Beginner cafe racer bikes. Norton Commando 961 Cafe Racer

Cafe Racer Bikes

Take a look at 16 popular cafe racer bikes available in India in the price range of Rs. 99,999. Rs. 17.25 Lakh. The most popular cafe racer bikes include Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 (Rs. 3.19 Lakh), TVS Ronin (Rs. 1.49 Lakh) and Ducati Scrambler 800 (Rs. 9.39 Lakh). The top manufacturers that produce cafe racer bikes are Royal Enfield, TVS, Ducati, Zontes, Triumph. To know more about Cafe Racer Bikes in your city, Download Zigwheels App get details on variants, specifications, pictures, mileage, reviews, and more.

Popular Cafe Racer Bikes in 2023

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Lift in a new class with the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650. With excellent appeal and ultramodern prosecution, I am fond of this model because it provides good avail and great riding sapience. The GT 650 offers a comfortable seat and a strong lift, icing a witching and nostalgic trip. Its engine transmits sufficient force and power, making it suitable for trace cruising as well as megacity driving. The landmass GT 650’s outside design exudes a classic aesthetic, while the inside features comfort and common sense. Masters integrate its well- known aesthetic, solid artificer, and gentle running.

The TVS Ronin’s opulent features, distinctive style, and cutting-edge technology provide for a stress-free riding experience on any type of road. The bike now has a number of practical features for the first time, including voice recognition, dual-channel ABS, and improved connection.It’s been a good ride thus far after 1000 kilometres. It is comfy for both long rides and city commutes. I haven’t tested it well, but I believe I have gotten 35 miles per gallon. It is well suspended. The tank could become a little warm over time, especially in cities with sluggish traffic, is the only drawback I can think of.

It is quite comfortable bike with decent mileage and awesome look, After first service you can take it for long tour, Sometimes gear seem hard but overall its is value to money bike

My brother is the lucky owner of a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, which he adores. Despite a few flaws, he has built a deep attachment to the motorcycle. The Continental GT 650 captivates him with its strong engine and timeless look. While there are certain limits, such as the small fuel tank and the need for occasional maintenance, the entire riding experience offers him great satisfaction. The bike’s performance and handling compensate for any flaws, and it has become his trusty companion for both short and long rides. The Continental GT 650 is a beloved bike for my brother.

Are cafe racers good for beginners?

Yes, café racers can be a decent pick for beginners, provided the rider habitually takes an upright position while sitting. As a first bike, these motorcycles can be excellent. The riding position is comfortable enough, while you would love their exemplary handling. The engine comes in the right size too.

Well, you don’t get to enjoy as much flexibility in a motorcycle that a car bestows you with. So, it’s natural that you won’t come across adjustable features in a bike such as a modifiable seat. This explains why some riders prefer building their respective café racers. However, if you don’t like the idea of custom-building a café racer, you need to settle for one that fits you well.

These bikes generally have a higher seating position compared to other bikes. Shorter riders might find it a bit challenging to handle café racers. Normally, this height ranges between 30 and 33 inches. As a new rider, you should be able to plant your feet properly on the ground. This would add stability to your rides. Next, consider the saddle shape in these bikes before you finalize your decision. Since café riders have the rider mounted over the multi-cylinder engine, the saddles tend to be wider. This implies that the legs of the rider need to stretch around the saddle to a greater extent. This implies that you might find it more challenging to reach the ground with your legs.

Nevertheless, if you are tall enough, riding a café racer shouldn’t be an issue for you.

What makes case racers good for beginners?

Have a look at the perks and drawbacks of café racers for beginners.

Perks

• Café racers come with mid-foot controls, which make the learning process breezy. You would get the feeling of learning to ride a bicycle as a beginner. Handling these bikes involves forward control, which implies that you need to extend your legs at the front and lean the upper body part a little backward. A subtle recline is what you need.
• The typical riding position in a café racer makes it easy to master cornering and handling the bike.
• These are stylish and iconic bikes, which appeal to new riders like a classic piece of machine.
• In terms of engine size, café races generally come in the midrange. Therefore, it is easy to retain your comfort, regardless of the speed you are picking.
• As café racer parts are usually inexpensive, you can seamlessly get your motorcycle customized.

