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Originally Posted by bhasker For some reason, I feel that the Cafe Racer is not going to be a successful product.
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Though their might be takers for its looks and Continental GT tag, but the street races might want to look toward other options like KTM Duke 390 and Kawasaki Ninja 300. |
See post by karthikpra in the previous page ...
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Originally Posted by karthikpra I don't understand why we are comparing this to the duke or the ninja. Despite being in the same price bracket, these bikes appeal to different sets of people. Personal i feel the duke is for someone who loves the power, the ninja is for someone who loves the way the bike handles on the track and the cafe racer is for someone who wants it for its unique styling. If we expect everything from every bike, what makes them different? |
Looking at the “racer” in the café racer” name and thinking RE is positioning this as a pure race bike is getting it a bit off-track to say the least! This is a retro-styled fun bike that evokes the spirit of the café racer culture of the 1950s and 60s – i.e. modified everyday bikes ridden fast on the streets of UK primarily, by young guys out to have some fun. It is NOT designed to win any races, especially not against modern speed machines. Check out the various online reviews, both nationally and internationally, and they range from outright enthusiasm to grudging acknowledgement. Granted there are the usual complaints – horsepower could’ve been better, some vibrations at higher speed, stock pipes, etc. – most reviewers agree this is a fun bike that will be great for weekend joy riding, and even for everyday urban commuting. Nobody talks about racing it. I’m sure somebody will be racing it in the vintage race series (like the AHRMA in the U.S. but that’s a different story).
RE couldn’t have timed it better as the café racer and custom/retro/vintage bike scene has undergone a global resurgence in the past few years and this year is pretty much being acknowledged as the “tipping point” as far as mainstream awareness is concerned.
I spend part of the year in the U.S. and even in the most motorcycle-unfriendly cities like New York City, there is a growing number of young people discovering motorcycling, and a significant proportion of these people are NOT going for the latest, fastest bikes but for the classic, old and retro-styled bikes. The scene is a far cry from the shiny, chromed-out-pseudo-monster-chopper scene of a few years ago (West Coast Choppers etc.) Those used to be for older guys with loads of cash who wanted a “style statement.” That has thankfully died down, Gawd, some (most) of those bikes were hideously ugly! The authentic chopper guys are still around, but they usually prefer old engines (mostly pre-evo-Harley but also old Triumph, BSA, etc.) and no chrome!
Now the scene here is a young guy with limited budget who picks up an old Honda CB550 or a Yamaha XS650 from the 1970s, customizes it to his taste – usually a stripped down, minimal chrome look, be it cafe racer, brat, street tracker, chopper or bobber styling - and is out & about on the city streets. And for folks with a bit more cash to spend and looking for modern-day dependability you have the Triumph Bonneville range (HUGELY popular), the Moto Guzzi V7, Harley Sportsters, RE, Ural … Honda is back with the CB1100, BMW just introduced the NineT, Yamaha is re-introducing the SR400 for its 35th birthday this year … The RE Continental GT is right up there in this mix of super-cool retro-style modern bikes with one foot in the hallowed past and one foot in the modern day. I hope and I think that they’ll do well.
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