FOR SOME riders, the latest racy sport motorcycles and muscular cruisers are just too off-the-shelf to excite. Those people are turning instead to two-wheeled couture: café racers. These light, stripped-down bikes are built in the spirit of 1960s models, which owners modified for extra speed and raced from one “café” (bar) to the next. While a few large companies, including BMW and Moto Guzzi, sell café-esque models today, the most inspired examples are emerging from the workshops of custom builders.
Custom café racers may not go any faster than the hottest factory-built models, but they tend to be considerably lighter, partly because they use aluminum, carbon fiber and other light (and pricey) materials while skipping much of the heavy electronic gear needed to operate the latest fuel-injection and engine-management systems. The result is nimbler handling and a more engaging feel. And while they might look aggressive, even mean, café bikes are simple mounts that even riders with basic experience can handle.
You will pay a premium for one—they typically range from $10,000 to more than $100,000. But you’ll be getting something distinctive: polished engines, and brake levers and foot pegs that are often hand-machined from blocks of aluminum. These bikes usually have deep, mirror-like paint jobs that an assembly line would be hard-pressed to match.
Meet five builders who are turning out superlative café-style rides.
Walt Siegl
Motorcycles
Harrisville, N.H.
To prepare for my test-ride on one of Walt Siegl’s slim, angular Leggeros, I spent a day astride my decades-old Ducati Paso. Leggeros use Ducati engines similar to the Paso’s, so this seemed like a sensible warm-up. But Mr. Siegl said I was reaching. “This bike is lighter and has much more power than your Paso,” he said. Was he essentially calling my beloved machine slow and overweight?
At 335 pounds and 100 horsepower, my test Leggero had all the power I could possibly use. To accelerate properly on this bike, you have to push hard on the foot pegs, grip the Kevlar gas tank with your knees and lean forward, putting weight on the handlebars to keep the front end from rising in a wheelie.
While not a difficult bike, the Leggero is a challenge to ride really well. It doesn’t insulate you from the road with a soft suspension or mild-mannered frame geometry; it responds to even the slightest turn of the handlebars or shift in your body weight. When you get it right, though, the experience is intimate and rewarding—and will likely sharpen your riding skills. waltsiegl.com
Janus Motorcycles
Goshen, Ind.
I was speeding out of Goshen, Ind., on the Lincoln Highway aboard Janus Motorcycles’ Phoenix 250 prototype when the old expression “hellbent for leather” came to mind. Perhaps I was making a subconscious connection to high-speed horseback riding and the notion that a motorcycle is like an iron horse.
Co-founders
Devin Biek
and
Richard Worsham
plan to sell two models, the Phoenix and Halcyon, later this year. The Phoenix, with a scooter-size 250cc single-cylinder engine, has a top speed of around 70 m.p.h, so it isn’t ideal for long hauls on the interstate. It was meant for running errands and jaunts on narrow, twisting back roads.
Many companies have a more-is-better philosophy, producing bikes that are overpowered and overweight. Janus, which got its start restoring old mopeds, goes against the grain with light motorcycles that make the most of a small engine. janusmotorcycles.com
Analog Motorcycles
Gurnee, Ill.
Tony Prust
is already tired of the “café” trend. Real café racers, he points out, were simple, a reflection of their owners’ tight budgets. Fifty years ago, you wouldn’t buy low, racy “clip-on” handlebars; you’d lower the profile by turning your standard bars upside-down. Besides, he insists, his creations for Analog Motorcycles can’t be reduced to one category.
Indeed, Mr. Prust’s customs are diverse, based on Hondas, Triumphs, Ducatis, BMWs and other makes. The DB3 Mantra I rode was built around a rare Italian Bimota frame and Ducati engine. It had a more modern look, with a hand-formed aluminum gas tank and an engine nearly outgrowing its compact frame. Low, sweptback handlebars made it easy to cling for dear life under the bike’s impressive acceleration.
Certain elements—the sculpted-aluminum brake and clutch levers; foot pegs machined with rough surfaces for better traction—have a distinct feel; they clearly didn’t come from a factory-parts bin. The levers, in particular: Their subtle curves fit your hands in a way you’ll notice even with gloves on. analogmotorcycles.com
Kott Motorcycles
Newhall, Calif.
“Once upon a time, everyone had a Honda in the garage, but now these old Japanese bikes are rotting into the ground and becoming rare,” explained Dustin Kott. His eponymous company bases many of its custom rides on older Japanese models such as the Honda CB series.
Unlike Mr. Prust, who favors engines with one or two cylinders for their simplicity, Mr. Kott has a thing for the then-revolutionary 550cc and 750cc four-cylinder power plants that helped Honda and other Japanese makers in the 1970s leave previously dominant American and English bikes in the dust—in terms of both road performance and showroom sales.
Mr. Kott’s customs, which feature shapely fuel tanks and hand-stitched leather seats, are meant to be ridden regularly—unlike the stretched-out “choppers” glorified on reality-TV shows of the past decade. Many of those bikes had awkward seating positions, extremely long wheelbases and wide, carlike rear tires, all of which made them difficult to turn and, some would argue, barely roadworthy.
Still, like the established choppers, Mr. Kott’s upstart café cycles are designed to be shown off, flaunting their engines, accented by polished carburetors and swooping, sonorous exhaust pipes. kottmotorcycles.com
Loaded Gun Customs
Fenwick Island, Del.
Striving to evoke the spirit of the 1960s and 1970s while delivering the handling and reliability of a modern-day machine,
Kevin Dunworth
of Loaded Gun Customs has been building minimalist café racers for a living for 10 years.
For many customers, he said, bikes are more lifestyle accessory than mode of transportation: “A motorcycle is another tool for looking cool, just like the selvage jeans and the flannel shirts.”
Accordingly, Mr. Dunworth is always searching for the sweet spot where vintage motorcycles help riders feel the thrill of impersonating Marlon Brando in “The Wild One”—without sacrificing safety and practicality. If he builds a custom ride based on a 50-year-old Triumph Bonneville, it will come with powerful disc brakes and a sturdy adjustable suspension that were not available when the original was released. loadedguncustoms.com
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