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Yamaha XS750/850 Triple History-Cafe' Racer history con't below In 1976, Cycle World called the Yamaha XS750 one of the ten best motorcycles in the world. Well that settles that don't it? With 3 cylinders, 3 discs and Triple digit speeds, the Yamaha XS750 of 1977 was the most innovative motorcycle of its time. Add in the slick styling, maintenance free shaft drive, low purchase price and uber-reliability and Yamaha had BMW runnin for the drawing board. The fact that there were really only 2 bikes(Z1, CB750) that would outrun it only added to the overall impressiveness of the machine, not to mention the sales figures. | | | | |
Cafe Racer:The Beginning continued This seemingly innocuous Cafe'(read truckstop in American)gave rise to such infamous British counter-culture groups as the Rockers, the Ton Up Boys and the 59 Club. Add to that the ability to buy a new Brit bike that was capable of doing 100MPH(the TON)in nearly stock form and you
have the makings of legend. The Rockers
Around the same time the American Rock n Roll music  scene was taking over the world. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and a host of others layed down the soundtrack for a new and somewhat feared new lifestyle. The Rocker. Rockers were a young and rebellious Rock and Roll, caffeine and petrol fueled group that played hard and liked their Music and their Motorcycles Loud & Fast. The newly built arterial motorways in and around British towns and cities along with their accomanying cafe's was the perfect storm that brought all the elements together and gave birth to the Cafe' Racer. The goal of many of these intrepid and sometimes wayward youth was to be able to reach 100 miles per hour (called simply "the ton") along such new and imminently suited new roadways like the new North Circle. Another Rocker pastime, called record-racing, involvedleaving the The ACE at the start of a Rock N Roll record, racing to a predetermined point and back to the cafe before the song on the jukebox ended. And we all know how short songs were back in the day so extra legal speeds were required if you wanted to win at this game. A classic example of this was to race from the Ace Cafe on The North Circular road in NW London to the Hanger Lane junction as it then was - its now the more famous Hanger Lane Gyratory System - and back again. The aim was to get back to the Ace Cafe before the record you'd put onto the jukebox had finished. Bearing in mind that some of the Eddie Cochran tunes that were in vogue at this time were less than 2 minutes long...
Riders rejected the large transportation-oriented motorcycles of the time by taking these motorcycles and removing any unnecessary parts off them. The bikes had a raw, utilitarian and stripped-down appearance while the engines were tuned for maximum speed.
Because speed was valued more than comfort, bikes were fitted with single seats and low handle bars, such as ace bars, or even one-sided clip-ons mounted directly onto the front forks for more precise control and to escape the wind. Distinctive half or sometimes full race fairings, and large, hand-made, aluminium racing petrol/gas tanks were frequently left unpainted. Swept-back exhausts and rearset footpegs were used to give better clearance whilst leaning through corners at speed.
These motorcycles were lean, light and handled road surfaces well. The most defining machine of its heyday was the homemade Norton Featherbed framed and Triumph Bonneville engined machine called "The Triton". It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day, the Featherbed frame by Norton Motorcycles. Those with less money could opt for a "Tribsa" - the Triumph engine in a BSA frame
The cafe racer has a lot in common with the chopper or bobber scene in the USA and both have their roots with post-World War II veterans. While American GIs would take military-spec Harley Davidsons and "chop" off anything unnecessary to improve performance, European veterans took similar measures with their motorcycles. Both looked to make the standard factory motorcycles faster and lighter, although only the Europeans strived for better handling. The defining factor was the difference between the nature of the US and European road systems, the Americans favouring a low heavy cruiser style of motorcycle for straightline comfort; the Europeans preferring a higher, better handling motorcycle more suited to the more twisting roads of their nations. It must be remembered that it was also a style born largely out of the poverty of Post-War Europe and so not given to the excesses of later Harley-Davidson Billet-Barge style customization.
Café Racers have also been called "Streetfighters" in reference to World War II veterans' fighter airplanes and have been described as the original "sport bikes" of their day. |
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