Cafe Racers of 50s and 60s

Mick Walker

A pictorial history of motorcycles - and the riders - who created the cafe racer craze. The author looks at the BSA Gold Star, the Triumph/Norton hybrid and others, and recalls the leather-jacketed "rockers" who indulged in burn-ups on Britain's roads.

Various events contrived to bring about the cafe racer era, together with the advent of the rocker - and subsequently mod - cults. New motorcycles such as the BSA Gold Star singles and star twins, Norton Dominator, Royal Enfield Meteor and Constellation, Triumph Tiger 110 and Thunderbird and Velocette Venom created a new breed of enthusiast. Films such as Marlon Brando's The Wild One expressed, albeit in somewhat extreme form, the biker-as-rebel philosophy. Add to this the potency of that biggest of all pop music phenomena, rock'n'roll, and the ingredients were all in place.