XS Leo is right on the Cafe racer front. The term was coined from groups of bikers hanging out at transports cafes as, at the time they werent welcome anywhere else such as bar etc due to the preconceived ideas that they were "trouble". Cafes such as the Ace Cafe in London where bikers would meet and hang out were very popular and now have an almost cult status. The bikes, particularly Triumphs, Nortons etc would be modded with clip on bars and excess fat trimmed off to get the lean low looking Cafe Racer look still popular today. In fact those two bikes were so well modified they spawned a new brand of their own - The "Triton" a mix of triumph engines and Norton frames or vice versa "Record racing" was when they would race to a roundabout and back, aiming to do it before the track ended. The goal was to crack the 100 mph mark or the ton. Bikers of the time wore this as a badge of honour. At the same time another club the 59 Club was started by a Church Curate to give the young bikers a source of focus, minus the religion. Following leaders of the 59 ers such as Fathers Bill Shergold and Graham Hullet are now legendary - Dog collar wearing bikers at the time caused much uproar amongst certain crowds. However they did much to support and promote the bikers, their machines and the way of life we still love today.
