6 Best Cafe Racer Motorcycles Of 2019

I recently ran a poll on my Instagram to ask you guys for your favourite production cafe racers of 2019. So here are the top 6 in reverse order and I've included 4 bonus bikes that I think you totally missed at the end. Although this bike isn't available on the UK Moto Guzzi website, it's still there in the US. Essentially it's a cafe raced version of the V7 and it retains the same 52hp V-twin motor. It does however have a bunch of styling changes like the flashy paint job, red frame, fly screen, quilted saddle with removable seat cover, racing number boards, spoke wheels and a pretty sweet tank strap. There's also some attempts to make it a little sportier with clip-ons, setback foot pegs and fully adjustable Ohlins rear shocks. All in all it makes for a tempting package if you're looking for a V7 with a bit of spice. I filmed the Z900RS at the London Motorcycle Show earlier this year and when I uploaded the video I was amazed by the response. It seems as though Kawasaki have really hit a sweet spot here with the totally modern performance of the Z900 platform underneath some lovely retro styling in the image of the Z1 of the 1970s. Road tests across the board have it down as pretty much the best retro on the market in terms of the ride. The cafe version comes with this small fairing which I can't make my mind upon. On the one hand it definitely contributes to the old school vibes and might give it a little shelter if you really tuck in. On the other the unfair version looks great too. Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below. Royal Enfield have really pulled something special out of the bag with their 650 twins which seem to be getting both a warm reception from reviewers as well as solid sales figures to boot. Yes the Continental GT is a little down on power at 47 horses when you set it against the rest of the bikes here but the styling is absolutely spot-on and at a shade under six grand for the more basic color schemes it's a total bargain. Combined with the 650 Interceptor it appears to be a total hit for Enfield with Motorcyclesdata.com reporting that sales of Royal Enfield motorcycles erupt by a massive 153 percent in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period last year. At a time when many other manufacturers are enduring a decline in sales Royal Enfield have apparently hit on a winning formula. At third place in the Instagram poll though comes the Ducati Scrambler Cafe Racer. Based on the 75 horsepower 800cc L-twin of the base Scrambler the Cafe Racer adds a bunch of equipment like clip-on bars, a headlight shroud, bar end mirrors, rear set foot pegs and a seat cowl to give it a racy look and feel. It's not entirely a styling exercise though. Ducati has swapped out the 18-inch front wheel for a more turning friendly 17-incher and suspension has been beefed up a little at both ends to give a firmer cornering bias ride. With decent power, Brembo brakes and a reasonably slender weight of 180 kilograms fully fueled it should make for some good fun on the twisties. Much like the Ducati BMW's R90 Racer is based on an existing bike in their range with a bunch of cafe adaptations. The usual bottlenose fairing, clip-ons, rear sets and seat cowl all make an appearance. The thing that I really like about this bike though is that it doesn't look like an adapted bike. The fairing suits it so well and the seat cowl goes nicely. It looks as if it was designed as a cafe racer from the ground up. I've also voiced my appreciation for the M Sport colour scheme before but I'll say it again it looks awesome. Combined with the fact that it's one of the most powerful bikes on this list at 110 horsepower I can see why it ranks so highly in the poll. But our winning bike with almost half of all the votes is none other than the king of the cafe racers the Triumph Thruxton R. Now this is indeed a bike that was designed as a cafe racer from the ground up and to me the proportions are pretty much perfect. Packing the 1200 high power variant of Triumph's Bonneville motor it goes pretty well too. I recently rode my friend Will's Thruxton R and combined with the mods he'd made like a DCAT, shorty exhaust and a quick shifter it blew me away compared to my Triumph Street Twin. It felt very familiar but extremely rapid. The sound of the motor, the excellent braking, the torquey grunt and the well-specced equipment all make for an awesome ride. Coming up on five years old now the Thruxton is still going strong but there's more. Here are four other bikes that you guys missed. A cool bike for sure but is it a cafe racer? It has clip-ons so I guess it is but nobody voted for it in the original poll. A W800 with you guessed it a fairing and clip-ons but instead of a seat cowl it's just a two-tone seat that gives the impression of a seat cowl. Very clever and now here's a Suzuki with the fairing clip-ons and two-tone brown and black seat. I must say I rather like this bike though and it's good value at six and a half grand. Last up the XSR range. The new paint schemes for 2019 are lovely but again is it a cafe racer? It's got that feel about it but no clip-ons which are as we've discovered today the essence of a cafe racer. Let me know if you think it qualifies in the comments below and if you're new here and you want to see more videos like this hit subscribe and I'll see you next time.