The 8 Best Cafe Racer Motorcycles For 2023!

 so you want an awesome looking retro Cafe Racer but your head is spinning at the dazzling array of choices well in this video I’ve compiled my eight picks and we’ll go through them in price order ascending scoring them along the way and then at the end I’ll give you my winners now that there are fewer and fewer new Factory produced cafe racers on the market a lot of them seem to have been discontinued over the past few years and so I’ve had to rank these bikes by the estimated used price which I’ve mostly taken from our partners over at Superbike Factory and so the most affordable way to Yourself by reaching down for a pair of clip-ons that you’re too old for is the Royal Enfield Continental GT four and a half grand should get you a decent used example but they’re not even that pricey new starting at just 6799 pounds now the old saying goes good fast cheap pick any two but in the cafe racer 

world I reckon it’s more like good looking fast and cheap and this bike definitely hits the cheap spot and I for one also think it’s a great looking bike it’s got all the classic Hallmarks of a cool retro Cafe bike so you’ve got the single seat set up and the seat cow the long slim tank the clip-on bars and the right sort of low and long silhouette so certainly an A4 style here but the trade-off is that it’s not that fast so I’ll give it a c for performance it’s a fairly weighty bike and it only makes 47 horsepower Peak the brakes are basic the suspension and tires are basic and so we’ve got some much more spicy stuff coming up on this list that said I still got a score rate a for Value because like I say new or used it’s about as affordable as it gets for a full-size Cafe Racer now unfortunately it loses the Bobby bonus point for not having a cafe racer style fair in either as standard or in the accessories catalog and so the total for this bike as a starter three for an a two for a b one for a c so it’s grand total without the bonus point is seven now next up we’ve got the w800 from Kawasaki and while I appreciate them getting a cafe style bike on the market 

I’m gonna have to give this one a c on style because it’s the bare minimum effort for a cafe racer edition of a bike because essentially there they’ve just stuck a fairing on the standard w800 and that’s about it there’s no other significant changes the other thing is a lot of them come in brown which is fine on the saddle for that sort of retro leather look but for me Brown is a color that I don’t really think should Grace the fuel tank of any motorcycle performances I see as well it’s got the same 47 horsepower as the M field and the fairly simple chassis so it’d be unfair on the M filter score it otherwise and then for Value I’ll go for B I mean you can’t buy these new anymore this is one of the bikes that has been discontinued but around about five and a half Grand seems reasonable for one used thing is you could save a grand and get the M field which for me is better looking and it runs about the same but this bike does however rescue the bonus point for the factory Fairing and so it gives it five in total now before we get on to the next one I just want to say a massive thanks to brilliant.org for sponsoring this video brilliant is the ultimate way to learn about maths science and computer science and the focus is on doing rather than just sitting and listening which personally I much prefer two courses that I’d specifically recommend to fellow bikers would be classical mechanics which has plenty of Automotive references and examples but also physics of the everyday which is super interesting to anyone who’s practically minded but on top of those there are thousands thousands across a huge range of courses that will help you to level up from foundational and advanced maths to AI data science neural networks and more with more and more lessons being added every month now not only will you get specific practical skills from it but also learn how to be a better thinker all round and improve your problem-solving abilities so head to the link in the description or go ahead and type out brilliant.org motobob to get 

The 8 Best Cafe Racer Motorcycles For 2023!

started with Brilliance free 30-day trial and on top of that the first 200 of you will get 20 off Brilliance annual premium subscription so once again a massive thanks to brilliant.org for their support and with that back to the bikes now the Ducati Scrambler night shift is a rather handsome bike for 2023 it’s got that new lustrous deep blue paint job it’s got the flat and low bars with some bar and mirrors it’s got some side number boards spoke wheels and the brown tuck and roll star saddle and for me it’s just a great looking bike but I think I’m still gonna have to score it a b in this context because it’s obviously Cafe Racer inspired but it’s not quite you know typical Cafe Racer no seat hump no fairing no clip-ons you know none of the signature design features and I’ll also score it a beat on performance It’s A Cut Above the other two it’s got over 70 horsepower on tap a much lighter chassis as well and then componentry from the big names like Brembo Pirelli and KYB in fact I recently rode this new model just last week and it’s a proper Blast for little country back roads and it should also make for a Nimble little bike to pick your way through town so ideal Cafe Racer performance and then value I’ll go for b as well because the new one is getting on for 11 Grand now which I think is a bit steep for this sort of bike but if you shop around used you can find some of the older Full Throttle or cafe or classic versions all 

of which share some of the attitude of this new night shift and you can get them for pretty good money I’ve seen them around six and a half Grand no fairings so no bonus point but that’s six in total now here’s a bit of a surprise for me the BMW r19 racer straight up a fantastic looking bike and so I have to give it an a I just love the simple white paint and then the splash of blue and red and you’ve got the fairing the clip-ons the tail hump the spokes it’s a beautiful modern interpretation of the cafe racer format and I’m also going to give it an A on performance this is up over 100 horsepower so it can definitely mix it with the quicker bikes on this list and they also handle too I mean the engine keeps its weight nice and low and all the hardware is decent stuff but the surprise for me is the price I mean it’s another one that’s been discontinued but used it looks like you can get them for about seven and a half Grand or so maybe a little less and still with only about 5 000 miles on the clock so that’s another a for the BMW and that’s full marks great looking fast not that pricey and it’s got the bonus point for the fairing too it’s just a good job that we don’t have a comfort category because these have a bit of a reputation for being excruciating after an hour or two next up Thruxton looks a need I say any more the best looking modern retro cafe racer on the market by a country mile in my opinion especially with that 

