Motorcycle chez you!
With the current renewed fervor for the cafe racer genre, people have taken to butchering old standard bikes and bolting on aftermarket bits like adult lego sets. Japanese bikes from yesteryear are being pulled from their barn-graves around the country (dusted off, mouse-nests yanked from the mufflers, chicken guano scraped from the saddle) and resuscitated with varying degrees of aesthetic success. Albeit the lazarus treatment will make them ride blacktop once again, folks forget that old Japanese bikes weren't a heck of lot different in quality to modern Chinese bikes: it took the Japanese a couple of decades to get their engineering and metallurgy down pat. Then you have the likes of Ryca and Clevelend Cycle Works who are building cafe's from scratch using new Chinese parts or American-made kits adapted to existing Japanese motorcycles. But what if you like to stand out from the crowd, what if you're a black sheep who stands aside from the flock, a moto-maverick who still fawns over the cafe racer visage but wants a really unique ride that runs true and strong...what can YOU do to go about getting your one-of-a-kind cafe motorcycle? If cost is immaterial, try this: buy a rolling chassis from www.rickman-motorcycles.com (check out their exquisite aluminum tanks & other parts), then go to www.drumhillcycle.com and pick up an engine (the SV650 V-Twin is a gem). Or for one of the best thumper engines ever built buy a new CRF in 150cc or 250cc, sacrifice it on the alter of the motorcycle gods, lift out the stupendous motor and transplant it right into the Rickman frame. Then bolt on a pair of clip-ons and you're ready to roll. For less than 12k you'll be sitting astride the envy of everyone who ever looked sideways at a cafe racer, and, being formed from mechanically sound parts will enable you to enjoy it for years without wasted curb&wrench time. Send us pics!
