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THE HISTORY OF A CAFE RACER: A Café racer, originally pronounced "caff" (as in Kaff) racer, is a type of motorcycle as well as a type of motorcyclist. Both meanings have their roots in the 1960s British counterculture group the Rockers or the Ton Up Club, although they were also common in Italy and Germany and other European countries.

In a classic example, racers would race from the Ace Cafe on The North Circular road in NW London to the Hanger Lane junction (as it then was) and back again. This route is now the more famous Hanger Lane Gyratory System. The aim was to get back to the Ace Cafe before the record you'd played on the jukebox had finished. Given that some of the Eddie Cochran tunes that were in vogue at this time were less than 2 minutes long, the racers would have had to traverse the three miles round trip at an extremely high speed.

Rockers were a young and rebellious Rock and Roll counterculture who wanted a fast, personalized and distinctive bike to travel between transport cafés along the newly built arterial motorways in and around British towns and cities. The goal of many was to be able to reach 100 miles per hour (called simply "the ton") along a route where the rider would leave from a cafe, race to a predetermined point and back to the cafe before a single song could play on the jukebox. This was called record-racing. They are remembered as being especially fond of Rockabilly music and their image is now embedded in today's rockabilly culture.

The cafe racer is a motorcycle that has been modified for speed and good handling rather than comfort. Cafe racers' bodywork and control layout typically mimicked the style of contemporary Grand Prix road racers, featuring an elongated fuel tank and a small, rearward mounted, humped seat. A signature trait were low, narrow handlebars that provided more precise control at high speeds and allowed the rider to "tuck in" to lessen wind resistance. These are referred to as either "clip-ons" (two-piece bars that bolt directly to each fork tube) or "clubmans" (one piece bars that attach to the stock mounting location but drop down and forward). The ergonomics resulting from low bars and the rearward seat often required "rear sets," or rear-set footrests and foot controls, again typical of racing motorcycles of the era. Distinctive half or full race-style fairings were sometimes mounted to the forks or frame.

The bikes had a raw, utilitarian and stripped-down appearance, while the engines were tuned for maximum speed. These motorcycles were lean, light and handled road surfaces well. The most defining machine of its heyday was called "The Triton". This machine was derived from a homemade Norton Featherbed frame and a Triumph Bonneville engine. 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.

However, times have changed. All of the same things still apply. We “want” fast, fun bikes that show our individuality, but what we “need” is more time… Time to look for the bike to build, time to design the look, time to source the parts and time to build the bike. This is where we can help.

Through building our own bikes over time and talking to others who have built bikes, we have found that there are some people that would like to play a role in building a bike. This could be any thing from helping find the motorcycle that will be built, to sending the bike to us in a basket. Others want to stay completely hands off (due to time or mechanical ability) and have a bike built “turn-key” and ready to roll.

Regardless of your situation, if you share our passion for motorcycles and appreciate “attention to detail”, you will like what you find here at Hanger Lane Café Racer. Thanks for visiting our site. We hope to hear from you.