Triumph Motorcycles
The origins of this famous British motorcycle marque go back to 1884, well before the first actual Triumph motorcycle appeared in 1902. By the 1920’s Triumph was building 30,000 cars and motorcycles a year. Whilst Triumph never struggled to produce beautiful and successful motorcycles, the company struggled to stay afloat and went through a series of splits, sell-offs, and separations. Despite British government intervention the company finally went into receivership… only to then re-emerge in the hands of a former plasterer determined to keep the brand alive. Triumph has gone on to become one of the most popular motorcycle brands across the globe and is arguably the leader in the “everything old is new again” retro bike wave.
Cafe Racers of Instagram 003 Street Cup
If you’re on Instagram and you’re not following Cafe Racers of Instagram go do it now! Now that’s done you’ll be enjoying a feed filled with awesome custom two-wheeled eye candy. Cafe Racers of Instagram is the brainchild of motorcycle addicts David Chang and Andrew Blaschko. On their page, which is well…
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Triumph Tribute – Trophy Cafe Racer
Great bikes should be ridden. Matt built his Triumph Trophy cafe racer as a tribute to a motorcycle once ridden by his late father. Pieced together over 3 years the Trophy was always destined to be raced. So, when the Bike Shed London held the first ever Cafe Racer Cup Matt signed…
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Building a Café Racer – Blacktrack BT02 Shakedown
In this third and final instalment on Blacktrack Motors BT02 Triumph ‘Thruxman’, we learn about the final build stage. Sacha Lakic explains the rebuild process and the all-important safety shakedown. Sacha also shares some insights into the direction he is heading with his Blacktrack brand and what we can expect to see from…
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3×3 – Competizione Triumph Speed Triple
In 1992 Ducati’s Monster redefined the naked motorcycle category. Then in 1994 Triumph took things a step further. Their Speed Triple used a revolutionary design that motorcycling press quickly labelled as the ultimate hooligan bike. Prior to its creation, the only bikes bearing the same mix of styling and performance were those…
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Building A Cafe Racer – Blacktrack BT02 Build
In part 2 of our ‘Building a Cafe Racer’ series with Blacktrack motorcycles, we discuss the build of their Norton Manx inspired BT02 Thruxman. With a design concept set in stone Sacha Lakic and his team begin translating the design into functional components to fit to their Triumph Thruxton R donor bike. Here…
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Smoked MT777 – Triumph Daytona 675
En route to the tropical paradise that is Bali, the average Joe would be looking forward to lazing on the beach, drinking cheap cocktails and buying bargain-priced fashion rip-offs. For yours truly though the best that Bali has to offer is its awesome custom motorcycle workshops. Sure you could just make a…
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Building a Cafe Racer – Blacktrack BT02 design
It’s fair to say that a hell of a lot of work goes into the custom motorcycles I feature. So much in fact that it can’t all be covered in a single story. From sourcing the donor bike to designing and fabricating individual parts and right through to the final test ride,…
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Triple Shot – Bad Ass Triumph Speed Triple
From street fighter to café racer. This Triumph Speed Triple is barely recognizable beneath its new, retro exterior. This wild transformation is the work of French motorcycle enthusiast and custom builder, Jean-Francois Thomas. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease the 48 year old left his nine to five to refocus his life’s…
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The Titan – Tamarit Thruxton 900
Turning your passion into a successful business venture is a dream that many of us share. It’s no mean feat, but if what you do strikes a chord with other enthusiasts your life can take a whole new direction. This is the story of Spanish workshop Tamarit Motorcycles success. After the companies founder, a…
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Reborn Bonnie – Gasoline Motor Co Triumph Blak
The fear associated with crashing a motorcycle is two-fold. From an outsiders view it is the rider who they fear for the most, for the rider it’s his beloved motorcycle. It defies logic but as you pick yourself up off the road before you’ve even assessed the damage to your own body…
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The Mongrel – Our Custom Triumph T120 Bonneville
One of the perks of running a custom motorcycle website like ‘Return of the Café Racers’ is being invited to special events in the motorcycle industry. Back in 2016, I had the privilege of flying to London to attend the official launch of the new Triumph Bonneville range. It had been 15…
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