My memories of our annual December holiday pilgrimage to Durban include the warm sea, crowded beaches, rickshaws on the Marine Parade, surfers and Yamaha XT500 scramblers. You see, right from the launch of these venerable "thumpers", Durban has, until today, been the capital city for XT500s in South Africa. I think it was on our
As the café racer building craze has gained momentum locally, we have watched the prices of popular donor motorcycles become increasingly ridiculous. Let's face it; café racers were a British phenomenon from the 1960s, so if you are not building your café racer from a 1960's British motorcycle you are building a look-a-like and it
We like modern Royal Enfields. The current Bullet model range are un-intimidating, easygoing motorcycles which unashamedly show off their classic 60 year old British heritage. The lovely Continental GT café racer we tested last year is a modern classic straight off the showroom floor. Royal Enfield is best recognised for its Bullet model, which has
Most creativity is born out of necessity and these creations are designed to bring about a practical improvement in an aspect or quality of our everyday life. The owner and builder of our featured motorcycle, Tim, is an Industrial Designer, who earns a living expressing this form of creative ability. His bobber does not fall
What on earth did men talk to one another about before the Industrial Revolution? Farming, hunting, war and plagues were probably about all the discussion topics that were available. Thank goodness for the introduction of mechanisation and all the engineering marvels which, after infinite years of boredom, eventually gave man something to get excited about
It is worth almost floating on my Harley for 50km in torrential rain to see the beautiful café racers and customs at a CROSA gathering. It was the first outing, or with the amount of rain we faced on the way home that should perhaps read maiden voyage, of some newly built motorcycles. Our featured
When it comes to the choice of what type of motorcycle to ride, there is a large group of owners who do believe that bigger is better and that more means more. Our featured Triumph Rocket III muscle bike must be just about the ultimate ride for those of us who believe that size is
Motorcycles which follow the latest mainstream customising trends are not what Retro Write Up generally features on its pages. We do however pride ourselves on featuring South African built customs with a special fondness for those creations which are built in the home garage or small personal workshop. Our featured motorcycle may not be old
