The problem with Cafe Racers

customizing your bike to fit your needs or just to make something really cool and special is one of the best parts about owning a motorcycle it's a way to make your motorcycle your own but there are specific types of complete motorcycle customizations whether it's Bobbers or Choppers or cafe racers that sometimes in my opinion have their negatives so that's what we're looking at in this video we're talking about the problem with cafe racers ultimately motorcycling is and really has always been a sort of self-expression you know we pick motorcycles not just because we like them or because we think they're cool it's because they in some way speak to us so I really have no desire to paint those who build or ride cafe racers or really any Custom Motorcycles as not being real motorcyclists or you know as though they're doing something horrible or something harmful I just want to look at five specific problems related to the trend uh you know from the past really 20 years or so and I know that there are also really cool and awesome things about cafe racers so I'm really open to hearing your opinion as well so let us know your thoughts in the comments Below on any of the topics but for now let's dive in now the first thing you have to think about when considering a cafe racer is really the utility of your machine and that's true of any motorcycle you get this is why there are different kinds of motorcycles and this is why different motorcycles you know specialize in different things but when it comes to cafe racers there's stuff that you have to think about for example a motorcycle that does not have a front fender is not only going to let all sorts of unwanted mud and dirt to fly up onto you and your motorcycle I mean fenders exist for a reason it will also potentially give away the kind of Rider that you are that maybe you're someone who's more interested in the way your bike looks than actually riding it because anybody who puts miles down like lots of Miles knows you kind of need a fender now as someone who rides a classic bike I have to admit that I actually do relate to this and on some level I have chosen style over function so I'm not completely judging people who ride cafe racers or you know for example like a motorcycle that has big old school Tire with no Fender it does look cool if we all just bought the most practical or most efficient motorcycle we would all be riding basically the same bike but there are other things to consider as well when it comes to the utility on cafe racers you know a short paper thin seat could get old especially if you decide to ride further than like 25 miles it also won't work if you ever decide to bring you know somebody else on a ride with you things like low handlebars you know those low handlebars may actually hinder you at some point from enjoying your bike over time also you may have actually enjoyed the sort of muted subtle sound of the original pipes on let's say a Honda CB or something like that you may actually end up enjoying a little bit quieter sort of again more subtle sound from a motorcycle than those loud custom pipes that are on it now the list could go on but I think you guys get the idea often cafe racers are built with little Focus being on practicality you know the large bright speedometer and tachometer that would have been on the bike are thrown away for some tiny dark gauge or something like that I guess what I'm saying is that if you do buy or build a cafe racer it's important to understand what the bike is going to do for you beyond just sitting in your garage and you know being something pretty that you look at you have to think about how you actually are going to use it and for some people who just want to go for a fun ride every now and then and not go super far then it's fine but if you are someone who's commuting for example or someone who's putting a lot of miles on your bike then there are certain types of you know customizations that could be on a cafe racer that may not work with what you want all right let's talk about function and this really can be important there are so many kinds of cafe racers doing so many different things to Classic and even newer motorcycles so it's really really important to get an understanding of the original bike that you're buying yes it may seem as though there's not much of that original bike left when it comes to a cafe racer but the core of the bike is still there whether it's a BMW or a Suzuki from let's say the 80s or 90s or maybe a Honda or a Triumph from the 60s or 70s but let's take a 70s Honda that is very typically used as a cafe racer as an example many of you who watch like more of my videos will remember my awesome fantastic expert vintage Honda mechanic named Bruce well one of the many times that I visited his shop he had a CB750 Cafe Racer sitting there that was in dire need of some work now this wasn't the cleanest coolest Cafe Racer CB that I've ever seen but it also wasn't the worst you know it was a pretty appealing machine it had aftermarket pipes that were wrapped low handlebars custom seat and of course you know pod filters for better performance but the bike was kind of a mess mechanically he informed me that the bike wasn't running right and without some of those important Stock features that came on the bike he said that it's actually difficult to set these up and have them run really good this wasn't Bruce's favorite kind of Classic Honda to work on he liked working on stock ones and from a mechanical perspective you can see why in the 1970s Honda knew their own motorcycles better than you or I ever will and these truly are engineering Marvels these bikes are just brilliant motorcycles and they're made to connect to each part you know the engine is made to work with the pipes that were supposed to come on in and the carburetors you know these were the best carburetors for those motorcycles Bruce talked to me about pod filters for example in his experience they rarely improved performance over the stock filter box that came on the bike in fact often they made tuning the bike and just running the bike a bit more complicated they didn't really necessarily give the bike a whole lot more power and this is really true of a lot of things aftermarket pipe types really aren't the pipes that are meant for that bike and you have to understand how those pipes are gonna work on your bike many of the cool cheaper cafe racers that you find for sale locally are built with aesthetic trumping function imagine you know a completely custom cafe racer with a stock seat or a stock air box you know it just would kill the whole look so of course they don't do that but just know that when you buy a cafe racer you may run into problems down the road just with the bike running well you know Classic Bikes are already prone to having more problems and causing more headaches already and Custom Classic Bikes will have potentially even more problems versus if they were just set up you know stock the way that they're supposed to out of the factory now it's worth talking a bit more conceptually about what it is