The 10 Best Cafe Racer Motorcycles For 2026

So you want a retro motorcycle in 2026 but you want it to be a bit sporty too. Well then you my friend are probably after a cafe racer and so here we go with 10 of the best and we're going in price order ascending. So kicking us off at just under six grand we've got the new Thruxton 400 from Triumph and while it does look a little bit on the contemporary side I've still got to say it hits all of the major hallmarks of a modern classic cafe racer. There's enough retro about it with the round headlight and the fake cooling fins on the engine. You've got the typical cafe racer fairing and also a seat cover available as an accessory and they've also taken the time to turn the handlebars in a little bit to give it that proper cafe racer tuck. The only downside for me is that it's otherwise almost identical to the more affordable speed 400 naked but out of the two I reckon this one looks quite a bit more special and so it could be worth the extra outlay. If you're purely looking for great value for money though then it's very hard to beat Royal Enfield. With this the Continental GT 650 costing less than a grand more than the Triumph and yet you get yourself a rich characterful air-cooled 650 twin. Now admittedly it's probably not going to be that much quicker than the Triumph. It makes 47 horsepower peak to the 41 of Triumph's liquid cooled single. It's a fair bit heavier too by a good 30 kilograms but all the same for under £7,000 well there are very few bikes as desirable as this nor as pleasant to ride. On the looks front I think it's almost perfection with that long cafe racer style tank and also the option of a short sporty seat. The engine is full of torque and also has the right kind of vibes and then the riding position is really nicely balanced with it being not too cramped and uncomfortable but also having a little bit of a forward lean. The only thing that could top it off would be a cafe racer style fairing but unfortunately there's nothing in the official accessories catalog so you'll have to look at the aftermarket for that. Still a half fed version has been spotted out testing recently and it also looks to have twin discs up front and a suspected bump up to 750cc so this one could be worth the wait in 2027 especially if you like the look of it in these spy shots. Next up though for £8,999 we've got the GSX 8TT from Suzuki although admittedly this one isn't much of a thoroughbred cafe racer with it being largely derived from their completely modern GSX-8S naked. As a result the chassis components and the engine casings don't really look convincingly old school. The handlebars are completely flat so it's got a very upright riding position but I will say it's a very pleasant and easy bike to ride and also kind of easy on the eye as well with that semi-retro styling package. I think the fairing really does finish it off nicely and so this could well appeal to the sort of cafe racer shopper who still wants something a little bit more up-to-date. Now Moto Guzzi's V7 is a brilliant retro in its own right with a sweet 850 transverse v-twin that makes just Then you've got a huge 21 litre fuel tank for way more range than pretty much all of the competition but I will say dig around on the Moto Guzzi website a bit and it has another secret weapon. You see these cafe racer style kits can be had for another 17 or 1800 quid on top of the existing eight and a half grand of the standard bike and while it is uh you know a fair bit of cash that Well for the side panels, the seat cover, the fairing and a fuel tank I don't think it's really too bad especially considering they all come finished in their own extra jazzy paint job. So definitely want to consider if you like the fundamentals of the Moto Guzzi V7 but just want a more distinctive cafe racer inspired look. Honda's CB1000F Retro new for again is heavily based upon their modern CB1000 Hornet just like the Suzuki and so again it is a bit compromised aesthetically especially with the likes of the engine but overall I do think it's a nice looking thing and of course it should go very well too. You see it's a 2017 Fireblade derived litre inline-four and while it is tuned down from the full 150 horsepower of the CB1000 Hornet well it still makes a handy 120 horsepower which should mean it'll outrun pretty much most the other bikes on this list. Could you really consider this a cafe racer though? Well again with the accessory fairing it does about half an impression of one and so that might be enough for some. A little more aggressive though is Yamaha's triple powered XSR900 especially in this GP spec. Now it is more 80s sports bike inspired than anything but with the fairing, the seat cover, the low forward bars it is sort of a bit of a neo cafe racer vibe if you will. Specifically for 2026 there is this Kenny Roberts inspired yellow white and black paint job which I think looks absolutely great but to be fair it looks equally good in the Marlboro inspired finish that I was lucky enough to review last year or even the stealthy black and grey. Underpinning it though we've got a similar chassis as their MT-09 naked, the same CP3 inline triple which is an absolute riot and so in my experience this is a bike that's equally as good to ride as it is to look at. New for 2026 though we've got a limited run bike from Ducati called the Formula 73 and it's got to be said this one is definitely a looker. The overall idea is to celebrate their centenary this year with a bit of a nod back to one of the most important bikes in their history the 750 SS Desmo which was the first ever production Ducati to use their signature desmodromic valves. I've got to say they're about 15 grand while this bike ain't cheap. Especially when you consider that it's built upon their relatively affordable 800 scrambler so what's so special about it? Well the bodywork and paint job definitely help, there's a nice smattering of Rizoma hardware too, the standard Termignoni silencer definitely adds a bit of sportiness and then the half turned in bars should give it a more spirited riding position than your average 800 scrambler. Plus it's limited to just 873 units worldwide each with their own serial number on the top yoke. Now in a similar vein Triumph just announced this cafe racer edition of their Speed Twin 1200 for 2026 also limited to just 800 units. This one though I think is a little better value for money than the Ducati it's just about a thousand pounds more but I think you get a heck of a lot more bike with it with the 1200 twin that makes well over a hundred horsepower. Then there's the Marzocchi fork and the Ohlins twin shocks, the twin discs up front on Brembo style emma calipers plus this beautiful dedicated finish specifically for this special edition run. The only things I don't love about this bike are perhaps the lack of a fairing but also the slightly bodged top yoke where the flat bar clamps used to be and have been replaced with the more aggressive clip-ons. A dedicated top yoke, I don't know, for this sort of money might not have been too much to ask. Still even with that in mind I've got to say this is not a bike that I'd turn down a ride on. Almost topping the chart though at number nine here we've got a very worthy bike the BMW r12s built upon their r12 retro platform with the big air-cooled boxer twin that makes surprisingly good performance figures at 109 horsepower peak. It's a well-specced bike it rides very sweetly as well but the star of the show has to be that orange and silver paint job with the red pinstripe in taking very clear inspiration from their r90s of the 1970s. Genuinely this is one of my favorite looking bikes that I've ridden in the past couple of years and could only be better in the cafe racer stakes if they'd given it more sporty bars although admittedly it would have made it a bit less comfortable and I think narrowed its appeal. Still though could a very unlikely manufacturer be about to topple them in the cafe racer desirability stakes. No price on this one as it's still just a concept but Harley Davidson of all brands recently posted this RMCR concept and it has to be said it really does look rather good. Much better I'd argue than the Panamerica adventure bike with which it shares this 1250 revolution max engine and they do say their ears are open so perhaps if there's enough good feedback well they'll actually go and make it. Anyway as always let me know which bike you'd pick down in the comments below. I think my personal favorite would be that r12s but I also wouldn't mind one of those moto guzzi kits either. Do hit subscribe as well if you want to see more of the latest motorcycle news and reviews right here on Motobob. A massive thanks for watching today and we'll catch you in the next video.