Book Description

DIVA photographic chronology of some of the fastest, most stylish, and most individualized bikes in motorcycling history./divDIV/divDIVOriginally 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 these fast, personalized, and distinctive bikes, with their owners often racing down public roads in excess of 100 miles per hour (“ton up,� in British slang), leading to their public branding as “ton-up boys.� Café Racers traces café racer motorcycles from their origins in the mid-twentieth century all the way into modern times, where the style has made a recent comeback in North America and Europe alike, through the museum-quality portraiture of top motorcycle photographer Michael Lichter and the text of motorcycle culture expert Paul d’Orléans. Chronologically illustrated with fascinating historical photography, the book travels through the numerous ever-morphing and unique eras of these nimble, lean, light, and head-turning machines. Café Racers visually celebrates a motorcycle riding culture as complex as the vast array of bikes within it./div