that you're doing when you turn a classic motorcycle into a cafe racer again I don't want to come across as some sort of absolutist you know if I met you and you had a customized old Triumph or Honda or whatever odds are that I would think your bike was really cool and I would like you know but I do think there are some things to consider classic motorcycles are pieces of history and when you take a classic motorcycle that may seem as though you know there's a lot of them let's say an old Honda CB or an old Triumph or something like that it does seem as though there are lots of them but 40 years from now there's not going to be that many of them and so when you take a bike like that and you ditch all those original parts and sometimes even like chop the frame you are in some ways destroying history and destroying the story that that motorcycle was telling classic motorcycles wear their scars and blemishes and those imperfections tell a story about what they've been through and what kind of riders have owned them this applies also to full nut and bolt Restorations as well anytime you take an old motorcycle and you make massive changes you're destroying its originality and the things that make it interesting as a piece of history now sometimes old motorcycles are too far gone and instead of buying OEM Parts someone along the line will just use aftermarket parts and you know just buy what they think is cool and that's totally fine again motorcycles should mainly be about you as the rider building or getting something personal and meaningful to you so obviously that is going to Trump a lot of other factors I just think that it does help to get some perspective to understand the history of whatever bike it is that you're interested in and the logic behind why it was built the way that it was and ultimately maybe a stock classic CB or something like that could actually have the same appeal to you as one that's been highly customized so just something to consider now this next piece relates to originality the value of motorcycles are affected by how close they are to being original sometimes very rarely a really nice Custom Classic Bike will go for just as much as a stock one but rarely you know it's almost always better to have an original or nicely restored Classic Bike there's several reasons for this one being the fact that stock motorcycles are pieces of history and there's value in those rare Parts but it's also because one person passion project won't always be everyone else's ultimately a cafe racer is a personal art project catered to your own interests and your own tastes whereas Original Classic Bikes have proven to just speak to Riders across the globe since they were originally released and you can see why the people who designed and produced these motorcycles they know what they were doing and they knew how to make something special and something that is often Timeless and I'm not gonna lie it is a bit arrogant to think that we can take these classic Timeless motorcycles and make them look better or perform better than the original I know that's not the spirit behind most custom bikes and obviously there are performance mods that can make them faster and more powerful and ultimately most Builders just want to have fun and be creative which is completely fine just know that you know a cafe racer is only going to go down in value and there's a reason whereas a nice Original Classic that is taken care of will often hold its value or potentially increase in value as well now the last thing that I think is worth mentioning is the fact that cafe racers just suck sometimes forget the fact that it's already an old bike and it's difficult to find a nice mechanically sound old bike in the first place but a customized old bike has often found itself in bad hands inexperienced home mechanics who often don't know what they're doing well that can be dangerous crappy cafe racers are a dime a dozen on Facebook and Craigslist from owners asking way too much just know what you're getting and really look at what that bike is worth if someone has for example a custom cb125 from the early 70s and they're asking for over three thousand because maybe it's a nice looking build and you know they've probably spent thousands on it well that bike probably isn't worth what they're asking see if you can get an idea of what a stock nice original example of that bike is worth and you know maybe cut it in half then it would make sense but a nice cb125 isn't even really worth more than a couple thousand you know maybe two and a half so there's no way a custom cb125 is gonna be worth four grand and unless it's like the greatest Cafe Racer ever the same goes for you know a custom Triumph 500 or Bonneville really anything they've done to that bike no matter how appealing it may look has probably lowered the value because there's so much value in every single stock part on an old Triumph and there's a good chance it's not running as well as it would have if an expert mechanic had done it right and used all the OEM parts for me the real fun of a cafe racer I think is doing it yourself and as much as I don't always condone taking a stock Original Classic Bike and tearing it apart personally I think that seems more fun and More in line with the spirit of classic motorcycles than just buying somebody else's weird passion project and realizing that it's just a giant money pit and nothing was done right on it in the first place and the great thing is you can resurrect a weathered old bike this way and give it a new you know if different sort of Life the simplest way to summarize my problem with cafe racers specifically is that this really just isn't what these mode motorcycles were meant to be and there's a difference between the kinds of customizations that were done During the period in which these bikes lived yes Riders would put low handlebars and racing seats on them and maybe you know higher pegs or whatever but that was purposeful and didn't really affect the Integrity of the bike itself whereas chopping off a portion of the frame so you can put some dinky little brown quilted seat on it instead of you know whatever amazing hand-built seat that was on it originally and also quality that was like long lasting I just personally don't understand that well those are sort of my grumpy old man thoughts this is a discussion more than anything and I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below whether you agree or not let us know what you guys think and be sure to subscribe for more motorcycle videos like this one we'll see you guys next time ride safe

Channel: bart

Views: 701,085

Keywords: bart, motorcycle, motorcycles, vintage, retro, classic, modern classic, triumph, triumph bonneville, street twin, speed twin, worst, moto, bike, motorbike, cafe racer, the problem with cafe racers, cafe racer build, bobber, custom, custom motorcycle, honda cb, cb cafe racer, cb750, cb500, honda, suzuki, classic motorcycle, build, cb550, best cafe racers, cool, coolest

Id: hkP9oQZkkzQ

Length: 12min 56sec (776 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 15 2022