Randy Brown’s lovely BMW R90/6 Café, one of our top picks at the
2007 Barber Vintage Festival
Okay guys and gals, here’s your chance to polish up that kickin’ café Yamaha or Norton you’ve built and show it off to the rest of the classic bike crowd as Motorcycle Classics and Dairyland Cycle Insurancepresent the Café Bike Show at the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009.
This has been a very cool show to organize so far, if only because the enthusiasm from regular Motorcycle Classics supporters – as in our advertisers, the folks who help keep this magazine going – has been pretty amazing. In addition to Dairyland Cycle Insurance climbing aboard as title sponsor, we’re also getting help from well-known suppliers like Race Tech Suspension, classic bike aftermarket parts specialists Emgo , classic Japanese parts specialist Z1 Enterprises, new Triumph café parts supplier BellaCorse, Moto Guzzi, YSS shocks, Nexx helmets, Davida helmets, bike cleaner and lube specialists Original Bike Spirits, Triumph motorcycles, Pirelli tires and Ducati motorcycles. Pretty cool roster of companies, all of them with a strong foot in the café door and all of them folks you should check out.
Interest in café bikes keeps growing, and it’s not hard to understand why. While there’s no denying the beauty of, say, an impeccably restored 1965 Norton Atlas or a 1972 Suzuki Titan, there’s something equally compelling about a hand built Triton, whose owner has stuffed a built Triumph engine into a Norton featherbed frame. Café bikes are an expression of their builders’ talents and desires, so each bike is unique. And therein lies the beauty: In a world where everything’s the same, a café racer is what you make it, nothing more, nothing less.
Expect an incredible display of delectable café racers, with prizes for Editor’s Choice/Best of Show and People’s Choice. We’ve managed to talk Barber’s own Brian Slark, a former test rider for Matchless Motorcycles and later with Norton in the U.S., and now Barber’s restoration specialist, into judging the show for us, which is a pretty cool deal. Winners will take home a new set of Pirelli tires and a Nexx X60 retro-style helmet, and everyone has a chance to win the Motorcycle Classics/BikeBandit.com Project Café 1973 CB500, which we’ll give away at the show.
Space is limited, so sign up now as Dairyland Cycle Insurance and Motorcycle Classics present the Café Bike Show at the 5th Annual Barber Vintage Festival. – Richard Backus