A “brat cafe racer” is typically a bike that has most of the cafe-style details, such as low clip-on or clubman bars and rear sets, but has a flat “brat style” seat instead of the “bum stop” solo seat with cowling. A brat style seat is typically easier for the garage-builder to make, and the seat pan may consist of anything from hammered sheet metal to skateboards to aftermarket, pre-upholstered pans. The term “brat style” itself comes from the eponymous Japanese workshop of legendary builder Go Takamine. However, in the context of “cafe brat” or “brat cafe racer” builds, the term typically refers only to the flat, bench-style seat. Below, we have a number of such builds for your perusal.
Hinckley Howler: Triumph Trident Bobber - Triumph T300 “Tri-Bird” from Chris Forward… The early Hinckley Triumphs of the 1990s are quickly becoming modern classics. These “T300” machines brought the great British marque back from the shadows and spearheaded the brand’s many […]
Changeling: Honda Hornet 600 “Retro Racer” - Custom Hornet 600 by Seb Kustom Motorcycle… Introduced in 1998, the Honda CB600F Hornet was a naked sports bike that featured a 599cc liquid-cooled inline four from the CBR600F3 sports bike — a machine that […]
Cult of Personality: Honda GL1000 Custom - Not your granddaddy’s Goldwing! The original Honda GL1000 Goldwing debuted in 1974 with a 999cc liquid-cooled flat-four and a number of interesting design features, including a contra-rotating generator to counteract the engine’s torque, a below-seat […]
Budget-Built: $1250 Honda CB650 by Redeemed Cycles - A $1250 (!) brat / cafe racer from North Carolina… While we love to drool over high-dollar bike builds as much as anyone, we’ve always been drawn to bikes built within a reasonable budget, and […]
BMW K100 “Shahin” by Mehdi Barakchian - An ’87 Flying Brick dragged “kicking and screaming” into 2019… The BMW K100, introduced in 1982, benefited from the company’s many years of experience building liquid-cooled, overhead cam, inline automobile engines. The fuel-injected, 95-hp engine was […]
Honda GL1100 Goldwing by De Angelis Elaborazioni - The Honda Goldwing may not seem like an ideal donor bike for a custom build, but the big Honda boxers are increasingly finding their way into the hands of builders all over the world. The […]
Honda CB360 Cafe Racer by Aston Neale Motorcycles - Straight out of Suffolk: A Garage-Built, Modernized CB360… The Honda CB360 was only available for a short time — 1974 to 1976 — as the successor to the popular CB350. The 34-hp air-cooled parallel twin […]
BMW K1100 Special by TOMA Customs - A K-Series cruise missile for a Belgian racing driver… At one time, the K1100 was “the bike” for BMW, a high-speed tourer with an 1093cc, 100-hp version of the “Flying Brick” engine — so-named for […]
Honda 125 Brat Cafe by Revolt Cycles - The Honda TMX125 is an air-cooled thumper, a variation of the better-known CB125 and CG125 series. These Honda 125cc singles have long been hailed as punchy, bulletproof performers over the years. They are also a […]
Honda CX500 Brat Cafe by Sault Built - Cameron Sault is the founder of Sault Built, a workshop where he builds custom furniture and motorcycles, as well as working in metal sculpting. Since Cam is deaf, he cannot enjoy the exhaust note of […]
BMW K100 Bobber: “Mira” - Trevor Ryan Ditson of Prescott, Arizona, spent his young years in the garage, helping his father build choppers and his grandfather who was into drag racing. After two decades as a chef, he decided to […]
Honda CB350 Brat Cafe by Ron George - “Maggie” — from basket case to garage-built beauty… When steelworker and plumber Ron George received a basket case 1970 Honda CB350 Twin in a trade deal, he knew he had the perfect platform to build […]
Honda CB750K Brat by Sean Junqueira - A DOHC CB750 with a Brazilian twist… We knew the quality of Sean Junqueira‘s motorcycle photography from his work with the late Devolve Moto in Raleigh, North Carolina, but we had not seen his building […]
Honda CB125 Brat Cafe: “Biff” - “I was given a manual and pushed to figure it out…” Jenny Lawson of Fayetteville, Arkansas — aka @TrippinHawk — is a single mother of two teen girls, a small business owner, and the builder […]
BMW R100R Scrambler by Cafe Racer SSpirit - Cafe Racer SSpirit of Spain has become one of our favorite builders in recent years. Their build process is highly collaborative with their customers. They like to say they take a journey with their clients, […]
Honda CX500 Rose Edition by X-AXIS - Today, we’re proud to showcase the Honda CX500 Rose Edition, the third CX500 custom in the X-AXIS fleet. After years of competitive racing, two-time British motocross (MX1) champion Billy MacKenzie created the X-AXIS workshop to […]
Honda CB350 Restomod by Offset Motorcycles - Craquelure, (/ˈkrakˌlo͝or/): a network of fine cracks in the paint or varnish of a painting. That’s the name of this 1970 Honda CB350 “resto brat,” built by Jason Lisica of San Francisco’s Offset Motorcycles. Jason […]
Honda CB350 Brat by Purpose Built Moto - Tom Gilroy, the founder of Australia’s Purpose Built Moto, has been making a name for himself in the custom moto scene. Besides turning out a herd of custom bikes, which can be seen ripping around […]
Custom Honda CX500 by X-Axis - British motocross racer Billy MacKenzie has quite the racing pedigree. He’s a 2x British MX1 Champion, riding for Factory Kawasaki and Honda teams, and 3x overall Gran Prix winner. After decades of competitive racing, Billy […]
