Cafe Culture

Welcome back guys and gals the holiday season is over and for many of us old man winter has us in a death grip.  So these are the days that we kick back with a hot cup of coffee or a stiff drink and take a gander at the web for something bike related to fend off the winter blues. 

For this month I thought I might hop the pond for my inspiration.  I think it is high time we take a look at the bobbers nimble cousin the café racer.  Back in the good old days before custom motorcycles were mass marketed money machines there were two very distinct subcultures developing.  In the USA you had guys hacking and cutting bikes building the early choppers and bobbers that still continue to inspire us today.   In this same time period the chaps over in Jolly ole England where chopping up bikes as well but where Americans strived to blend function with a laid back style the Brits chopped for aggressive riding and speed.  

In the earliest form the café racer was a purpose built machine meant to tempt fate and chase the ton.  The young men who rode these where as likely to crash as to achieve the goals the so desperately chased.  For many I am sure this was a huge part of the draw there is no greater excitement than dancing down the line of life and death.  Each moment is a tempting of fate.  I once heard a man say that you a never more alive than you are in the moments you face death.  For many of the young men in these early days that is what motorcycles where about feeling alive.

As is the case today many of the young men and woman felt that they did not belong to societies norm.  They did not fit the typical stereotype that they were expected to.  So they rebelled.  They rebelled against every aspect of the status quo that they hated so much.  They changed the way the dressed, talked, walked; every aspect of their life was an expression of social rebellion.  Out of this chaos a subculture was born.  It gave rise to such historic things as the Ace Café in London and the legendary 59 club. 

At the same time that these hell raising speed demons were ripping down the road another group of chaps that rode scooters and embraced a more clean cut image emerged.  These fellows were known as the mods.  They clashed sometimes violently with the café riding Rockers.  This clash has become the basis of stories and history and is now embraced in a modern way with the many Mods vs Rockers events we see springing up not just around the country but around the world.   

I think it is safe to say that when these young men were hanging out and chopping up and stripping down old Nortons and BSAs they never dreamed that their actions would create an iconic cultural embraced but hundreds of thousands and emulated for decades.  It serves as an example to all of us who humbly spin wrenches in a drafty shed, garage, or in my case even a barn.  What we do today may well influence generations to come so get out there live that dream and make it happen. 

Until next time get off your ass off the bench and go live life.