A Pack of Life-Savers

I received a text today from someone seeking repairs on a long-dormant motorcycle. This is far from uncommon as the Cafe Racer magazine garage is frequently mistaken fora general vehicle repair shop, which we certainly are not. When located in Downtown Sewickley, PA. a few years back, our garage door opened onto the patio dining…

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Bikeriders, Books and Buttered Popcorn

The much-anticipated “Bikeriders” movie based on photographer Danny Lyons’ 1968 book of the same name opens on Friday, June 21. I’ll be appearing at the Lindsay Theater in Sewickley, PA. (12 miles from Pittsburgh) to introduce the film and discuss Lyons’ work. Back in 2000, I’d authored my first book “Two Wheels on Two Reels”…

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Good Times at Classic Motorcycle Day

Cafe Racer magazine has been invited to Maryland’s Classic Motorcycle Day for the last 10 years or so, and until now, we’ve always been too busy to attend. The ride from Pittsburgh through rural West Virginia to the leafy hills of Mount Airy is a fine one, and even taking mostly highway routes is a…

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50 Year Birthday party for Vanson

Heads-up all you New England-area vintage and custom riders. Vanson, the maker of high-quality motorcycle leathers and textile riding gear is celebrating their 50th Anniversary the weekend of June first and second. In the motorcycle protective gear game, quite a few firms have come and gone in those five decades while countless market forces and…

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End of The Road for Cafe Racer magazine’s Bike Show

Fifteen years is a very long time to stage a regional custom motorcycle show. It’s an even longer stretch considering the annual Cafe Racer Reader’s Ride-In Custom Show was the country’s only ride-in event dedicated to the low-barred, highly modded motorcycles that fuel our collective passions. As much as our dedicated staff and you, our…

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Finding The Perfect Road

Fresh back from our annual fortnight journey to So Cal to test new streetbikes, there’s always a flood of memories competing for brain-space when we return. In the brief timespan we have in the Agoura Hills area, we’re constantly on the search for challenging and interesting roads to test the latest naked performance bikes upon,…

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Return of the Parallel Twin

Cafe Racer Magazine’s away team headed to sunny So Cal this week for a well-needed update of sorts. We’ve hit up several major motorcycle manufacturers for test bikes to get a feel for their latest naked performance offerings. Though we hadn’t even considered the trend, most of the 2024 streetbikes dropped off at our hotel…

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Royal Enfield Custom Contest Winner’s Circle

  In the months since announcing the first Royal Enfield Custom Contest, our eyes have been blown open by the sheer adaptability of the Indian-made machines. The global competition has been open to Royal Enfield-branded bikes regardless of year of manufacture, which resulted in readers sharing pics of their handbuilt vintage and modern motorcycles in…

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BSA Gold Star- First US Test Ride

As advertised, cafe Racer magazine is the first US publication to throw a leg over the sculpted saddle of the re-born BSA’s Gold Star 650. Our test rider Mark Mederski volunteered to evaluate the 21st century take on the British classic single and he returned from the experience wearing a grin large enough to swallow…

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