We’re busy compiling content for cafe Racer magazine’s next issue that takes a brave, sometimes challenging look at traveling via cafe racer. Yes, I know- the very concept screams oxymoron – but some of our contributors have ventured out for extended journeys aboard motorcycle not necessarily designed for such things.
It’s interesting to learn how these impromptu travel writers happened upon the idea of lashing their scant belongings to their short-distance rides and heading out to test their own endurance and dedication on two wheels. Features writer Anthony Conroy has traveled several hundred miles from his Pittsburgh home to the annual Americade rally in scenic Lake George, New York, a 700-mile ride he both cherishes and dreads with equal measure. Our ace UK photographer for the past 15 years, Simon Everett shares the story of his recent one-in-a-lifetime trek from Southern England to the remote and very hard-to-reach Faroe Islands where his late father served in Her majesty’s Navy during WWII. The fierce winds, multi-country travel through unfamiliar roads and dense fog made Simon’s 3,500 ride one you won’t soon forget. or attempt on your own.
The new issue’s centerpiece is a hilarious, heartwrencing chronicle of a 2006 coast-to-coast motorcycle trip undertaken by So Cal custom bike designer Dustin Kott. The vintage Honda builder chose to reach New York City aboard one of Honda’s early CB750 fours, a motorcycle capable of many things, but not exactly a touring rig by anyone’s account.
How do you pack a cafe racer to make the low-barred, compact machine capable of propelling rider and gear across several states? What preventive measures do you undertake to ensure safe and reliable travel? We look into all of those questions and more come June 10. See you on the road.
