Norton Atlas Cafe Racer

[Camila Fonua]

Est2006 Return of the Cafe Racers is the world's premier cafe racer focused website. We publish regular features on custom motorcycle builds, riding gear reviews, how to guides and event coverage from around the globe. If you're a fan of cafe racer motorcycles and style then you've come to the right place!

Just as a drugstore cowboy is one who dresses like a cowboy but hangs around in town and never gets near a horse or a cow, I figured a cafe-racer was a motorcycle rider who dressed like a roadracer and prepared his bike to look like a racebike, but hung around the cafe, drinking coffee and swapping lies rather than taking him-self and his bike to the racetrack for a true test of riding ability.

There may, in fact, have been a note of put-down in the origin of the term, but by the time I got out of high school, the cafe-racer, as both lifestyle and type of motorcycle, had been elevated to something of an art form. It turned out some of the bikes were beautifully rendered and some of their riders, though they might consume a great deal of coffee, took their riding quite seriously.

I finally quit snickering when I saw photos of some of the creations coming out of England, such as the exquisite Tritons: Norton Featherbed frame (usually Atlas) paired with highly tuned Triumph Bonneville engine, generally with long, polished alloy tank, bumstop race seat, clip-ons, rearsets, etc. Lean, clean and elegant.

There were also other hybrids with unlikely pairings of half-names, such as the Norvin, a Vincent V-Twin whipped-and-chaired into (again) the Norton Featherbed frame. These were supposed to be best-of-both-world combinations, and I always wondered if the folks at Norton were troubled to observe that everyone kept their frames and threw the engines away. Or if Triumph engineers wondered why everyone liked their engines but replaced the frames with something from Norton, or a specialized frame builder like Seely or Rickman.

I lived in Paris one winter, after I came home from Vietnam in the autumn of 1970, and this was the first place I observed the cafe-racer movement first-hand. British Twins were waning, but Paris was full of heavily racerized Honda 750 Fours, many of them done by Japauto, a Paris Honda dealership that built 989cc, 80-horsepower street-racer conversions.

I used to hang out in such Hemingway-redolent bistros as La Chope and Coupole, and up would howl a group of riders in full black leathers, expensive sheepskin aviator boots, soupbowl helmets and goggles, usually with colorful scarves or the popular checkered Arab kaffiyeh worn around the neck. They would tramp into the cafe, rubbing their hands together for warmth and ordering large amounts of hot coffee, all of them charged with that special energy that comes from a sense of being a romantic figure in the right place at the right time.

Their bikes almost always had tank bags, rearsets and clip-ons. The clipons, I thought, were not ideal for guiding a heavy, wide motorcycle around the shiny damp cobblestones of Paris, but they looked neat.

Later cafe Hall of Famers would have to include the various GPzs, Interceptors and Katanas, the SRX600, GB500, R100S, most Guzzis, Hailwood Replicas and nearly all other Ducatis except for the really dumblooking ones aimed at American bad taste as imagined by misled Italians. And now, of course, we are absolutely awash in bikes that could be considered cafe-racers. The Japanese make them in every displacement category, Ducati is thriving and Harley has picked up an interest in Buell. The new Triumph Speed Triple is the very avatar of the tradition. They are all around us, these non-standard, non-cruiser, non-luxotourer bikes whose performance and good looks beg discussion in your better bistros and cafes everywhere.

I ride a 1958 Dominator 99 cafe racer, which I transferred to Germany last year. German MOT requires me to cover the clutch for safety of the rider. As a first measure I covered it with a steel sieve, wich was accepted, but I think, the task could be solved more elegantly. Pictures attached...

Many thanks, Philip! Yes, it is a belt drive conversion. Id like to keep the present hand made alloy cover and just close/cover the hole for the clutch, maybe off the shelf, but even ideas for unconventional taylored solutions are welcome.

How far does it have to come out? Perhaps you could use the rear hub trim disc with a grommet in the axle hole? I am of course assuming that you removed it from the wheel as most cafe racer builders did!

thumbs up! A great idea, as I think. The clutch center nut does come out one Inch max and that would fit. I will check if the diameter of the trim disc matches with the hole for the clutch, wich is appr. 18cm. Found already one on ebay, pic attached ... again, many thanks! Any more ideas are still most welcome. Will post any fitted result of a solution by end of month.

This is my RGM alloy cover in position. It is a bit open to the elements and road rubbish but it suits my needs. The big plus being the large clutch and alternator openings allows the cover to be moved inwards so that the rear brake lever doeas not foul it. RGM appear to offer 2 versions with different cutaways.

Norton Atlas 1964 750cc Cafe Racer, many Dunstall parts which include top yolk, pipes, seat, tank, oil tank, clip-ons, foot rests and some internals. Engine has been balanced and tuned by SRM with belt drive, commando clutch and racing. mag, TLS front brake, twin clocks, swept back pipes, central oil tank. This is a high performance, very quick cafe racer with smooth power delivery and a fantastic bark that will turn heads and keep up with modern day motorcycles.

1966 750cc Norton Manx Replica Racer, Atlas powered, new motor, driveline, braeks, chassic, paint. Beautiful recreation of the famous cafe racer, built and owned by Norton President Mike Smith, Just serviced and ready to race. Get it for a fraction of the time and money it took to build...Greg 1-313-414-3540

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