Cafe Racers : Speed, Style, and Ton-Up Culture

Author: Michael Lichter

isbn: 9780760345825

A photographic chronology of some of the fastest, most stylish, and most individualized bikes in motorcycling history. Originally used as a slur against riders who used hopped-up motorcycles to travel from one transport cafe to another, "cafe 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." Cafe Racers traces cafe 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'Orleans. 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.

2014 Hardcover 224 pages

As-new and unread

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