Steve 'Carpy' Carpenter, Cafe RacerIf you trace back the origins of the cafe racer you’ll probably end up in front of a juke joint in Britain. Music will be pouring out into the streets where a group of guys in leather jackets and slicked back hair are standing around a circle of motorcycles getting ready to race. The motorcycles could all be the same model, but none of them will look the same. Each rider has torn down and built up their own bike in an effort to increase speed and reflect personality.
These men were known as the rockers and they did the ton aboard handcrafted cafe racers. The rebellious spirit of these rockers was contagious and soon major manufacturers were producing cafe racers for the public at mass, and with this global distribution, the spirit of the cafe racer began to die.
But there has been a resurgence in recent years. If you try to track down the origins of the cafe racer rebirth, you’ll probably find yourself standing in front of a garage in Anaheim, California. Why? Because that’s where Steve “Carpy” Carpenter, a direct descendant of one of the ton up boys, sets up shop. Let’s start with the basics.
Why Cafe Racers? For me, it was in my blood. Back in the day me old man rode around on a cafe in East London.Why the CB 750?For many years I was a dispatch rider in London, and my best mode of transportation was the CB 750.
I tried the British bikes but they just couldn’t handle all the revving and short bursts of speed. The 750 I stuck with because of reliability, but also because of interchangeability. The 750 had the same engine for 9 years so if I did break down, there was a good chance I’d find a part at some local junk shop. It’s just a proven bike, and that’s why I use the CB 750. The cafe racer has been having a bit of a revival over the last few years.
Why do you think these bikes are gaining popularity? I like to think I had a little bit to do with that. I think what I’ve done is inspired people to get off their ass and have a go... Just to play around with their bikes, change the handlebars, change the guise of the bike. It’s a healthy thing for the motorcycling world right now to get out and work with the older bikes.
Can you tell me a little bit about your first build in the US? I came to the states in 2000. So I built a bike just to bum around. I bought a bike off of eBay, an old CB and did that. I had rented a space out and Jay Leno’s mechanic was working next door. And Jay comes in one day and says ‘hey, I’ve see you got an old Norton.’ And I kind of laugh at him and tells him that it was actually a Honda.
And people just kept asking me about it. “What is that? What is that?” And that’s kind of how I got started in the states. So you’ve impressed Jay Leno, have any other celebrities bought your bikes?I’m doing another bike for Green Day. I just finished one for Marylin Manson’s tour manager. Then I had the tour manager of Metallica come over. I sent a bunch of parts to Joe Perry and Aerosmith. Him and his son are going to work on it.
What do you ride today? You know it’s hard because at the end of the day I’m a business. So if someone comes in and says ‘hey, can I but that,’ I end up selling it because I have to put money back into the company. I’ve got about 15-20 snotters right now that I’ll get to eventually. Right now I’m building something for a Harley dealership, but right now, my daily rider, I guess would be my 2008 Ducati 1000S, which is pretty much a cafe anyways.
What advice would you give to someone embarking on their first cafe build? First things first, don’t jump into it and rip the shit out of it. You’ll go through buckets of money if you start like that. Stay simple and get something that runs. A running engine will save you so much time.
The first thing I would do is change the handlebars. That will change the look of the bike and will give you that start of looking forward. For the seat, you can buy one of my seats, or like I did for many years, just grab your mum’s old bread cutter and cut the seat foam down and reupholster it. That really does transform the look of your bike. Just those two little things. Once you get into it, it’s like guys with tattoos, you just keep adding more and more and it just never ends.
Closing Thoughts - How Cafe Racers Will Save the World
When I started this 11 years ago here, I didn’t see any of these bikes around, and now I see quite a lot. To me it cheers me up to know that I’ve inspired at least one person to build a bike.
You know kids today are so caught up with technology and twittering, and not a lot of people know how to turn wrenches any more. We’ve got to change with the times but I love the old motorcycles. When they get streamlined they all look the same and we all need character. Character’s what makes somebody and if we can get more people building their own bikes it will be a good thing for everybody.
