History of the "Cafe Racer" jacket.

[handymike]

I have a feeling that the term is a good piece of marketing. Up until the 2000s no one really wanted “Heritage”. The fact that one has nothing to do with the other is making me think it was a branding move that worked really well. I wonder if Schott has answers.
Does anyone have Rin Tanaka’s book? It came out in 2000, what does he call them?

 

[navetsea]

well, the so called "cafe jacket" in 90's Harley catalogue looks a lot like what a Diner Racer jacket could have been. Muffin top, elasticized waist, I almost can see action pleat around the tummy

 

[handymike]

I think you’re right!
Cafe with a big TM...”designed for touring” all the restaurants you can...with cargo pockets for the left-overs.

 

[Mandarin]

I have a feeling that the term is a good piece of marketing. Up until the 2000s no one really wanted “Heritage”. The fact that one has nothing to do with the other is making me think it was a branding move that worked really well. I wonder if Schott has answers.
Does anyone have Rin Tanaka’s book? It came out in 2000, what does he call them?

Rin Tanaka uses the names used by the makers:
Racing shirt, Sportster, ...
Never mentions cafe racer.
Interestingly, the Schott straight zip is referred to as "single style"

There's a Taubers competition shirt, but I can't upload the scan

 

[Seb Lucas]

This may be juvenile but I don't feel like calling them cafe racers any more.

 

[lina]

I notice that Rin Tanaka and Derek Harris (of Lewis Leathers) did a book together published in 2017 on the history of Lewis Leathers. That might be a good source. But price seems to start at $70, and I don't see an electronically searchable version anywhere, so I won't be consulting it anytime soon.

 

[Monitor]

This may be juvenile but I don't feel like calling them cafe racers any more.

I hear ya...

Well, I don't think we can discover much more from here on anyway. I just went through everything resembling the style on Vanson's site, Lewis Leathers dot com, Mascot, etc. Barely any mention of cafe at all...

Belstaff just calls it that and goes on about how it was a popular style during the 60's and the 70's. Just no way to know for sure. Name's been associated with the jacket for a long time in some form or another but I'd say it was the internet that made it exclusive.
Maybe it was just to make the distinction clearer? Maybe if we find out what the people actually used to call the diagonal zippered jacket? Was it just a bike jacket? Rocker jacket? I mean, when you were buying a jacket, you had to say something, call them something if you already decided on a style.

Like, back in the 70's, what'd you call a cross zip?

 

[Mandarin]

I hear ya...

Well, I don't think we can discover much more from here on anyway. I just went through everything resembling the style on Vanson's site, Lewis Leathers dot com, Mascot, etc. Barely any mention of cafe at all...

Belstaff just calls it that and goes on about how it was a popular style during the 60's and the 70's. Just no way to know for sure. Name's been associated with the jacket for a long time in some form or another but I'd say it was the internet that made it exclusive.
Maybe it was just to make the distinction clearer? Maybe if we find out what the people actually used to call the diagonal zippered jacket? Was it just a bike jacket? Rocker jacket? I mean, when you were buying a jacket, you had to say something, call them something if you already decided on a style.

Like, back in the 70's, what'd you call a cross zip?

A Perfecto

 

[zebedee]

A Speedster. New name.

 

[lina]

I hear ya...

Well, I don't think we can discover much more from here on anyway. I just went through everything resembling the style on Vanson's site, Lewis Leathers dot com, Mascot, etc. Barely any mention of cafe at all...

I don't know, Vanson has a whole category called "cafe racer motorcycle Jackets." And they say: "Rockers (or Ton-up Boys) and their leathers were a beacon to bikers around the world. Cafe Racer jackets referenced this in the lifestyle of motorcycle enthusiasts that took pride in modifying their bikes, continuously optimizing them for looks, speed and handling. That is how the Café Racer was born!" (emphasis original on their page).

Schott says:
"The Cafe Racer leather jacket design that became mainstream in the 1960's was developed in England. As soldiers were returning home after WWII they caught the bug of souping up older, prewar motorbikes. These motorcycles were raced between local pubs and cafes which created the need for a streamlined, minimalist leather racing jacket... .. One would imagine there were wagers made and records set during these early cafe racing days. Schott Brothers has produced a café racer leather motorcycle jacket since we produced model 666 RS for Beck in 1956. It was called a "Leather Racing Shirt" and cost $28.95 at the time."

Aero of course has their "cafe racer stock jackets" section. Lost Worlds has their "Easy Ryder Cafe Racer Style MC Jacket" and their "Buco J100 Cafe Racer Style MC Jacket." Himel Bros calls their Kensington "our take on the cafe racer." Good Wear describes their "Californian Racer" as "a copy of a California Sportwear Cafe Racer." GQ has an article on "Cafe Racer jackets" that says "Made famous by European motorcyclists in the '60s and '70s who would race each other through the city streets on their bikes, the racer jacket is a menswear icon."

So, the makers have nearly all bought into the label, and most project it back to the rockers or kaff racers of the 1960s UK.

I do think the internet flattens things out and everyone starts using the same terms as their copywriters start cutting and pasting "history." But still, the name and association started somewhere...

 

[Blackadder]

The racing shirt style probably wasn't all that popular in UK not until perhaps the 70s. LL did a profile of its Sportsman range jacket. Although there is no mention of its origin or heritage, it mentions the style only became popular in late 60s - 70s and there is no mention of cafe racing or cafe racer jacket.
https://www.lewisleathers.com/186.html
It is beginning to sound awfully like marketing trick by American makers based on some fake European romantic stories.

