Cafe Racers: Speed, Style, and Ton-Up Culture

A photographic chronology of some of the fastest, most stylish, and most individualized bikes in motorcycling history. Originally used as a slur against riders who used hopped-up motorcycles to travel from one transport café to another, “café racer” describes a bike genre that first became popular in 1960s British rocker subculture—although the motorcycles were also common in Italy, France, and other European countries. The rebellious rock-and-roll counterculture is what first inspired thes...