Why do people build cafe racers destroying great original bikes?

[zalle]

I can understand, if you have a damaged bike, like a Brick, or some other powerful beast, which will cost a fortune to put back to standard but...

Why do people get perfectly good looking, good condition bikes, and make a cafe racer out of them??? This cafe racer/scrambler thing is something that will be gone in a few years, and people destroyed great bikes, spent a fortune changing them to cafe racers because it's fashionable...  :dunno2: They will have a bike that looks dated, worth next to nothing, and they probably destroyed a classic...

I own a 6cyl 1979 Honda CBX for over 20 years and I get lots of people saying "if it was mine I would make a gorgeous cafe racer... bla bla bla". I think it's just the stupidest possible idea. I could try something if I crashed it... (knock on wood), but I would never consider it with a good bike... This is happening now with my K1100LT. I mean, I know it looks good without a fairing, but... That already exists, it's called a K75.

Well, I guess you get my point. Opinions?

[jaxon]

I can understand, if you have a damaged bike, like a Brick, or some other powerful beast, which will cost a fortune to put back to standard but...

Why do people get perfectly good looking, good condition bikes, and make a cafe racer out of them??? This cafe racer/scrambler thing is something that will be gone in a few years, and people destroyed great bikes, spent a fortune changing them to cafe racers because it's fashionable...  :dunno2: They will have a bike that looks dated, worth next to nothing, and they probably destroyed a classic...

I own a 6cyl 1979 Honda CBX for over 20 years and I get lots of people saying "if it was mine I would make a gorgeous cafe racer... bla bla bla". I think it's just the stupidest possible idea. I could try something if I crashed it... (knock on wood), but I would never consider it with a good bike... This is happening now with my K1100LT. I mean, I know it looks good without a fairing, but... That already exists, it's called a K75.

Well, I guess you get my point. Opinions?

 I agree. If it's is good condition I'd leave it alone, but other people aren't me. I'm not knocking it, some are really nice. I think we end up losing some good bikes in the future.


No idea why good examples are chopped up.

[F14CRAZY]

Because they're easy...Anyone can cut the rear frame and add clip ons...

[Chaos]

There seems to be a point right before classics start to appreciate in value that some people view them as throwaway playthings.  Look at all the BSA's and Triumphs that got chopped in the 70's and 80's that would be worth a small fortune now.  It kills me now to see cars from the 70's with 21" wheels.  WTF dude, the only statement you're making is you are an idiot!

[Filmcamera]

People have always wanted to personalise their vehicles and I am fine with that, I would just prefer it if it was done in a way that is reversible.

[K1300S]

Because they're easy...Anyone can cut the rear frame and add clip ons...

There seems to be a point right before classics start to appreciate in value that some people view them as throwaway playthings.

People have always wanted to personalise their vehicles

those three statements pretty much sum it up.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Before something gets to classic collectible status it needs to become rare.  The cappuccino racer guys are doing us all a favor.

They provide lots of spare tupperware today, cheap engine parts in a couple years, and they thin the herd to make our bikes rare.

We really should be encouraging them.

[Martin]

Seen quite a few posts on it being done seen a couple with work in progress. But I've never seen a Brick Coffee/ Scrambler on the road in OZ. I think due to their very nature, short range comfort, lack of luggage space they tend to be used locally until boredom sets in. And they either shed it or sell it, to finance the next project . I've got a son in law ten projects in twenty years none finished, big ideas none of which ever see the light of day.
Regards Martin.

[F14CRAZY]

There seems to be a point right before classics start to appreciate in value that some people view them as throwaway playthings.  Look at all the BSA's and Triumphs that got chopped in the 70's and 80's that would be worth a small fortune now.  It kills me now to see cars from the 70's with 21" wheels.  WTF dude, the only statement you're making is you are an idiot!

21'' inch wheels might be ok. It's when they get to be 24''+. Plenty of '71-76 GM full size convertibles getting "ruined" that way but then again they come off with a few bolts. Same for the lift kit (I own a '74 LeSabre Luxus convertible...on 15'' black and chrome rally wheels)

[jaxon]

Being 52 and the idea of riding something looking like a monkey spooning a football is no longer my idea of fun. I like the R9T racer but Imma have to tap out. I can appreciate some of them done really well, but a huge NOPE for daily riding. At one point I have to admit I'd look like an old uncomfortable man on a cool looking bike I can barley stand to ride over 10 miles.

[technostructural]

So, I am a young (ish) guy at age 30, and generally I am a fan of the café trend.


But I would not café a brick. Here's why:


One of the things that the brick excels at is long distance riding. Cafés are designed to be ridden fast (preferably around a track), and they are not intended to be "smooth". A twin cylinder, early 80s / late 70s Japanese bike makes a great café. This is in part because there is already not much to them.


Bricks are fantastically engineered, and at the time of production, were quite forward thinking. (e.g. Fuel injection, metered air, ecu, etc). To me, what is beautiful about a brick does not receive any greater emphasis by merely removing body parts (especially luggage mounts!).


I really do believe that there is something to the whole café trend. A Yamaha virago from the early 80s, in my opinion, looks horrid. Cutting it back to the essentials can really allow an appreciation for the bike that you never knew even existed. It's function over form, I guess (or it should be).


I guess all of this is to say that I don't think that there is anything wrong with the café trend. I just don't think the brick is the right bike for it. 