Honda CL450 Brat by Tom Hernden - In 1974, at just 19 years old, Tom Hernden won the Florida State Modified Championship at Twin City Dragway in Oldsmar, Florida, racing the 1973 Honda CL450K5 drag bike he built. Fast forward 40 years, […]
Kawasaki KZ650 Brat by Kaspeed - If you follow the blog, you know we are big fans of the Kawasaki KZ650. The Honda CB series of the era may get more love and attention, but this “Son of the Z1” […]
Honda CB200T Café-Brat by Slipstream Creations - ”A solid, reliable bike, good for transportation of the impecunious.” This is how the Honda CB200T has been described. The bike was the largest of the Honda CB Twin series that included the CB125, […]
Honda Nighthawk Brat Cafe by Purpose Built Moto - Tom Gilroy of Purpose Built Moto is steadily turning out a whole stable’s worth of custom bikes on Australia’s Gold Coast, along with a staggering array of custom parts: LED Lights, Headlights, CNC triple clamps, […]
Honda CB500T by Denton Moto - Today, we’re thrilled to present “Morrison” — the flagship bike of Denton Moto Collective, and the personal bike of our friend Fabian Campos. The Denton Moto story began in the fall of 2015, when Fabian […]
Honda CB550 Brat Cafe by Eli Carver - We were lucky enough to meet some incredible people at the 2017 Handbuilt Show in Austin. The bikes in the show were off-the-charts, as always, but there was also a staggering lineup on the street […]
Yamaha SR250 Brat by Greasers Garage - The Yamaha SR250 makes for a sweet little runabout — particularly when it’s touched by the hands of a gifted builder. This ’83 SR250, nicknamed Diavoletta (Little She-Devil), was built as the city run-around machine […]
BMW R45 Brat by Unik Edition Custom Cycles - The BMW R45 was introduced in the late 70s, largely aimed at learners and beginners. It looked much like a scaled-down version of BMW Motorrad’s larger bikes, with a 473cc, 35-horsepower boxer motor and 95 […]
Yamaha XT600 Street Tracker by Redonda Motors - The Yamaha XT600 was one of the most popular all-purpose enduros of its era, produced from 1984 to 2003 in a range of variants. The air-cooled single offered 34-39 horsepower, and this particular specimen is […]
Honda CL350 Brat Cafe by Sean Sallings - Motorcycles and family go hand-in-hand, and nothing demonstrates that more than this Honda CL350 cafe racer by Sean Sallings…whose parents were married in a Harley shop! Sean’s father is none other than Jan Sallings of […]
Honda CB750 Nighthawk Cafe Racer by Overbold Motor Co. - Depending on where you live, governmental agencies can make it tough to build a custom bike that’s both aesthetically-pleasing and road-legal. I can attest to being sent home multiple times from the inspection center with […]
Honda CB750 Brat Tracker by Tom Laveuf - Tom Laveuf grew up in France, where he and his family rode Honda CR125 and CR250 dirt bikes, and his uncle rebuilt 70s Hondas. After moving to the States, his two-wheeled obsession went dormant until […]
Yamaha XS850 Cafe Racer by Therapy Moto - Few of us would argue that building and riding bikes is good therapy. Not free therapy, mind you–but good. Lars Engelsviken of Norway’s Therapy Moto has taken that notion to heart. He says: “Therapy Moto […]
Honda CB550 Brat by Ironwood Custom Motorcycles - (Written by Mark Turner.) Thankfully we are all individuals. Some of us like big women, some like marmite, some like to wear women’s clothing on a Thursday night and call themselves Mildred. Personally, I like […]
BMW R100R Brat Cafe by Rough Cycles - Rough Cycles of Berlin was founded in 2011. Since then, the shop has grown to include three guys and two dogs. They mainly specialize in repairing and customizing Harley Davidsons. However, after more than a […]
Honda CB500 Brat Bike by Patrick Couturier - We’re always thrilled to showcase the first custom bike from a promising young builder. Like first loves, there’s nothing quite like your first build. There’s that first fumbling through wiring looms, those hours spent over […]
Honda CB750 Brat Cafe by Magnum Opus - We discovered this blown KZ650 by Magnum Opus Custom Bikes at this year’s Handbuilt Show, only to realize that this custom shop, run by Ezio Covelli, is located in the same town as our headquarters: […]
CB750 Nighthawk Brat Bike by Smith Cycles - Today, we’re proud to present this 1985 Honda CB750 RC04 (Nighthawk) brat bike by Sven Schmidt of Germany’s Smith Cycles. The RC04 was the German version of the Nighthawk. Though customs are a dime a […]
Honda CBX400 Custom by Cafe Racer SSpirit - Cafe Racer SSpirit of San Sebastian, Spain, consistently turns out some of our favorite builds. We’ve shared their R51 scrambler and, more recently, we featured their Honda CBX custom, whose six-into-one custom exhaust sounds like […]
Brat Style BMW R100 by The Bike Maker - The Watchmaker’s Wheels… Swiss watches are world-renown for their precision and craftsmanship, and Swiss watchmakers are legendary for their exactitude, their attention to detail. Today, we have a 1979 BMW R100RS built by Alexandre Ciaramella […]
Bratstyle CB750 by Fuel Well Moto - Some custom builds start out as basket-cases, some as rusty barn finds, some as battered runners. Not very many start out as lime green, chromed-out cruisers. Doug Snell of Fuel Well Moto in Los Angeles […]
