Cafe Racers – How They Took a Nation By Storm
Cafe racers were first developed by motorcycle enthusiasts
in Britain in the 1960s. They were immediately a huge part of the rocker
subculture throughout the area. The smaller motorcycles caught on quickly,
especially in urban areas. They provide quick rides from one location to
another, quickly allowing the rider to get from one location to another,
usually to and from coffee bars and pubs in the area. They also quickly caught
on in other countries as well, including Italy, France, and Europe. After that,
the cafe racing style was also adopted by many Asian nations as well, and
became known as Sake racers.
Cafe racers, as they would come to be called, were given the
term by Popular Mechanics, who stated that they were ridden by those that
wanted to appear to be street racers, but really spent most of their time
parked in front of coffee bars. While this was true about a portion of the
subculture, the actual races were also a huge draw to cafe racers during the
time.
Sake racers are usually built to be very light, and do not
have a lot of power. The motorcycle has been modified to create speed, without
having to call for too many advanced parts, features, or options. They were
excellent racing bikes that quickly caught on in numerous cultures for their ease
of use, and their excellent speeds that they were able to produce.
By the mid 1970s, the Japanese
bikes, known as Sake Racers, had taken over the British and
American made bikes. They had also given way to some cosmetic changes as well.
They would go on to use much more upscale parts, and gone were the days of the
home fabricated fuel tanks and unpainted parts that had made the 1960s versions
of the bikes so raw. Eventually they would continue to evolve to a point where
there was little difference between the bikes marketed as cafe racers and other
lightweight low-cost bikes on the market. This evolution quickly allowed for a
large number of new entrants into the subculture, and grew the popularity of
the bike overall.
Both in the case of cafe racers and sake racers, the
motorcycles were mostly a part of the subculture of rebellious young rockers.
They were looking for fast bikes, with a
distinctive look that stood out from the other bikes during their heyday. Cafe
racer culture even today is a part of rockabilly culture and is a part of many
festivals throughout the region. The subculture helped to grow the popularity
of the bikes and even today traces of that subculture exist throughout the
world.
The classic cafe
and sake racing style has really made a comeback as of late. This
is partly due to the rise in the interest in vintage motorcycles. The
internet has also made it much easier for fans of certain items to celebrate
their interest with other fans, which has allowed for smaller niche markets to
gain a lot more attention.
The increase in attention has generated a lot of interest in
the cafe and sake racers. You can bet that they will continue to grow in
popularity moving forward, especially with the internet giving people an
excellent forum in which to discuss their interests.
Dewayne Jasper
has been riding for over 6 years; you can also follow him on twitter and know about his
riding.
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