Drawbacks

• If you don’t have enough height, stabilizing your ride might turn out to be difficult as your legs won’t touch the ground.
• These bikes are only ideal for riding around the city. After long rides, they turn out to be a bit uncomfortable.
• There’s no room to carry luggage or equipment on these bikes.
• Reliability turns out to be a question for vintage bikes. However, reputed brands are currently producing reliable vehicles with similar designs.

How good are café racers for short riders?

The seats of café riders are higher than standard bikes. Besides, these seats are wider than the average ones. So, short riders need to modify the bikes to make them suitable for themselves.

However, if you are short only by a few inches, there’s a way to bypass these modifications. For instance, if you put on boots or shoes with thicker soles, you might manage to touch the ground in a sitting position on your café racer.

Besides, you might try to steer the motorcycle in the other direction where you tend to put the foot down. Therefore, the bike would be in a tilted position and form a tripod. This position is likely to give you more stability during the rides.

Also, it makes sense to integrate some kind of saddle accessories. This would help you lower the seat height to some extent.

Step 3: Strip It Down!

Once you got your bike, the very first step is to strip down!

Basically, remove everything until you get to the frame of the bike. Why? Because most of the parts like fenders, seat, fairings etc. will not be part of the final bike, and can be sold for money. But even if you wish to keep specific parts, it is best to remove them for cleaning renewing.

Having the bike all stripped down will also make basic maintenance on the bike much easier! It will also allow you to spot eventual problems like rust points etc.

When I stripped my K75 down, I notice that the sub frame and and fork were pretty corroded, so I had to fix this;

Stripping the bike down takes some time but is not difficult, you just want to make sure to label every wire you unplug (turn signals, horn, tail light, etc.) which will make you save a lot of time when building the final bike.

You can easily find service manual for motorcycle online and they are free most of time. Just google Bike model service manual, for example in my cased I googled BMW K75 Service Manual and found full PDF manuals for free.

Service manual can be useful when stripping the bike down to help you remove some parts, or for the basic maintenance like oil change because they’ll include the recommended oils, and tightening torque of all the bolts.

Step 4: Renew It! Make It Look Fresh and Young Again

The real job starts now! It’s time to give the bike a second life!

Basically, you’ll want to make it look and ride like a new bike again! Fix everything that needs to be fixed, repaint things, change parts, etc.

Don’t worry, bike maintenance is actually easier than it sounds!

For example, draining fluids (engine oil/ gearbox oil, etc.) is often as simple as removing a bolt on the bottom, drain the oil, putting the bolt back on, and filling fresh oil from the top! You might have to change the oil filter, but it is also as simple as unscrew it and screw a new one on after oiling its seal.

There is just one key rule to follow: tightening torques, they are very important! especially on engine bolts, you do not want to break a bolt in your engine or crush on a seal. If you are wondering if the tightening torque is important on a bolt, just remember this: if there is a seal on the bolt, or if the part held by that bold has a seal, then it is very important to have the right tightening torque. If the bolt is too loose, you might have leaks, if the bolt is too tight, you might either break it inside or crush the seal, damaging it.

As for renewing rusty or old parts, it is often as simple a removing them, thoroughly sand them to remove rust or impurities, and painting them. Spray paint is fine if it is the right pain for the right surface: use hot paint for engine covers, use plastic or aluminium primer if you are painting plastic or aluminium etc.

On my project, here is what I did :

On the engine maintenance side, I changed all the fluids : engine oil oil filter, gearbox oil, final drive oil, renewed all the seals, flushed the coolant.

The ABS was not working and I suspected a low battery, so I removed the battery, charged it up and everything was good again! ABS and battery.

On the bike’s body, here is what I did :

I also plan to have the fuel tank repainted by a professional and will do it soon!

