How to build a Cafe Racer

Are you looking for advice on how to build a Cafe Racer? You've come to the right place! Whether you're bolting a few parts onto your motorcycle or transforming it into a bonafide 1950s styled cafe racer, the stories you'll find here will help you get it done. You'll find everything from how-to guides to aftermarket parts features, and even some motorcycle reviews designed to help you choose the right donor for your cafe racer project.

Workshop Series: Replacing Handlebars on a Motorcycle

Replacing handlebars on a motorcycle can dramatically change its look and feel. For better or worse, the handlebar affects a motorcycle aesthetics in a large way – they can stick out like sore thumbs or be the finishing touch on a purposefully designed front end. They’re also intrinsically functional, directly affecting handling…

Building a Cafe Racer

10 Mistakes When Building a Cafe Racer

The crew at Return of the Cafe Racers have collectively been writing, riding and mulling over cafe racers for decades. And while we’re not master builders we know a thing or two about putting together a kickass custom motorcycle. Recently we published a list of the 10 essential ingredients of a cafe…

Building a Cafe Racer

How to Build a Cafe Racer – 10 Key Ingredients

So, you want to build a cafe racer. How do you craft a stock motorcycle into a machine worthy of the cafe racer name? To help demystify the process, we’ve broken it into 10 essential styling and performance modifications. These 10 tips are the key ingredients of any build that sets out…

Building a Cafe Racer

Autologue GT 650 Cafe Racer Kit

Royal Enfield has been making waves in the custom scene since the release of their 650 twins. They’ve collaborated with custom workshops and hosted several of their own dealership build offs around the globe. What makes these bikes great as a basis for customization is that they’re amazingly well priced and how…

I Draw Motos – Moto Mucci Interview

David Mucci is an Industrial Designer and Custom Motorcycle Builder working out of Portland, Oregon. Since his 17th birthday, David’s been tinkering on his own vehicles. The obsession lead to him studying product and transportation design and over time he’s learned the hands-on mechanical know-how to execute his ideas. Working under the…

Workshop Series – How to polish aluminum parts

So, you rode your pride and joy to the last bike night of the summer, and after several enthusiasts mentioned your dilapidated side covers, you rode home without either intact. First, you deny it. It’s called a patina, you say. But then you reluctantly agree that years of oxidation really isn’t doing…

Building a Cafe Racer

RetroRides K100 Cafe Racer

Brazillian workshop Retrorides is the result of forty years of hard work by two generations of the Lourenço family. Nestled a couple of hours out of São Paulo in the town of Campinas, Gustavo, Rodrigo and their father José make all sorts of magic out of old motorcycles and cars. And every…

Building a Cafe Racer – MessnerMoto Parts

Producing aftermarket parts seems like a natural progression for any successful custom motorcycle builder. If people love your bikes there’s a good chance they’ll love your parts too. It’s no easy task though. Producing unique aftermarket parts takes a lot of research time and money; not to mention the skill to create…

Sunday Screening – Cognito BMW R75 Build

Our friends over at Cognito Moto have been toiling away on their latest custom BMW R75 project. The project was completed in a super fast 6 week turn around in order to showcase it at the 2019 EuroBike Raleigh. To share the process they documented the entire build on their Youtube channel.…

Building a Cafe Racer – Motogadget mo.unit

The name Motogadget appears a lot on these pages. The German company produces motorcycle parts and accessories which have become the ‘go to’ resource for many of the world’s top custom builders. And it’s easy to see why. Their products have been developed through extensive research and the company prides themselves on…

Locate a builder – Custom Workshop Map

Over the years I’ve featured thousands of custom motorcycles built by talented folks from all over the world. Some have been built by dedicated enthusiasts at home, but most were built by professional workshops. The reason for this is obvious. Not everyone has the skill or the time it takes to build…

Building a Cafe Racer