Author Topic: Is the cafe craze over? (Read 3229 times)

Trevor from Warragul · « **Reply #25 on:** April 14, 2019, 01:15:43 am »

Cafe's have been around for a long time...

1976 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport:

dave500 · « **Reply #26 on:** April 14, 2019, 01:36:49 am »

that's a very nice bike but its not exactly what most of the poor old mid 70s japanese bikes end up like once in the hands of a skill less hipster with big ideas?
for a start your number plate isn't sideways poking out to cut pedestrians legs,your indicators are also nice and visable even when not activated,proper café ones are like a pin head and feebly weak in sunlight,the tail light also follows the same very street legal theme,the seat line actually matches up with the fuel tank curve and looks comfy,very un café cant get it to fit properly but its my build and art!

Trevor from Warragul · « **Reply #27 on:** April 14, 2019, 03:30:19 am »

Yep. A few years ago, I went to a motorcycle shop "cafe" morning with my Morini. A bunch of young hipster types surrounded my bike. They asked "What have you done to it?". I said "Well, the seat is a year earlier, it has different clip-ons, and I replaced a bunch of stuff with stainless.". They were incredulous "It came from the factory looking like that?!". Yep.

simon#42 · « **Reply #28 on:** April 14, 2019, 03:35:06 am »

people were messing up bikes long before 1976

dave500 · « **Reply #29 on:** April 14, 2019, 03:37:40 am »

there is no god!and that was before angle grinders were common place?

simon#42 · « **Reply #30 on:** April 14, 2019, 03:45:21 am »

that was when men were men and had to use a hacksaw !

MoMo · « **Reply #31 on:** April 14, 2019, 04:26:53 am »

My .02, all I can say is I hope so. Only applies to the butchered bikes....Larry

chewbacca5000 · « **Reply #32 on:** April 15, 2019, 07:30:14 pm »

Quote from: morini on April 14, 2019, 01:15:43 am

Cafe's have been around for a long time...

1976 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport:

I would love to take that for a ride.

rb550four · « **Reply #33 on:** April 16, 2019, 05:07:48 pm »

I'm still on the program, haven't bought a Honda in a , in a , in a hell of a long time. But that doesn't stop me from searching Craigslist here in NY, PA, NH, Ohio, Mass, Florida and most places in between every night. I am seeing the price rising on Hondas that are closer to stock . Could it be that so many bikes have been cut, cafe'd and screwed up that there is a shortage of decent near stock bikes out there? I see cafes trying to get the selling price up, but they sit on it allot longer than the stock models, and I wouldn't doubt that some go well below the asking price after the second or third time on CL.
Cafe quality have come a long way in the past few years, they still aren't my favorite style machine , but really, some of them here are just awesome. and there will always be a place in the world for that.

SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan · « **Reply #34 on:** April 19, 2019, 08:30:13 am »

Lordy! I wish people would let go of Firestone (ice skate) tires and a host of modifications without a thought as to functionality/safety.

OldZaskar · « **Reply #35 on:** April 20, 2019, 07:23:05 am »

To a very (!) new entrant to the motorcycle world, the cafe thing seems to be alive and well. Instagram and Pintrest continue to spray unending streams of skinny, bearded millennials posing thoughtfully (always with their head down - possibly contemplating how they spent so much money and the bike is still too uncomfortable to sit on) with bikes that look to see more shutters than miles.

BUT, and it's a big but.. If the cafe thing A. Gets manufacturers to not focus solely on 300hp super bikes and 1,000 lb two-wheeled cars... and B) Gets young guys to put the video game controller down and pick up a wrench - then cafe away! It's a win.

Manufacturers have obviously caught on - that vintage is (still) cool. Just about all of them are making "classic" bikes...

... and selling the "Built to Customize" idea.

simon#42 · « **Reply #36 on:** April 20, 2019, 12:13:41 pm »

that suzuki is bloody awful

754 · « **Reply #37 on:** April 20, 2019, 12:21:22 pm »

Nobody stepped back and looked at the pipe on the Suzuki it looks like, design got approved , don't look good under the motor.

Scott S · « **Reply #38 on:** April 20, 2019, 03:22:06 pm »

It's a shame, because the TU250 is a solid bike. Make it a 400 or 500 and easily customizable and it would sell even better.
A friend has one he commuted on forever and then gave to his wife as an entry level bike.
I could see customizing one, if you could get it cheap enough.

carnivorous chicken · « **Reply #39 on:** April 20, 2019, 06:26:42 pm »

I think there is some variation in those TU250s as I've seen others (earlier perhaps?) that look decent -- just a sort of standard stripped down UJM that could have been from the mid-70s (albeit with fuel injection). Single-piece seat, normal looking exhaust. I've been thinking about looking for one in Mexico City since little bikes are the way to go there for zipping around town.

MoMo · « **Reply #40 on:** April 20, 2019, 10:03:08 pm »

I kind of like the top bike if it weren't for that goofy under the bike exhaust....Larry

Kelly E · « **Reply #41 on:** April 21, 2019, 04:59:11 pm »

Of those two bikes I prefer the Yamaha, especially if it is a 500cc single.

Scott S · « **Reply #42 on:** April 21, 2019, 05:42:14 pm »

Quote from: Kelly E on April 21, 2019, 04:59:11 pm

Of those two bikes I prefer the Yamaha, especially if it is a 500cc single.

I have an SR500. If I could just get spark on the damn thing....

Kelly E · « **Reply #43 on:** April 21, 2019, 10:20:43 pm »

Quote from: Scott S on April 21, 2019, 05:42:14 pm

Quote from: Kelly E on April 21, 2019, 04:59:11 pm
Of those two bikes I prefer the Yamaha, especially if it is a 500cc single.

I have an SR500. If I could just get spark on the damn thing....

Maybe a Honda coil will make it spark.

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Author Topic: Is the cafe craze over? (Read 3229 times)