 

[lina]

The racing shirt style probably wasn't all that popular in UK not until perhaps the 70s. LL did a profile of its Sportsman range jacket. Although there is no mention of its origin or heritage, it mentions the style only became popular in late 60s - 70s and there is no mention of cafe racing or cafe racer jacket.
https://www.lewisleathers.com/186.html
It is beginning to sound awfully like marketing trick by American makers based on some fake European romantic stories.

The black and white pick in that link from 1968 shows a guy on a Norton wearing what we would now definitely call a CR. That’s slightly late (early to mid 60s would have been the peak of the rockers/kaff racers), but even if they don’t mention kaff racing I think it’s implied. Not sure what that gets us, but you can certainly see someone looking at that pic or ones like it and thinking, Those UK kaff racers were wearing “cafe racer” jackets on their kaff racing Nortons..

 

[Seb Lucas]

Like, back in the 70's, what'd you call a cross zip?

Here they were called Brando or American Bike Jackets.

 

[Downunder G Man]

I am 61 , ex UK stock (Scotland) been in Australia near 30 years. Before I emigrated I knew these jacket styles as Café racer and/or mandarin collared jackets. I had one in the very early 80's as did a fair few of my then riding mates.
I personally back then preferred a straight zipped and collared leather jacket. Worked on my motorcycle at the weekend , and to work with dress pleated pants , black brogues and a shirt and tie. Looked quite smart actually.
I now have 3 "café racers" in the fleet , the Schott 641HH in the attached photo from today's Harley ride (bought new)
Plus a Simmons Bilt J100 in black goat (bought new) , and a vintage Excelled in brown (ex FL classifieds). I like all 3.

Simmons Bilt J100 in black goat. A couple months back maybe. Same Indian Ocean view photo spot.

Excelled vintage Café racer in Brown

 

[lina]

@Downunder G Man Love those springer forks!

 

[Downunder G Man]

@Downunder G Man Love those springer forks!

I hear ya lina !
Until this Harley FXSTSSE2 CVO Screamin' Eagle Springer , which I bought used in Central Texas in 2011 with 6300 miles, all my previous motorcycles had "conventional" telescopic front ends. Brought it to Perth Western Australia in the same year.
I always like "the look" from afar, add the CVO relative exclusivity, (the local HD dealer only sold 2 of these new in 2008).
It has just today crossed 43,000 Kilometres , so it does get out and about.
The Springer ride is very "firm" with minimal to no "dive" under braking , takes a wee bit of getting used to !
Usually in the past I often had 2 Harleys at the same time , using them as everyday transport. 290+ dry days/year here.
I am currently 61 , and this is "my keeper". I love it more and more as time goes past.
Hopefully not a thread derailment , more of an "infomercial" enhancement haha...

 

[2wheelgrplr]

This may be juvenile but I don't feel like calling them cafe racers any more.

I was thinking along the same lines as I read through this thread. Maybe I'll cut through the clutter, and since this is a minimalistic design compared to the cross-zip/perfecto, I'll just call this the Basic Rider jacket in my mind, like in Harley's catalog from 20 yrs ago - thank you @handymike for a most informative and entertaining vintage HD catalog post.Then again, @Downunder G Man remembers this being called cafe racers 30yrs back ... anyways, great thread overall, love all the historical bits. This is one of the reasons why I'm here on this forum. Thank you gentlemen!

 

[lina]

I was thinking along the same lines as I read through this thread. Maybe I'll cut through the clutter, and since this is a minimalistic design compared to the cross-zip/perfecto, I'll just call this the Basic Rider jacket in my mind, like in Harley's catalog from 20 yrs ago - thank you @handymike for a most informative and entertaining vintage HD catalog post.Then again, @Downunder G Man remembers this being called cafe racers 30yrs back ... anyways, great thread overall, love all the historical bits. This is one of the reasons why I'm here on this forum. Thank you gentlemen!

It reminds me a little bit of Alden Indy Boots. I never really liked the movie tie in name, and I always thought they didn't look very boot-like, and then I found out that for decades Alden called them "high work shoes." I liked that much better! I had a pair for a few years and tried at first to call them "high work shoes," but of course everyone said, "wait, I thought those were Indy Boots."

Anyway, I actually don't mind the designation "cafe racer" for the jacket. At least it's not a brand tie-in. And as David Himel said, the stripped down bike and the stripped down jacket really do sort of match each other aesthetically, whatever the history. I'll probably keep calling it that -- and in fact I recently listed a Brooks for sale by that moniker!

 

[2wheelgrplr]

It reminds me a little bit of Alden Indy Boots. I never really liked the movie tie in name, and I always thought they didn't look very boot-like, and then I found out that for decades Alden called them "high work shoes." I liked that much better! I had a pair for a few years and tried at first to call them "high work shoes," but of course everyone said, "wait, I thought those were Indy Boots."

Anyway, I actually don't mind the designation "cafe racer" for the jacket. At least it's not a brand tie-in. And as David Himel said, the stripped down bike and the stripped down jacket really do sort of match each other aesthetically, whatever the history. I'll probably keep calling it that -- and in fact I recently listed a Brooks for sale by that moniker!

Yeah, that will be me too now. I'll keep on calling them Cafe Racer jackets, I'm perfectly fine with that name, but I know that OCD-voice deep down in my mind will now keep popping up saying, "wait a minute, you mean a Cycle shirt, or a Basic Rider, or ..." LOL

 

[lina]

Yeah, that will be me too now. I'll keep on calling them Cafe Racer jackets, I'm perfectly fine with that name, but I know that OCD-voice deep down in my mind will now keep popping up saying, "wait a minute, you mean a Cycle shirt, or a Basic Rider, or ..." LOL

Or a “buckaroo shirt”!