Photo by Brandon LaJoie ‘Cafe Racers of Instagram’. The name alone strikes fear and awe into the hearts of anyone...
Harley Davidson
American manufacturer Harley Davidson was formed in 1903 when childhood friends William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson began building their first motorcycle. Surviving 2 world wars and great depression Harley has grown to become one of the world’s most recognized motorcycle brands.
Although these days many don’t consider Harleys as race machines the aptly named Sporsters were developed with racing in mind and for a period were the brand of choice for flat track racers. Harleys have always been associated with customization, most notably in the chopper scene.
Although a Harley Davidson cafe racer conversion is a challenging undertaking there’s no shortage of aftermarket parts available to help get it done.
Let’s not beat around the bush. The motorcycles built by Harley Davidson have never been hot favourites in the cafe...
In 2014, Harley Davidson introduced the world to the Street 500. The water-cooled 500cc, US & Indian built, learner approved...
Nothing grabs the headlines quite like an enormous selling price at auction. We’ve seen motorcycles sell for phenomenal money over...
Taiwanese custom motorcycle builder Alex Gao has a tendency to base his cafe racer builds on rather unlikely donors. In...
The words Harley Davidson and Cafe Racer aren’t often muttered in the same sentence. Along with the challenges builders face...
Generally speaking, first-time bike builds are a practice run for future projects. So in most cases, they’re a little rough...
Two things we don’t feature on this website all that often are Harley Davidsons and Scramblers. Well, today we’re bucking...
I know a guy who reviews beer. The best part about his gig is that he gets to drink every...
It’s hard to believe it’s been 5 years since Harley Davidson unveiled their Livewire electric motorcycle concept. A lot has...
“If you want something done, do it yourself”. Try following that mantra when it comes to building a custom motorcycle....
Luxembourg’s Blacktrack Motors have been steadily ramping things up since they started back in 2015. They kicked things off with...
Harley-Davidson is the indisputable king of cruisers. Sure they’ve dabbled with a few racing bikes in the past, but they...
For most of its existence, the AMD World Championship of bike building has focused on chopper styled builds. Thankfully in...
Restaurant, hotel and casino chain Hard Rock Cafe are set to open their latest hotel venture on the Spanish island...
With many of the major car manufacturers now developing electric vehicles it was only a matter of time before motorcycle...
After designing and manufacturing his own performance parts for years Danmoto owner Wei Liya decided it was time to build...
Motorcycles and coffee are two items that appear on my list of things that I can’t live without, which is...
Taking the red pill. As the story goes back in 2007 Keanu had a custom Harley Davidson built by Gard Hollinger....
If ever there was a person destined to become a metal fabricator it would have to be Jay Donovan. Jay...
The automotive industry has always been torrid, full of stories of receiverships and liquidations. Motorcycle manufacturing is no exception and...
One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when building your own Cafe Racer, or any style of custom motorcycle for...
“This bike started life as the “Meat Grinder” chopper Sportster we had built about 5 years ago, with a hardtail,...
This story first appeared in Tank Moto issue 12. This isn’t the first time we’ve featured a build by Japan’s...
It may not be identical to its Italian brother, but the second “Twisted Twin” from Stile Italiano is just as...
“Last year I received a rather sheepish email asking if there was any way I would ever build a café...
It’s been some time since I featured a custom build from Italy’s South Garage. That doesn’t mean that Enzo and...
“As an artist, I love beautiful things. I also love making things. When I get passionate about something, it’s only...
It seems to have become customary for motorcycle manufacturers to leverage the hype surrounding the custom scene to release their...
The Zonnevlek (meaning Sunspot in Dutch) was the brainchild of CW Zon duo Yuichi Yoshizawa and Yoshikazu Ueda. Since 2003...
Over the past few years Taiwanese workshop Rough Crafts have achieved amazing things in the world of custom motorcycles. Their...
As 2014 comes to an end I thought I’d take a (close up) look at some of the incredible work...
Brandon Holstein run a workshop called ‘Brawny Built’ in Signal Hills, California where he does everything from basic servicing through...
“Modern Retro”. That’s how Taiwan born, LA based Samuel Kao of JSK Custom Design describes his ‘Ivory Comet’ Cafe Racer....
The build of the K1 was undertaken by a talented group of individuals who donated their time and skills to...
Cam from Stories of Bike paid the Kustom Kommue another visit a few weeks ago to film part 2 of...
“You wouldn’t believe how the bike looked when we first got it, so I won’t even show a picture, I...
Harley’s continue to be the underdog in the Cafe Racer scene. Although I’ve featured plenty of Harley Davidson Cafe Racers...
Although they call each other allies the US and the UK never quite see eye to eye. One area where...
