Cafe Racer Discussion

I'm going to rant, and I started a new topic because I didn't want to direct this at anyone in particular. I guess this may just be my opinion because I've been in the 70s era bike building game a lot longer and this is my first "modern" bike, but...

I don't get why people try to make cafe's out of XJs. These bikes were made in the 80s, not the 70s. In the case of the seca, it's an 80s performance touring bike. It's heavy, it has a lot of components, and it's got beautiful lines. In the case of the maxim, it's an 80s cruiser with all the same, including the beautiful lines. Why everyone on this site insists on turning their 80s style bikes into wanna-be 70s era racing machines is beyond me.

The tank is not right for a cafe racer. The seat is not right for a cafe racer. The weight is not right for a cafe racer. The rims are not right for a cafe racer. The frames are not right for a cafe racer. The technology is not right for a cafe racer. These bikes were never made to be what everyone is trying to make them. Cafe racer bikes were made in the 70s, using 70s technology, 70s frames, and they looked and felt cool because they were NEVER TRYING TO BE SOMETHING THEY ARE NOT.

I had to say it. I doubt anyone agrees with me and you can all call me an asshole if you want... but every time I click on the modifications sub-forum, I'm blasted with a bunch of people who are taking beautiful XJs and bastardizing them, turning them into rip-offs and bad attempts at something they were never meant to be.

Leave your damn XJs as damn XJs, because that is what they are. I'm all for customization... but it isn't custom if everyone is chopping up bikes going for the same look that no one can achieve.

 

+1. I stay away from the "XJ Modifications" forum, it tends to make my tummy hurt.

I don't mind a bit of modernization and "restification" but I prefer to retain the original look and feel.

 

My bike is stock and insured as a "collector" - that is, it has to stay that way. I prefer them that way.

I've got to admit, tho - I've been impressed with some of the cafe mods people have done. They may not be true to whatever '70s cafe racer ideal Pipe speaks of, but some of them look great, and I've said as much on some of the mod forums.

And, I'm sure their owners don't give two squirts what I think, anyhow!

 

My bike is mine and I will do what I want with it. I love XJs and I love cutting them up. If we all had factory correct bikes we would have no diversity, and this section of the forum would be nonexistent. If you like showroom stock bikes I can respect that, however I also think that the rectangular headlights and lunchbox sized gauge clusters on these bikes leave something to be desired. But that is irrelevant. I can appreciate the work that goes into any well built bike whether it suits my tastes or not, and I can appreciate the common interest that we all have in XJs. I'm building my bike to suit me and only me, and I hope you're doing the same. Your bike is whatever you make it. To each his own. It keeps things interesting.

 

Well said Russell. And as I said, I'm all for customization. I just think that there is a distorted image of a "cafe racer" on this forum and probably many others... and when everyone wants one and chops their bike, it not only ruins what XJs were supposed to be, but it never becomes what it's trying to be, so it's just in the middle, looking trashy with poor conceptualization and poor execution.

I just made this so hopefully people will realize that if they want a cafe, they can buy the right bike for it. I don't understand why you would buy an XJ if you wanted a cafe racer. Some guys on here do it really well, and I commend them for their craftsmanship and perfection... but I just imagine what they could have done with a bike that was built to be made that way.

These are 80s performance tourers and sport tourers. It just seems like half of the forum needs to be made aware of that before they go hacking into a perfectly good bike to try to make something that doesn't make any sense.

 

I'd like to chime in with my comment, that the seca 750 is not a great bike in stock form. The headlights are ugly, the gauge cluster is ugly, the seat setup is a little wonky, the turn signals are enormous, and the whole thing has some oddly proprietary systems (such as the silly front mount MC)

If you want to rant, you need to take it further, and exclude all bikes made other than pre 1970 british bikes.

The seca tank looks great as a cafe tank. Turning a seca 750 into a lighter, cleaner little sportbike is perfectly fine. Nothing wrong with removing weight (I can see myself shaving a good 50 pounds or more off of this bike) dropping the riding position (which is ghastly. bolt upright = heinous freeway buffeting) and lowering the bike.

I've seen a well made cafe bike from a virago 250. Definitely not "cafe" material, but it worked.

I bought my XJ with the intent of turning it into a cafe racer because I got the bike CHEAP. a 70's cb750 would have cost me three times as much.

 

Just a small point. the SIXTIES was the decade of the cafe racer. The 70's brought us Japanese multi cylinder bikes and underbraked two strokes.
(And the beginning of the end of British bikes).

I personally have kept my bike as standard but realise that everyone has different tastes.

It seems slightly strang to me though, that in the 80s Yamaha (And the other big three) bombarded the US market with "Cruiser" models, when what you really wanted was the models that were imported into Europe!

 

I was going to say the exact same thing. By the 70's the Japs were making mass produced "Superbikes" and the Cafe Racer was redundant.

Anyway, Cafe Racers are the new fashion at the moment (like OCC was 5 years ago) - and apparently you can make a Cafe Racer out of any bike.

