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Building a Cafe Racer

Are you looking for advice on how to build a Cafe Racer? You’ve come to the right place!

Whether you’re bolting a few parts onto your motorcycle or transforming it into a bonafide 1950s styled cafe racer, the stories you’ll find here will help you get it done. You’ll find everything from how-to guides to aftermarket parts features, and even some motorcycle reviews designed to help you choose the right donor for your cafe racer project.

PinMessnerMoto Ducati project Nina
Building a Cafe RacerDucati Cafe RacerLifestyle Stories

Project Nina – An Interview with Mirko Messner of MessnerMoto

“Design truly governed by passion and a constant need for improvement.” – MessnerMoto Mirko Messner, aka MessnerMoto is a motorcycle...
PinMoto Guzzi LED headlight
Building a Cafe RacerPartsRecommended Gear

Revival Cycles Secret LED 7” Retro Vintage Headlight

My first foray into the world of custom motorcycles was with a 1978 Honda CX500. Along with all the prerequisite...
PinTop 10 Cafe Racers of 2022
Building a Cafe RacerCafe RacersTop lists

Top 10 Cafe Racer Motorcycles of 2022

It’s that time of year again when I look back over the past 12 months of articles and somehow pick...
Pin46Works Youtube channel
Building a Cafe RacerLifestyle StoriesMotorcycle Videos

46 Works and the Zen of Motorcycle Customisation

There are countless “oddly satisfying” videos on YouTube that will put even the most active of minds at ease. Personally,...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer – Brake light install

Replacing the rear tail light on the W650 is probably one of the simplest modifications I have done so Far...
PinBlacktrack motors Triumph Thruxman
Building a Cafe RacerTriumph Cafe Racer

Building a Café Racer – Blacktrack BT02 Shakedown

In this third and final instalment on Blacktrack Motors BT02 Triumph ‘Thruxman’, we learn about the final build stage. Sacha Lakic...
PinRoyal Enfield Custom World
Building a Cafe RacerRoyal Enfield Cafe Racer

Keeping Spirits High: The Royal Enfield Custom World

Turn back the clock to 2016 and you’ll see motorcycle manufacturers scrambling to get involved in the custom scene. Yamaha’s...
PinWhere to buy cafe racer parts
Building a Cafe RacerPartsRiding Gear

Cafe Racer Parts – The Best Places to Buy

So you’ve decided it’s time to build a cafe racer of your own. Although you may be planning on fabricating...
PinYamaha SR400 Cafe Racer build
Building a Cafe RacerMotorcycle ReviewsYamaha Cafe Racer

Cafe Contenders – Yamaha SR400 and SR500

But, dear reader, should you? Is it worth tracking down one of Yamaha’s cheerful little runabouts for your next custom...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer – Changing the handlebars (Part 2)

Now assuming you’ve takenin to account all the points I mentioned in part one of my handlebar swap posts you’re...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerParts

Tight Butt – Motorcycle tail tidy kits

Image above: BMW R nineT tail tidy by Daedalus As Sir Mix-a-lot indubitably pointed out, there are some people who...
PinBMW R75 Cognito Moto
BikesBMW Cafe RacerBuilding a Cafe RacerMotorcycle Videos

Sunday Screening – Cognito BMW R75 Build

Our friends over at Cognito Moto have been toiling away on their latest custom BMW R75 project. The project was...
PinNitron R2 rear shock on Kawasaki Z900RS
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe RacerMotorcycle ModificationsParts

Suspension Upgrade – Nitron NTR R2 Install

There’s virtually no limit to the extent that you can modify a motorcycle. This, of course, includes its performance and...
Pin5 common motorcycle wiring mistakes
Building a Cafe Racer

5 motorcycle wiring mistakes (and how to avoid them)

Tom John, the man behind Purpose Built Moto, has 13 years of electrical contracting work up his sleeves. This is...
PinRizoma z900rs cafe parts
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe RacerParts

Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe by Rizoma

While most aspects of motorcycle design have come a long way since the 70s, there and several that haven’t. Take...
PinMotogadget Motoscope Mini install
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series – Motogadget Motoscope Mini

In this edition of our ‘Workshop Series’, we’ve teamed up with the crew at Revival Cycles to bring you this...
PinTop 10 Cafe Racers 2018
Building a Cafe Racer

Top 10 Cafe Racers of 2018 – Editor’s Choice

That’s a wrap for another year of cafe racer coverage from around the globe. This year was Return of the...
PinMessner Moto Honda CB750
Building a Cafe RacerParts

Building a Cafe Racer – MessnerMoto Parts

Producing aftermarket parts seems like a natural progression for any successful custom motorcycle builder. If people love your bikes there’s...
PinHow to polish aluminum
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series – How to polish aluminum parts

