Looking back with rose-colored glasses happens a lot. “The good old days” are often mentioned by older people, but a little research will reveal that some of those “old days” were not so good.
Take the 60s for example in the UK. Rose-colored glasses clearly show some great bikes from the UK, especially Triumph where Edward Turner had used his design experience to transform the company making some of the best parallel-twins ever made.
Truth be told, compared to the opposition, the Triumphs were fast (read Bonneville) but the handling left something to be desired. Improving the handling of the Triumphs brought about the boom in modifying bikes in general and making café racers in particular.
Mods and Rockers
It was also during the 60s that two opposing groups started, and either group was easily identified by their choice of two wheeled transport. On the one side were the Rockers who used motorcycles, and on the other were the Mods who used either Vespa or Lambretta scooters. Rivalry between the Mods and Rockers often led to fights as can be read in this extract from the BBC’s “On this Day.”
“1964: Mods and Rockers jailed after seaside riots”
“Scores of youths have been given prison sentences following a Whitsun weekend of violent clashes between gangs of Mods and Rockers at a number of resorts on the south coast of England.
Yesterday two youths were taken to hospital with knife wounds and 51 were arrested in Margate after hundreds of teenagers converged on the town for the holiday weekend.
Dr. George Simpson, chairman of Margate magistrates, jailed four young men and imposed fines totaling £1,900 on 36 people.
Three offenders were jailed for three months each and five more sent to detention centers for up to six months.”
The Scooters
Regardless of the make, Vespa or Lambretta, the modifications to the scooters were generally the same. Typically, the specification for a Mod’s scooter was:
Additional rear view mirrors (it was not unusual to see scooters with 50 or more mirrors!)
Expansion chamber exhaust system
Tuned cylinder porting
Tassels from the end of the handlebars
Custom back rest for the seat
White wall tires
The Motorcycles
The motorcycle of choice for the Rockers was the Triumph Bonneville, or for those who could either afford one or had the mechanical ability to build one, a Triton. The Triton was a combination of a Triumph engine (Tri) and a Norton rolling chassis using the renowned featherbed frame (ton). The café racer look included:
TT100 or Avon Road Runner tires
Ace bars or clip-on handlebars
Ball ended levers (mandatory for racing)
Quick action throttles
Aluminum gas tanks
Seats with a hump
Rear set foot rests
Swept back pipes and reverse cone megas (megaphone style mufflers)
Interestingly, over the preceding years, the café racer style of motorcycles has endured, with modern versions being produced all the time such as the Hesketh 24 and the Brough Superior SS100. The style is often used by owners of older classic motorcycles of all makes, some based on Japanese motorcycles such as the Yamaha XS650 (we can only guess what the response to that would have been by the original Rockers of the 60s!).
The Mod styling of the scooter only lasted a short time. The scooter became more of an inexpensive means of transport for the masses as it was originally intended. However, for the die hard fan of the Italian machines, a number of scooter road race meetings have been organized and are still evident today.
Further reading:
Cafés and Motorcycles in the 1960s
How to Build a Cafe Racer