Unsurprisingly, the USA is our planet's biggest market for motorcycles. If it was not for the American enthusiasts, many manufacturers would not still be in business. From superbikes to motocross bikes, dual purpose motorcycles to the obvious American styled cruisers; most of the European, British and Japanese production is destined for American riders to throw

In an attempt to remain fresh and individual, cafe racer styling is being applied to just about every model of motorcycle produced in the 1970s and 1980s. As someone who became a motorcyclist in the 1970s and can still recite just about every make and model of motorcycle of the 1980s, I am amazed by

History remembers the winners. Those who came second or third are seldom considered significant. This also holds true in motorcycling terms. When Honda launched their K0750 in 1969, it was the first four cylinder superbike to be offered to the masses. It quickly became a legend. When Suzuki eventually conceded that four stroke technology was

The current trend of transforming every conceivable motorcycle, from a 50cc Honda monkey bike to a Harley Road King into a show quality cafe racer has moved far away from the original cafe racer concept of the 1960s and the purpose for which they were created.  Not that we are complaining! There are many stunning

When you work for a top stud farm training Arab horses every day and you decide you want to build your own bobber, which motorcycle do you buy? A Steed of course. We have previously featured several Honda Steed based Bobbers. What makes this particular bobber special is that it took only three weeks to

Simon Fourie, editor of Bike SA, asked the same question for decades. "Why does BMW produce fast cars and slow motorcycles?" Today BMW produces arguably one of the fastest, most powerful superbikes ever and even the evergreen boxer motor has been developed to produce brisk performance. However for decades BMW motorcycles were traditionally not built

Is it just me or are we all anticipating BMW to eventually launch the mother of all factory built retro cafe racers? Surely the sharp German designers and market researchers at BMW have noticed how their 1970s and 1980s  products are all being reincarnated into cafe racers internationally. I can almost hear their Health and

The British "Mod" subculture was born in the early 1960s. It was a response to the conservative and bleak class based culture of post war Britain. They embraced style, fashion and all things modern. Mods made it socially acceptable for men to show interest in being fashionable. Italian and French styled clothing was accessorised with

Marnitz and I really wanted to attend the second Kalahari Speedweek taking place at the famous Hakskeen Pan from 14 to 23 September 2013. Unfortunately we are not going to be able to make the trip. Those of you who follow this blog regularly will know that normally Marnitz takes all the photos. In fact

It seemed appropriate that our 50th motorcycle to be featured on Retro Write  Up should be a Honda. So many of the motorcycles we have featured thus far have  been creations based on Hondas. Tiago's Honda CB175 was our first bike to make  it onto Bike exif which increased our readership internationally. We have had