So, you rode your pride and joy to the last bike night of the summer, and after several enthusiasts mentioned...
PinSavic Electric Motorcycle
Building a Cafe RacerCafe RacersElectric Motorcycle

Savic Motorcycles Electric Cafe Racer

The motorcycle industry is finally starting to embrace electric technology after the rest of the automotive world left them behind....
PinBrock's Performance Kawasaki Z900RS StreetMeg Exhaust
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe RacerPartsReview

Stupid Fast – Z900RS Brocks Performance Exhaust

There are several reasons why you might want to install an aftermarket exhaust on your motorcycle. It could be that...
Pin10 cafe racer mistakes to avoid
Building a Cafe Racer

10 Mistakes When Building a Cafe Racer

The crew at Return of the Cafe Racers have collectively been writing, riding and mulling over cafe racers for decades....
PinCustom motorcycle exhaust blowing a flame
Building a Cafe RacerMotorcycle Modifications

In Search of Power – Intake & Exhaust Modification

Motorcycles are an addictive drug. Every rider remembers the first time they sat in the saddle and twisted the throttle....
PinBuilding a Cafe Racer with Blacktrack Motors part 2
Building a Cafe RacerTriumph Cafe Racer

Building A Cafe Racer – Blacktrack BT02 Build

PinTru Tension Chain Monkey Review
Building a Cafe RacerMotorcycle PartsTips & Tricks

Chain Adjustment Made Easy: Tru-Tension Chain & Laser Monkey Review

Maintaining your motorcycle’s chain should be a regular habit of every rider. The general rule of thumb is that you...
PinCafe Racer Motorcycle front end conversion
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series – Fork conversion with Cognito Moto

Swapping your old forks with a set of modern, better-performing upside-down forks sounds like a complex task, and it is....
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerParts

Building your Cafe Racer – Sourcing parts online

First things first you’re gonna need a bike so where do you start? Well for me cost is an issue...
PinDIY Replacing handlebars
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series: Replacing Handlebars on a Motorcycle

Replacing handlebars on a motorcycle can dramatically change its look and feel. For better or worse, the handlebar affects a...
Pincafe racer fairing install
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series – Cafe Racer Fairing Install

When I set out to build my first cafe racer 12 years ago I had always planned for it to...
PinMoto Mucci Interview
Building a Cafe RacerLifestyle Stories

I Draw Motos – Moto Mucci Interview

David Mucci is an Industrial Designer and Custom Motorcycle Builder working out of Portland, Oregon. Since his 17th birthday, David’s...
PinTop 5 modern motorcycles for cafe racer
BikesBMW Cafe RacerBuilding a Cafe RacerHarley Davidson Cafe RacerTriumph Cafe RacerYamaha Cafe Racer

Top 5 modern motorcycles to customise

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your own Cafe Racer, or any style of custom motorcycle for...
PinBarry Weiss's Un Diente de Oro, next to an Art Deco era car. Media courtesy of Gavin Brennan.
Building a Cafe RacerCafe RacersTriumph Cafe Racer

Art Deco & Gold Teeth: Barry Weiss’s Dental Debutante is a Triumph

If there’s one thing I love about my job, it’s picking the brains of the diverse handful of people that...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer hits the streets

Here are a couple of shots of the W650 Cafe Racer. At 90% complete I’m really happy with how the...
PinCustom motorcycle workshop map
Building a Cafe Racer

Locate a builder – Custom Workshop Map

Over the years I’ve featured thousands of custom motorcycles built by talented folks from all over the world. Some have...
PinDIY motorcycle Stand
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop series – DIY motorcycle stand

Anyone who works on motorcycles knows the importance of a good stand. Raising your motorcycle up off the floor gives...
PinMotogadget M Unit
Building a Cafe RacerParts

Building a Cafe Racer – Motogadget mo.unit

The name Motogadget appears a lot on these pages. The German company produces motorcycle parts and accessories which have become...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerHonda Cafe RacerYamaha Cafe Racer

Japanese Racers – Clones or stand alones

At the end of World War 2 many British motorcycle manufacturers were on the verge of closure or had already...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer – Changing the handlebars (Part 1)

Swapping the handlebars on any bike sounds like an easy job but your choice of handlebar can dramatically affect the...
Pinbuilding a cafe racer with krank engineering
Building a Cafe Racer

Learn how to build a Cafe Racer

There are plenty of arguments for why you should build a cafe racer of your own rather than have it...
PinRetrorides BMW K100
BikesBMW Cafe RacerBuilding a Cafe Racer

RetroRides K100 Cafe Racer

Brazillian workshop Retrorides is the result of forty years of hard work by two generations of the Lourenço family. Nestled...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerParts

