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A café racer ( or less commonly ) is a light-weight, lightly-powered motorcycle optimized for speed and handling rather than comfort — and optimized for quick rides over short distances. With bodywork and control layout recalling early 1960's Grand Prix road racing motorcycles, café racers are noted for their low slung racing handlebars, prominent seat cowling and elongated fuel tanks, often with indentations to allow the rider's knees to grip the tank.〔 The term developed among British motorcycle enthusiasts of the early 1960s, specifically the Rocker or "Ton-Up Boys" subculture where the bikes were used for short, quick rides between cafés — in other words, drinking establishments. Writing in 2005, motorcycle journalist Peter Egan suggested the genesis of the term to the 1960s. In 1973, American freelance writer Wallace Wyss, contributing to ''Popular Mechanics'' magazine, wrote that the term ''café racer'' was originally used derogatorily in Europe to describe a "motorcyclist who played at being an Isle of Man road racer" and was, in fact, "someone who owned a racy machine but merely parked it near his table at the local outdoor cafe." In 2014, journalist Ben Stewart described the café racer as a "look made popular when European kids stripped down their small-displacement bikes to zip from one café hangout to another." ==Typical configuration== In addition to its characteristic light-weight and lightly-powered engine and distinctive bodywork, the café racer typically featured distinctive ergonomics. Low, narrow handlebars — known as ''clip-ons'' (two separate bars that bolt directly to each fork tube), ''clubman'' or ''ace bars'' (one piece bars that attach to the standard mounting location but drop down and forward)〔 — enabled the rider to "tuck in", reducing wind resistance and improving control. Along with the rearward located seat, the posture often required ''rearsets'', or rear-set footrests and foot controls, again typical of racing motorcycles of the era. Distinctive half or full race-style fairings were sometimes mounted to the forks or frame.〔 The bikes featured minimalist styling, engines tuned for maximum speed and light road handling. A well-known example was "The Triton", a homemade combination of the Norton Featherbed frame and a Triumph Bonneville engine. It used a common and fast racing engine combined with a well-handling frame, the Featherbed frame by Norton Motorcycles.〔 Those with less money could opt for a "Tribsa"—the Triumph engine in a BSA frame. Other combinations such as the "Norvin" (a Vincent V-Twin engine in a Featherbed frame) and racing frames by Rickman or Seeley were also adopted for road use. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Café racer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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