[K1300S]

Cafés are designed to be ridden fast (preferably around a track),   

iirc, no.   they got the name from gangs racing them on public streets between bars (cafe's).  rip all the extra weight off a street bike and see how fast it could go in straight line.   the big deal was to break the "ton"...i.e., get up to 100mph.   

no tracks involved.  today they are more like cafe parkers.   see them occasionally at cars and coffee events...never on the road.  it is all about a look, vice performance.

[technostructural]

I agree that cafés were largely raced on streets rather than track, but they certainly did see the track on occasion. My point was that the stripped down "look" wasn't really meant to be a "look" at all back then. It was, as you said, about breaking the Ton.

[zalle]

The whole idea behind this topic is not to ask if cafe racers are a good or bad idea, or should you convert a brick...


It's why do people destroy good condition bikes to make them cafe racers.

[technostructural]

The whole idea behind this topic is not to ask if cafe racers are a good or bad idea, or should you convert a brick...


It's why do people destroy good condition bikes to make them cafe racers.

Well, that's easier then. It's because they want to.

[Supershooter]

I'd be in the scrambler camp, I think converting a brick to a scrambler would give me a reliable bike to use in our farming/cattle operation. It'd be a more useful tool than a touring bike.
Supershooter

[K1300S]

I'd be in the scrambler camp, I think converting a brick to a scrambler would give me a reliable bike to use in our farming/cattle operation. It'd be a more useful tool than a touring bike.
Supershooter

now there is a fad i don't get.  scramblers.  take a heavy street/touring bike with very limited suspension travel and low ground clearance, take the tupperware and fenders off, put knobbies on it and expect it to perform offroad?  pretty sure that is what a dirt bike or at least a GS is for.  brick is wrong tool for that job.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

+1 on the brick never being a decent scrambler. 

Get a four stroke trail bike in the 175 to 250 cc range with a 21" front wheel and a curb weight of about 225#.  Strip the turn signals, mirrors, and taillight.  Ditch the battery and run off the magneto.  Fit a chain tensioner and a drip oiler.  Put them run flat donuts in the tires.

Then go get some serious yeehaa.

[Dennis de Vries]

I think we traditional K riders will never understand... I mean, we ride a K bike because of how good a bike it is, practical, reliable, mile-muncher, all that... Cafe-racers and scramblers are just about one thing, the "Hey look at me being cool!" factor...
I agree, some do look pretty decent but why oh why wreck a perfectly good bike for it if there are plenty of clunkers arround?

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[Martin]

Bricks make great scramblers if you are built like a Sasquatch or a Yowie.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

The cappuccino thing kind of makes sense like building a street legal dune buggy off of a Porsche 911.

[JPaganel]

Cafe racers were the sportbikes of the 60's. People made them look like racebikes of the day because nobody sold sportbikes.

Those bikes in the 60's weren't really powerhouses. One thing a racebike of limited horsepower has to be is light.  The original cafe bikers went after that with a vengeance, sacrificing comfort for weight savings. K bikes, while great bikes, are kinda pigs in that department.  Making a cafe racer out of a Brick more or less trying to build an Indy car out of a stretch limo. You might make it look like one, but it will never be quite right.

There are good cafe racer builds out there. A proper cafe racer needs to be a single or twin airhead.  And then, it needs somebody who knows what they are doing and has a better reason for the changes than "I like the look" behind it to make a proper functional cafe racer. Know a bit about frame design. At least something of the history.

The reason people hack up bikes is because the look is trendy.  I can't tell them not to do it, they are the owners of the bikes.

I do reserve the right to point and laugh when they try to sell their hacked up pile of parts as a "one of a kind custom cafe" for real bike money.

[zalle]

The cappuccino thing kind of makes sense like building a street legal dune buggy off of a Porsche 911.

My thoughts exactly  :clap:

By the way, today I bought a complete K100RS fairing, with clocks (24.000km), side panels, complete tail, indicators, mirrors, complete set, same colour as mine, for 195€ from one of those guys... He bought it to build a cafe racer... He inspired this topic.
Now my next question is... Will I be able to mount the K100RS fairing & clocks on my K1100LT??? But I'll open another topic on that...  :riding:

[Filmcamera]

Look at it this way - first you can buy all the plastics bits cheap then you can buy the cafe racer cheap later - so you get a great parts bike, just in two parts  :eek: .


I really like some of the cafe racers on this site and am very impressed by the skills put into the builds, there are some seriously talented guys out there. 


In the end though I agree, the main issue is that a brick is just the wrong bike for a cafe racer.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Cafe racers were the sportbikes of the 60's. People made them look like racebikes of the day because nobody sold sportbikes.

Those bikes in the 60's weren't really powerhouses. One thing a racebike of limited horsepower has to be is light.  The original cafe bikers went after that with a vengeance, sacrificing comfort for weight savings. K bikes, while great bikes, are kinda pigs in that department.  Making a cafe racer out of a Brick more or less trying to build an Indy car out of a stretch limo. You might make it look like one, but it will never be quite right.

There are good cafe racer builds out there. A proper cafe racer needs to be a single or twin airhead.  And then, it needs somebody who knows what they are doing and has a better reason for the changes than "I like the look" behind it to make a proper functional cafe racer. Know a bit about frame design. At least something of the history.

Exactly,  I was around back then, and can attest to the fact that for a kid with barely enough cash to buy a 305cc twin, the only route to more speed was a smaller rear sprocket and to strip as much weight as possible.