10 DIY Motorcycle Maintenance & Modification Tasks

If you’re up in the northern hemisphere old man winter will soon be knocking on your door. For some of...
PinTriumph Bonneville cafe racer project
Building a Cafe RacerMotorcycle ReviewsTriumph Cafe Racer

Café Contenders – 2001 to 2016 Triumph Bonneville range

For years the de facto choice when building a cafe racer was the air-cooled, 865cc Triumph Bonneville. With very few...
PinKawasaki W650 review
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe RacerMotorcycle Reviews

Café Contenders – The Kawasaki W650

It seems strange now, but Kawasaki actually beat Triumph to the punch when it came to retro-styled motorcycles. First released...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe RacerMotorcycle Parts

Many Faces of Zed – Doremi Kawasaki Z900RS Heritage Body Kits

It’s been 4 years since the Kawasaki Z900RS went on sale. In the lead-up to its release, Kawasaki adopted a...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerTriumph Cafe Racer

Concept Solitude – Rennstall Triumph Speed Twin Bodykit

The 1200CC Triumph Speed Twin is the newest addition to Hinkley’s Modern Classic range. So far we’ve seen very few...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer – Rewiring the front end

One of the jobs I didn’t forsee when I was fitting the clip on bars to the w650 was adjusting...
Pin
Building a Cafe Racer

Building a Cafe Racer: Choosing a motorcycle

So you’ve decided you want to build a cafe racer. The most important and difficult choice you will have to...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer – Front fork/shock covers

To remove the covers you can do 1 of 2 things, either remove the forks from the triple clamps slide...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerParts

Cafe Racer Parts – Cognito Moto Fork Swap Kits

Have you ever wanted to swap out the tired old telescopic forks on your retro ride for a pair of...
PinMotogadget Glassless Mirror
Building a Cafe RacerMotorcycle AccessoriesParts

Motogadget Mo.View Glassless Mirrors

Anyone privy to the world of custom motorcycles will have heard of Motogadget. The German aftermarket parts manufacturer made its...
Pinbuilding a cafe racer Kawasaki W650
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

Vive la France – Custom tank and seat arrive.

The seat is also of top quality. The inner shell is made from thick, hard plastic which looks very durable....
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerKawasaki Cafe Racer

W650 Cafe Racer – Rear blinkers (and removing your rear springs)

Not to be beaten by my lack of tools I came up with a solution to remove the Ventura rear...
Pinhonda cb750 cafe racer thracian
Building a Cafe Racer

How to Build a Cafe Racer – 10 Key Ingredients

So, you want to build a cafe racer. How do you craft a stock motorcycle into a machine worthy of...
Pincafe racer kits
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series – Cafe Racer Kits

Our workshop series continues this week with an interview from ‘Cafe Racer Kits’ in the United Kingdom. Ian Saxcoburg is...
Pin
Building a Cafe RacerSuzuki Cafe Racer

DIY Delight – Moto8ight cafe racer kit

Let’s face it. We’re not all experienced mechanics, welders, fabricators or industrial designers. We don’t know how to model in...
PinMotorcycle suspension upgrade how to
Building a Cafe Racer

Choosing the right motorcycle suspension

The rise of the cafe racer scene has brought with it the desire to improve the performance of older motorcycles....
PinEarnest Quality Workwear
Building a Cafe RacerJeans

Earnest Tasker Pants and Squire Apron

Similar to motorcycle riding gear, workwear has seen an increase in demand for stylish apparel. But simply looking good isn’t...
Pin
Building a Cafe Racer

8 Ways to Avoid Builder Burn Out

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Rob Chappell of ‘Origin8or Cycles’ in Ontario Canada. I work a 9-5...
Pininstall rear set footpegs
Building a Cafe Racer

Workshop Series – Installing Rear Set Footpegs

A couple of weeks ago I spent a few days with Matt at his Krank Engineering workshop. Matt had agreed...
PinAutologue Royal Enfield GT650
Building a Cafe RacerRoyal Enfield Cafe Racer

Autologue GT 650 Cafe Racer Kit

Royal Enfield has been making waves in the custom scene since the release of their 650 twins. They’ve collaborated with...
PinTriumph Thruxton R Manx cafe racer
Building a Cafe RacerTriumph Cafe Racer

Building a Cafe Racer – Blacktrack BT02 design

It’s fair to say that a hell of a lot of work goes into the custom motorcycles I feature. So...
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Est. 2006 Return of the Cafe Racers is the world's premier cafe racer focused website. We publish regular features on custom motorcycle builds, riding gear reviews, how to guides and event coverage from around the globe. If you're a fan of cafe racer motorcycles and style then you've come to the right place!

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