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Today's selection is dedicated to factory cafe racers. Original.
For many, the very idea of producing a factory cafe racer goes against the very essence of the style. But at the same time, there are many fans of this style of motorcycle who lack the time, skill, or both to build their own unique motorcycle. Factory café racer style motorcycles are designed for this audience.
Skyteam Ace.
In terms of appearance, it is basically a direct copy of the 1990s Honda Dream 50, which itself was an upgrade of the 1960s Honda CR110. Of course, Skyteam is a Chinese-made motorcycle, and has all the baggage of sores characteristic of products from China. However, if you are looking at this motorcycle as a cheap blank for your own project, then it is quite suitable for you.
MY MOTORCYCLE
A very attractive project was brought to life by Ukrainian customizers from KSCustom... The donor was a completely new YBR motorcycle, which had just undergone pre-sale preparation.
As the owner of the freshly prepared bike, Yuri Mironyuk, told Motonews.ru, “the choice fell on this motorcycle, firstly, due to the fact that I did not find a single similar project, at least on the Internet, and secondly, I work for the official Yamaha importer in Ukraine, and, to be honest, I got the motorcycle at a good price.”
After pre-sale preparation, the bike was registered and given to the guys from KSCustom for conversion into something similar to a cafe racer or scrambler. “Initially there were thoughts to completely modify it to the minimum - a straight saddle, a trial handlebar, a new tank, and that’s it. Thoughts appeared during the work. Initially, a tank was purchased from disassembly from a CP125. After viewing a trillion photos of different projects on the networks, an image of what you see in the photo emerged! Clip-ons were found in Germany, but by mistake they were 28 mm, instead of the required 30 mm.
Sergey from KSCustom - the man who brought my ideas to life - had to manually adjust these clip-ons to the stock fork. The original traverse was completely redone. Custom remote controls were ordered from the guys from Tver, since I couldn’t find any similar ones locally! Grips - Biltwell. The front turn signals were integrated into the steering wheel weights in the form of two LED lamps on each side! Headlight and speedometer - no name, just in style! The front fender is completely custom, along with its mount. The rear hump is also handmade by Sergei. All electronics are hidden in the hump, including the battery; by the way, the motorcycle starts with an electric starter! The rear of the YBR frame was sawed off and re-fabricated to fit the new tail. Stop, marker and rear turn signals - in one tape - Radiantz - Flexible Led, which was found only in the States. The exhaust can was ordered from Germany, the elbow was welded by Sergei. YZF R1 tuning feet, ValterMoto, were purchased at disassembly, since the original ones had an incorrect fit, and a completely new mount had to be made for the new ones. All metal parts were cleaned to bare metal and varnished. Air filter - foam rubber UNI. Tires front and rear: Mitas TR1 4.00 18″.
The creation of this project took no less than 3 months. The whole thing cost about $1,500, excluding the cost of the donor motorcycle.
Yuri himself admitted to Motonews.ru that this is the first project of this kind, however, he has long been following fashion trends in the motor industry, namely projects of cafe racers and scramblers. “Probably due to the rather extraordinary approaches, interesting, unusual appearance, there is something alive in these motorcycles. This is not just a piece of iron, especially if you yourself built this kind of motorcycle or even played an active role in the construction, it becomes part of its owner!” 
It is curious that before the construction of the cafe racer and the purchase of the Yamaha YBR 125 model, Yuri once had two racing Yamaha YZF R6s.
source www.motonews.ru
Yamaha XSR900 Abarth.
Based on the three-cylinder engine from the MT-09, the Yamaha Xsr900 Abarth has more power than most of the bikes on our list today. This motorcycle has a power of 115 hp, is built on an aluminum frame, has modern electronics and suspension. But can we call it a cafe racer? Other representatives of the cafe racer style have a much more favorable balance of modern technology and old school. But if you're buying a cafe racer solely for looks, then why do you need it at all?
Honda CB1100RS.
Is the CB1100RS worthy of this list? To match the style, this motorcycle lacks many key elements: clip-ons, recumbent riding position. But this is the closest Honda motorcycle comes to making a café racer. It's a very nice looking bike in its own right, with an air-cooled four-cylinder engine and high-quality suspension. But for a real cafe racer it has a lot of high technology. And this is perhaps the biggest problem. In typical Honda style, the makers seem to have gone to extremes and at the last minute toned down the styling cues that might have made this bike really stand out. However, with a little work with a wrench (clip-ons, perhaps a new exhaust), you can look like you belong in the company of cafe racers.