Step 5: How to Easily Paint Motorcycle Wheels

Now, I’ve added a step only for this because it could also be an Instructable by itself: How to easily paint motorcycle wheels!

Painting wheels can be a long and tedious process, unless, you go this route!

Here is a step by step process on how I painted my wheels :

Congratulations! you have brand new looking wheels on your motorcycle for less than 50!! 🙂

Step 6: Design Your Project and Get the Parts

Now, this is one of my favorite step, the step where creativity is the key! the time to design your bike and how you want it to look!

Basically, what we have right now is a motorcycle with a bare naked frame, just a fuel tank, an engine and some wheels. Creating the bike from this point is totally up to you now!

You can either go with a small seat for one person, a large seat to fit two people, some clip-on handlebars for a cafe racer look, or some flat bars for a flat tracker look etc.

Everyone will prefer different look for their bike so just think about it and go for your favorite look! You can find a ton of inspiration online or even use Photoshop to check how you want your bike to look.

There are 2 main types of look for bikes :

There are others looks and variants too like the flat racer / tracker, brat style etc.

When you have a clear idea of what you want for you bike, you can start choosing the parts you like, especially the seat (there are a ton of different seats out there) and order everything!

Do not be too ambitious for your project! Sometimes it is tempting to go for a super complicated project, with frame/suspension modifications, full intake modifications or even custom made exhaust etc. in order to get a sick looking bike. But in my opinion, it is better to go for something a little bit easier, that you are sure to achieve, than going for something that is way too complicated, and not being able to achieve it, or achieving over a year.

Most of the unfinished cafe racer projects for sale are because people wanted to do something way too difficult, do not make that mistake, go for something you know you’re able to achieve. It’ll always be possible to make more modifications later on 😉

In my case, I wanted to go for a cafe racer look with a low seat cowl that is only partially upperholstered.

To achieve the look of the bike I wanted, here is what I did :

Honda CB1000R Neo Sports Cafe

The CB1000R is a newer addition to the market made by the Japanese manufacturer. A newer take on the riding world, they named it the best Neo Sports Cafe Rider in the world. Ambitious, you think? Maybe.

But Honda can definitely back it up. Truly beautiful, it is not only easy on the eye, its specs are pretty impressive too: 998cc four-cylinder engine, 143hp and 104Nm. A light yet powerful ride, you will surely enjoy this experience.

Kawasaki Z900RS Cafe

This bright green bike is a youthful model produced by Kawasaki since 2017 to replace its predecessor Z800 line. Offering one of the best value for your money, the Z900RS cafe model has pretty impressive specs: 948cc liquid-cooled 4-stroke In-LIne Four engine, 99 Nm torque and 110 HP.

Its superlight chassis makes this ride a strong yet powerful choice. The technology is pretty impressive too, with smartphone connectivity via its own app Rideology.

Husqvarna Vitpilen 701

One of the most powerful machines on this list, the Vitpilen 701 is a very impressive rider bike. Some call it a beast, and with good reason. Although you might think the specs are not all that impressive, I beg to differ. Its 693ccLiquid-Cooled OHC Single cylinder engine has 75hp, and one of the lighter bikes at 366lbs provides you with a progressive ride.

If you don’t want to take my word for it, just go test drive it and form your own opinion. And if you find this one a little too much, there is also the 401 model which is a little less powerful and quite a lot easier on the budget as well.

Triumph Thruxton R

The best bang for your buck (still our opinion), the Thruxton R is definitely what you automatically think of when you are considering the cafe racer bike. This absolute classic offers everything you need in terms of looks as well as performance.

With its 1200cc water-cooled engine, it produces 96hp and weighs 434 lbs. Its Showa forks, Ohlins adjustable suspension and Brembo brakes are just a few of its chassis features which make this a very desirable machine indeed. Book a test drive and be the judge if you’re not convinced yet.

We hope you enjoyed this virtual tour of the best cafe racers and made your decision a little easier. Have fun!