons these guys give for riding in the video are the same reasons we all ride.

[Kraz]

Cafe's have been trendy for a bit now.

It'll be all about the scramblers soon.  

[M.Brane]

 Makes me wanna do something like this:

[Papa Lazarou]

I do like a cafe racer-but this is just a modern trend. Don't know what to make of it, really.

Not like the old days.

[SVTNate]

Well, I for one am happy to see people into bobbers and cafe bikes instead of chromed, raked out, heavy "choppers" with enormous rear tires that were en vogue for so long in the early 00's.

[Andrew]

Their on two wheels and having fun, whats not to like

Like the above post, most of the reasons given for riding are the reasons we all ride.

Ok so maybe the bikes that were in the vid are what I remember riding when I got started. I don't remember them as being dependable, fast or well handling bikes but then at the time thats all I could afford. So for me YA they were fun, but the bikes of today are light years better in almost every way (well maybe except for the cost of yearly registration)

Do I want a "retro cafe bike" NO! Would I like to have an older bike (say a 550four)? maybe but just to ride but not to have. Those days are gone and I am in a better place (mind and spirit) Some of my memories of those days are best left as skeletons in the closet (no sense bring back the dead, RIP )

[Rogue]

 Makes me wanna do something like this:

That is a beautiful bike.

Do it!  It doesn't look that hard.    Looks like a modern front end from a CBRxxxx bike.  The rear looks like a custom swing arm?  It also has a CBR wheel and probably brakes.  It also has that 4-1 exhaust that probably sounds awesome with that V4 motor.

I like to think of my long departed Firebolt as a modern Cafe Racer--it was about as simple a modern motorcycle could be with ultra-low maintenance.  If I where to do a Cafe Racer this is where I would go.

[veefer800canuck]

RC51 front forks, VF1000R swingarm, CBR wheels. And lots of other nice touches.

[Rincewind]

I didn't see any new trends, but it was still a cool video.  

I'd love to have a cafe racer in my garage but I don't have the time and patience for a vintage one.  While they make new retro cafe bikes, it seems to me the spiritual descendent of the cafe racer are the fully modern naked sportbikes.  They have taken the desires of the cafe racers - lightness and speed - to much higher levels than a retro-bike can achieve.  But what do I know, I wasn't alive during the cafe racer era.

[Rogue]

I think the "spirit" of building a Cafe Racer is what makes it a Cafe Racer.  Take a standard motorcycle like an SV650, Bandit, etc., and turn it into a sportier, high performance machine.  It's not that hard to fit higher perfomance suspension & brakes on these bikes.  Replace the bars with Clubman Bars, maybe a solo seat cowl if available, and viola:  Cafe Racer!    If you want something that comes closest to a retro Cafe Racer with relatively modern performance and reliability, then the Triumph Thruxton is your bike.

[M.Brane]

 I've seen some VF500s for sale pretty cheap lately. Add some CBR600RR suspension bits/brakes, and you have a modern cafe racer. The guys from that video might scoff, but I agree with Rogue that it's the spirit of the build not what bike you use.

 Maybe once I actually finish my RC36/748 track bike project. Progress has been slow.

[ChrisZRX]

[stk0308]

A whole lot of fashion statement "gear" being worn there.  

[jesse v]

They keep talking about wanting performance... The skeptic in me wants to say, "If that's really true, why not just by a modern sport or naked bike?  Oh right, because you want 'the look'!"

But, I can see where somebody gets satisfaction out of truly building something.  But I'm not sure slapping on clubman bars counts as building.

[bomber]

I do like a cafe racer-but this is just a modern trend. Don't know what to make of it, really.

Not like the old days.

Thank goodness!

[bomber]

A whole lot of fashion statement "gear" being worn there.  

no more than you'd see at any gatheing of riders . . . . . . differnt eras, perhaps, but many riders STILL try to dress a particular part.

[1KPerDay]

Yum.