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I dont know why...

NoIdeaWhatImDoing

NoIdeaWhatImDoing

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In my 82 nighthawk resto endeavors, I cannot search for OEM or aftermarket parts without getting 95% CAFE RACER results. WTF is this, and why are you showing me nonsense I didnt search for....Furthermore...if the word "cafe" is relentlessly attached to any activity being pursued by a grown man........maybe ride it on down to brunch...on the back....while your GF drives....

haha....just kidding. although it is making me more angry than it should....maybe its because I desperately want to be invited to bottomless mimosas :cheers:
 
4 out of my 5 sons are motorcycle riders. I recently purchased a pristine 10th Anniversary CB750L. One of my sons took a look at it and said, "that'll make a beautiful cafe racer." I replied, "I'm leaving it to your brother, not you." :cheers:
 
dirtdigger said:
I have never liked the cafe look and it is very overdone.
Click to expand...
I don't mind a nicely done example, but I have a phobia about cutting up a pristine survivor bike like mine. Now, doing a cafe out of whatever's left of a bike that's been stored in a chicken coop for 30 years...that's a different thing. Back in the day we built choppers out of those.
 
I'm not a big fan of the cafe racer look either, because it's all about the look, not the riding experience. And you can't stare at the bike while you're riding it.

The gigantic Firestone tires, the lack of fenders, the hunched-over clip-on bars, the paper-thin seats, the straight-pipe exhausts...none of those are features on a bike that gets significant saddle time or mileage.

I'm also not a fan of the absolutely slipshod work that goes into the majority of cafe racers. Every one I've seen locally in person has had at least one serious safety issue (ancient tires mostly) and loads of stuff that looks unpolished and unfinished, like exposed wiring and ugly welds and bad paint and really cheap ugly pod filters.

Nowadays it's definitely been done to death.
 
One of my kids, who is 6'4" is uncomfortable on his BMW adventure bike. He likes the style of the cafe's and has been considering one. He also complains that the pegs on my stock 750 are too high. I keep trying to tell him that he probably won't even be able to ride one those cafe's.

As for me, my days of skinny seats and hardtail frames are far behind me. Heck, even when I had the Harley dresser I had the new style cop seat with the air bag suspension on it. Right now, my 750 is good for about a 100-mile day and then I'm done.

As far as workmanship goes, I'm right there with you. Doesn't help that I owned a hot rod and restoration shop for about 10 years. I don't do shoddy work and would never buy about 80% of what I see out there.
 
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