Royal Enfield Continental GT.
The Continental GT is one of the cheapest bikes on this list, and like the Skyteam, this option is closer to the classic cafe racer aesthetic. A productive engine, Paioli shock absorbers and Brembo brakes, with not even too low technical characteristics. Not that this bike is very fast - the 535cc engine is a version of the old Enfield, producing just 29.1bhp.
WalzWerk Motorcycle founder Markus Walz, whose line of SCHIZZO® motorcycles sells out quickly, has a 12-month waiting list.
For the last time, Markus showed off one of his special edition SCHIZZO, the GT1. His company builds about four bikes a year and is the ultimate expression of his product line. But the bread and butter that's more like a five-course meal is the SCHIZZO BMW, of which they build just over 50 a year. If you're a fan of the BMW R series of motorcycles, then its factory near the famous Hockenheim Ring is where you'll find bikes in varying states of completion and a catalog of parts that will truly make you drool.
So to give us an idea of how his motorcycle production line is built, Markus walks us through the process and tells us just how well designed his bikes are, this particular machine is intended for a buyer in Switzerland with the strictest registration laws in the world. “We usually always use donor BMW R80/R100 Monolever from 1984 to 1994. This example was based on a 1989 BMW R80RT Monolever. As always, we completely disassembled the bike and rebuilt it. So it’s pretty much a new bike with an old name,” he explains.
Literally everything is done in house except the paint and upholstery, and that starts with preparing the factory frame to SCHIZZO specifications. Not only are unnecessary brackets and tabs trimmed, but the entire frame is smoothed, inspected to ensure it's in tip-top condition, and then powder coated, along with the swingarm, in a gloss black finish in its own custom booth. Tubular subframe with integrated shock absorber straight from the WalzWerk catalog that anyone can buy as a part. With all assembly components available in this way, you can build your own SCHIZZO at home.
On top of the spine is a flawless example of a BMW R that has been paneled to perfection so that the metalwork remains as straight as the day it was born in Bavaria. The customer chooses a color from a variety of options: “On almost all of our motorcycles we use original Porsche colors, which becomes the hallmark of our customs. And this bike is no exception; the color is called 1967 Porsche Slate Grey.” The tank also features blacked-out Monza-style filler and custom BMW badging with the WalzWerk logo. The seat in this case is finished in a stunning traditional brown color with matching handles.
The suspension and braking package are completely redesigned, and the front end starts with a blade-style fender. Then Touratech Suspension comes to the party with a range of Black-T components developed exclusively for the SCHIZZO range. The front fork is shortened by approximately 120mm and features proprietary springs and shocks, held in place by a custom Walz upper triple clamp. At the rear, there's a Performance monoshock that's fully adjustable, and the Brembo brakes are completely rebuilt and thermally coated.
“The spoked wheels are from a BMW R100R Paralever, with modified hubs to meet Monolever requirements. The wheels are shod with classic Shinko tires measuring 4.00×18 at the front and 4.50×18 at the rear.” They're customer-selected, with some opting for Conti Road Attack rubber, as seen on the GT1 build we featured last year. Controlling the bike is provided by ABM racing clips, a MotoGadget mini speedometer and a matching blue MotoGadget m unit. A Bluetooth app allows for remote control of functions, and lighting is provided by Motogadget turn signals and stunning old-school headlights with yellow lenses.
The engine doesn't miss a beat either, Markus is a man who loves power and the 1000cc power kit. see. Every last part has been repaired, new crank and pistons, modified cylinder heads and modern electronic ignition. The transmission and rear drive are also completely rebuilt before thermal coating is applied to the entire drivetrain. The airbox had to be retained to comply with Swiss road regulations, but what remained was the stunning short exhaust, built exclusively for Marcus by SC-Project Italy.
The result is a damn good looking custom bike with the best modern parts where it matters, plenty of power and weighing in at just 165kg, fueled up and ready to go. Do you want your own SCHIZZO bike? Then be quick, the next available slots won't be free until December 2022 and the WalzWerk train is showing no signs of slowing down.
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Norton 961 Café Racer.