accessory fairing I mean the BMW looks great but it has its own unusual proportions it might be a little bit of an acquired taste whereas this the Thruxton is just perfectly balanced and it’s the cafe racer equivalent of a Fender Stratocaster it’s just what a typical guitar should look like Triumph also do extremely well with all the little details and finishing touches like the little holes in the side panels or the beautiful top yoke a also for performance the engine is absolutely wonderful and has loads of creamy talk it’s a Triumph so it’s built to handle and also if you go for one of their top spec models you get brakes tires and suspension that would rival most modern nakeds the only downside would be the price I mean used there’s a good selection from about eight grand which seems totally reasonable but the new version in 2023 only comes in the top end RS spec there’s no base model anymore and so you’ll have to shell out over 14 Grand if you want something with zero miles on the clock Steve if you ask me so I’m going to go for C on value but it recovers the fairing bonus point and that lands it on a healthy looking eight now also around this price point another great option is the Kawasaki z900 RS Cafe this is another a on looks for me all of the z900 RS bikes look pretty great with the 70s Z1 inspired styling but this particular variant gets their classic Kawasaki green paint and then also the little bikini fairing up front that earns it the cafe suffix a on performance 2 the underpinnings come from their z900 naked so it’s quick enough and being the only inline four on this list it brings its own character and sound and feel which will definitely appeal to some Riders it’s got that smooth and revvy power delivery and then I’ll give it a b here on value because scanning the used listings it’s decent on price but not quite a snip like the BMW r9t and again discontinued so there’s no new price to compare now I guess the fairing as standard so that’s an extra point and that’s nine in total which is very very respectable in this 100 made 

up scoring framework now I couldn’t do this list without mentioning the xsr 900 a bar from Yamaha this was a limited run a few years back and I once saw one when I was out riding and it is one Epic looking bike that really does leave a lasting impression you’ve got the dedicated paint job the acropovich exhaust upside down cow horn style bars bar and mirrors the mini Fairing and then this incredible looking long tail section with the little round tail light that looks a little bit like an Envy I guess the supervilloce definitely an awesome bike to look at but I think I’ll have to give it a b because it’s not exactly Classic Cafe Racer and this is a retro list after all and basically what you’ve got here is a Yamaha mt-09 in a body kit putting it next to something like the Thruxton and it can’t really quite earn that a but it has to be an A on performance because the inline triple CP3 engine from Yamaha makes just as good power as any bike on this list and it’s an absolute loot Joy To Ride plus you’ve got the sort of current day chassis underneath and while I do believe it’s a little bit Lively in terms of the handling because you’ve got all of your weight over the front I think in comparison to the other bikes on this list it’s fair to put it up towards the Top Value again I’ll say a B in the same way as the z900 RS used you’re looking at about nine grand but it was a limited build of just 695 bikes of which only a hundred made it 

to the UK so you could justify the extra Grand over the Kawasaki and it gets the point for the cafe Fairing and so you’ve got a grand total of seven but top of the tree price wise is the Norton Commando 961cr this is a beautiful looking machine and it almost looks custom like it’s handmade and specifically the clip-on Cafe style CR model as opposed to the flat bar SP just as that slightly lower set stands that really suits the rest of the chassis Now power is a little bit more modest than some of the bikes more recently on this list so it makes about 77 horsepower Peak and it is pretty hefty at 200 and 30 kilograms curb but it is a super Pleasant bike to ride with loads of character and it’s also got this deep Bassy exhaust note that gives you a really nice soundtrack now as you’d expect at this price point you get the best of the best in terms of Brembo brakes and olin’s suspension and it certainly adds a quality feel to the braking and ride so I think it’s going to be aeon looks be on performance and used you can maybe pick them up for around 12 Grand but I will give you a word of warning this is the older model before they re-engineered it recently and the goal was to improve safety and also reliability so I’d definitely suggest you do your research before you get involved with an older model on the used Market new ones are 16 999 pounds though which is certainly top end for this style of bike they really are quite stunning in the flash but in the context of this list it’s got to be a c and there’s no bonus point for the fair in so six for this one and that brings me nicely to my recommendations so if you want something cheap used or 

new then you’ve got to go for the Enfield Direct and it’s great value for money it looks authentic and it rides decent too if on the other hand you’ve got your heart set on something brand new then there are only really four options on the list and my pick providing you got the funds would be the Thruxton it looks every bit as good and classic as the Enfield if not a little bit better but the riding experience is far far far more exhilarating but our top scorer is on this list with a Kawasaki z900 RS Cafe with nine and the BMW r90 racer with 10. so if you fancy something quick cool looking but you want to save a bit of cash on something used then both of these are 100 worth a look as always I’d love to know which bike you pick down in the comments below so do let me know and if you want to see my full review of the Norton which I shot at the UK launch last year and I’ll link to it on the screen here give it a click give it a watch let me know you think many thanks for watching and I’ll see you in the next one