Just like you can make a Streetfighter out of any bike :roll:

 

I was going to say the exact same thing. By the 70's the Japs were making mass produced "Superbikes" and the Cafe Racer was redundant.

Anyway, Cafe Racers are the new fashion at the moment (like OCC was 5 years ago) - and apparently you can make a Cafe Racer out of any bike.

Just like you can make a Streetfighter out of any bike :roll:

 

With enough cutting and welding, any bike can become a cafe.

personally, the shaft driven 4 cylinder 750 isn't my ideal cafe base, but I do like the reliability offered by the setup, and its ability to remain a commuter bike for me on the highway. A lot of "true" cafe bikes struggle to do the ton, and have a hard time on the freeway.

My goal is a 400lb dry cafe bike.

 

The 750 Seca tank is a good one, Poprider .....Xulf13 (i think) did a nice one, but overall I prefer them stock with functional mod's where appropriate if need be. 'N as for bobbers by the bin load.....yer makes "my tummy hurt".

 

Who cares! Do you really sit around and worry about it. If you haven't realized yet, the motorcycle world is FULL of idiots with bad taste and no eye for design (one member here in particular comes to mind ;() Why sit around and complain and b!itch about it when you should use that energy to make your bike how you like it and know in your mind your bike looks better than their monstrosity!!!

 

Who cares! Do you really sit around and worry about it? If you haven't realized yet, the motorcycle world is FULL of idiots with bad taste and no eye for design (one member here in particular comes to mind ;() Why sit around and complain and b!itch about it when you should use that energy to make your bike how you like it and know in your mind your bike looks better than their monstrosity!!!

 

The XJ is a UJM. This puts it in the same category with a bazillion of other bikes that all pretty much look alike. I know _we_ can tell one XJ from another from a quarter mile away, but the rest of the folks out there can't... So we spice the XJ up a bit. Who cares if it looks like something it's not?

Cafe bikes have a very unique, catchy look. The humped one-up seat, the oft-ugly fairing, clubman-type bars, rear sets... The thing is, Cafe has become just that -- a look. Nobody builds them to win races....

If you want to mod your bike, by all means, do it. If you're tired of choices of Red, Black or Purple, maybe a Manx or a Thruxton look is the ticket

 

If you prefer this look



over this:


Or this look


over this one:


Or even this one


over this



Then more power to you!.

In my case I got a very, very, very cheap priced bike, I thought it was hideous from the beginning. So hideous in fact that I was not going to buy it until it was basically given to me for free. It had rust over the forks and anything that was suposed to be chromed. I had many parts to replace and I replaced them with parts i liked.

Yeah my tank is not boxy enough at the back end, there are still things I wish were different about my bike to make it look more copasetic. But I was going for a smoother look while removing some weight.

Yeah it's no 60's bike, or 70's bike for that matter.

 

why???????? if you don't like modded bikes stay out of the modification forum.
Ride Free and all of that hypocrisy

 

I'm a biker not a bloody historian........ I build what feels right to me using what I have available. I dont care what you think. I don't build for you, I build for ME

 

Odd, the whole reason I bought my Seca was the fact that it melded "Cafe" inspired styling, with decent brakes, shaft drive, and a very reliable engine. I had no idea Secas aren't at all suitable for "Cafe Racers". Everything I saw and read in the 70s told me that "Cafe Racing" was something you did with a "Cafe Racer", not the other way around. You could "Cafe Race" with a full dressed Gold Wing, if you were so inclined, but you wouldn't do very well. You would still be racing from cafe to cafe. You would just be losing.





All that said, what is the big deal with people personalizing their bikes? I personally think the Seca 750 is but ugly with the stacked, rectangular headlights, and I am no fan of cruiser style bikes, either. To me, form should follow function, and not the other way around. But I can still appreciate a full on resto of a Maxim, and I also can appreciate a bobber or a cafe (styled) bike. To me, it is all about love of mechanical art, and the thrill of being on two wheels. There is far too much division in this world already, must we pick fights with each other's idea of a beautiful motorcycle. As long as no one is trying to modify my bike, I have no issues with him modifying his the way he likes. Just as I expect him to respect my right to modify my own in the way I see fit.


Just ride.

 

Main reason why I bought my XJ, was because it cost about half what same condition CB's and about fifth of those old british bikes would have cost...
To my eyes 550 is very doable for cafe style and yes style is what attracts me most What I've read, performance and realibility is at decent level too when compared to those older bikes :? Factory look is just bit boring to me and can't afford those "better" starting point for cafe racer bikes, so theres my excuses

 

i'am glad you got that off your chest
but couldn't the same be said for guys that put bags and a trunk on a XJ and go touring on it or puts struts on one, paints it flat black and rakes the frame
or that guy that rides his Ducati 15 miles on the 4 lane to work
or those guys with camaro's on trailers with slicks, numbers on the doors and a 427 with headers
why on earth would someone go fishing in a canoe
because they can, thats why