After months of hard work and seemingly endless nights of writing, issue 2 of Tank Moto is now available! Just...
The annual custom motorcycle craziness that is the AMD World Championship of bike building has been and gone again. This...
I just stumbled across this video interview with Roland Sands discussing his 2013 RSD line of apparel. In the video...
Sweatpants Media have released a video of the Technics Harley Sportster Cafe Racer I featured a few weeks back. Built...
With the increasing popularity of the custom motorcycle scene, we’re starting to see some interesting and sometimes unlikely pairings between...
Tim Kills BSA A65 Bobber On November 3rd & 4th I co-hosted a custom motorcycle exhibition in Melbourne named Oil...
This popped up on the Biltwell facebook page and I felt compelled to share. It’s a heavily customised ’84 Harley Davison...
Bosozoku biker gangs once ruled the streets of Japan, these days though they are more of a nuisance than anything...
The 2012 Bonneville Speed Week is wrapping up for another year. Thankfully it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot...
The 9th annual Sturgis AMD World Championship of bike building (try saying that after a few pints!) has just wrapped...
“We ran across this Aermacchi as we were sifting through piles of crashed bikes looking for a suitable donor bike...
The 2012 Fast Dates Calendar Motorcycle Show took place over the weekend. This years event organisers invited legendary custom builder,...
Another Harley? Yep that’s right two Harley’s is less than one week and both involved California based Chopper workshop, Brawny...
Dan from the Speed Merchant dropped me an email the other day to let me know about their awesome 39mm...
Last year Joe Cooper of Cooper Smithing Company grabbed our attention with the raw steel, hand formed bodywork of his Yamaha...
If you don’t already have Le Container in your bookmarks or on your Blog roll you soon will. This is...
Unfortunately, my Japanese isn’t great and details on the website are limited so here’s what I managed to translate...
More shots of the Harley Sportster 883 Cafe Racer by Passion 4 Custom I posted earlier today from photographer Simone Flash Benedetti. Simone...
It’s not often I post articles about custom builds based on Harley Davidsons. Harleys tend not to be popular in...
What do you get when you cross a Laverda with a Harley and a Ducati? You get a Ducati 860...
Before the Wrenchmonkees customised Harley XL was shipped off to it’s owner in Dakar the guys threw together this nice...
Another Mooneyes Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show has wrapped up and the web is starting to buzz with photos and videos...
No matter how much purists proclaim that a Harley based Cafe Racer motorcycle is nonsense they are still going to...
Shinya’s steam punk esque Harley at El Mirage 2011 speed trials chicomoto.blogspot.com chabottengineering.com...
Harley Davidson based Cafe Racers always receive mixed emotions. The large V-Twin engine and cruiser dimensions prove difficult to balance...
I spotted a photo of the bike online and managed to dig up these three images. It’s one of the...
It’s the start of yet another working week. What better way to get through the day than by drooling over...
Beautiful shots of beautiful motorbikes by Erik Runyon. I’m loving the colour of that tank. Maybe the colour...
Check out this great video of some guys in Germany on their Board Tracker style vintage Harleys burning around a...
The results are out and the winners have been announced but what bikes were our favourite custom motorcycles from the...
As more and more workshops produce their own version of a Cafe Racer it’s only natural that we are going...
Although the Spacester’s name may have been pulled straight out of a cheesy 50’s Sci-fi flick it’s styling is nothing...
I’ve always been in two minds about the custom motorcycles built by Fred Krugger but this time round although the...
Deus ex Machina have released images of their latest custom build, the “New Blood”. Recently they seem to have moved...
I’ve never been a huge fan of Harleys. In school my mates all used to go crazy for them but...
Chicara Nagata of Chica custom motorcycles got a lot of attention for his liquid chrome series of custom motorcycles. The...
Roland Sands has created several custom motorcycles he has labeled as Cafe Racers and although purists would question if these...
Based on a 2008 Harley Davidson Sportster Nightster (seen below…thanks MCNEWS) the Deus V Twin Cafe Racer is a breath...
Fancy owning a Wrenchmonkee motorcycle? The Gorilla Punch is going under the hammer along with Monkee #7. You can place...
Got a soft spot for the rumble of a Harley V-twin and Cafe Racer styling? Hogbitz speedshop in the UK are...
I know a lot of people (including myself) probably wouldn’t choose a Harley as a base for their next Cafe...
Mark Wilsmore, owner of Ace Cafe in London has partnered with custom bike builder Nick Gale and Ace Investor George...
Established by Dare Jennings, Rod Hunwick and Carby Tuckwell, Deus ex Machina in Camperdown, Sydney, produces motorcycles for the post-modern world. What the hell...