In Norton's current lineup of motorcycle models, almost anything would fit this list, but the 961 Café Racer has the right name and the most appropriate looks. As with all motorcycles from this company, only the highest quality components are used - Ohlins, Brembo, etc. On the other hand, the price is relatively low, although it is not the most powerful bike in this selection. And definitely not the most suitable for everyday use.
BMW R NineT Racer.
The BMW R-Nine-T is the most controversial and, for many, the most desirable motorcycle since BMW entered the neo-retro market. The bullet fairing, clip-ons and signature BMW Motorsports livery instantly make this café racer the most distinctive of all R NineT models. With 110 hp it is also more powerful than most of the motorcycles in our selection today.
Upcycle Motor Garage
Most smart customizers reuse their work for future projects, but Johnny Nguyen of Upcycle Motor Garage went further: he made two BMW R100s at once, creating two beautiful twins.
Upcycle Motor Garage is located in Anaheim, California, and its close-knit team consists of only Johnny.
“I’ve been doing custom bikes for the last three years,” says Johnny, “but I started with cars more than 25 years ago, when I was 12.
Triumph Thruxton (Thruxton R).
Many companies strive to combine the latest technology and classic design, but few are as successful as Triumph. Both Truxton and Truxton R are without a doubt the best options. The engine may not be as powerful as you'd hope (96 hp from 1,200 cc), but it's tuned to deliver maximum acceleration where it's needed and doesn't chase big peak power. There simply isn't a better factory cafe racer on the market today.
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Everything you need to know about cafe racers - one of the oldest movements in world motorcycle culture
Nowadays, cafe racers are often perceived simply as motorcycles in a certain style, and not as a way of life, although in their homeland there are still many true fans and connoisseurs of this subculture who buy old British motorcycles and customize them. But in the hands of professional customizers, almost anything can turn into a cafe racer - from old boxer BMWs to the latest heavy Harley-Davidsons.
Therefore, if you are looking for a sports motorcycle, but you do not like the abundance of plastic parts, then you should think about purchasing a cafe racer. And here you have two options.
Buy
Although this is not a canonical method (as is the case with any motorcycle that claims to have custom status), it is simple. Of course, first of all you should pay attention to the Triumph Thruxton. It's a classic British parallel-twin, with options for a fairing, short rear fender and upside-down forks, giving you excellent aerodynamics and handling - everything you need from a real café racer.
A factory Triumph Thruxton R cafe racer next to a classic Bonneville T120. The main distinguishing features of the “kafeshnik” are clearly visible - a long tank, clip-ons and a rounded tail.
BMW R nineT Racer. The modifications to this model are quite minor - a fairing and a low steering wheel have been added.
Do
Cafe racers were born as converted production motorcycles, which means the best “cafe racer” is one made by yourself. Well, or by the hands of qualified mechanics. When building it, it is important not to forget the basic idea that the British laid down in the 1960s - the custom should be faster than the original. There are a lot of options for engine tuning in the 21st century, but there are no universal methods - everything will depend on the motorcycle you choose. Very often, work begins with installing a zero-resistance air filter and direct-flow exhaust: this combination can really increase engine output, but if you do not reconfigure the carburetors (if any) or the fuel map (on injection motorcycles), you will most likely end up with a dirty one that consumes too much engine fuel.
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Ducati 900 SS 2001 from the Moscow workshop Birdie Customs
All changes in the appearance of the motorcycle can be reduced to two main goals: reducing weight and improving aerodynamics. The first is easy to achieve using the methods of the 1960s - just get rid of excess plastic and metal, up to the complete abandonment of the wings. But the second will require changing the seat on the motorcycle, increasing the driver’s forward lean. To do this, you need to make the steering wheel lower and move the footpegs back so that your legs are comfortable. Make sure you can wrap your knees around the tank, otherwise it will be difficult to control your motorcycle.
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With the right approach, even a huge and heavy Harley-Davidson Fat Bob can be made into a cafe racer
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Although the BMW K100 has the nickname “Flying Brick” due to the shape of the in-line four-cylinder engine, it is used very often in customization
The café racer movement is one of the oldest in the world motorcycle culture, and the ideas it laid down for modifying motorcycles are still applicable today. And although modern methods of customization and engineering make it possible to create more and more advanced projects, something from that era could not be preserved - this is the spirit of rebellion, which was expressed in a motorcycle assembled by hand.
Photo: Getty Images, press materials
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