Café Correcto
‘MANY RIDERS, AS IN THE PAST, HAVE TAKEN a standard motorcycle, maybe new, maybe old, and invested time, money and their ingenuity to produce a personal statement. A machine that –whatever its individual idiosyncrasies – immediately creates an impression of speed and purposefulness.’
Mike Clay’s words in his 1988 book ‘Café Racers’ explain eloquently and concisely the reason why beautiful motorcycles like the glimmering Guzzi in front of me exist at all. Café racers because these bikes were – and are – used for short, sharp speed trips from one legendary coffee bar to another. Places like The Ace Cafe, now of course once again a mecca for the rockers of today, The Busy Bee, Johnsons and the Dugout, all became watering holes and meeting places for the ton-up boys of the day.
Stripped down Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons with clip-on ’bars and racing tanks were tools of choice for those who wanted to experience speed and make a personal statement at the same time. Individuals like Paul Dunstall and Dave Degens were the driving force of café racerdom in the 1960s, and rightly so, as café racers represent the individual, not the corporate monster.
However, some factories felt compelled to produce their own café racers, and certain Ducati and Guzzi models in particular, such as the Ducati 750 Sport and the Guzzi V7 Sport arguably redefined the genre.
Suitably enough then, I first came across James Cracknell’s Moto Guzzi special on Italian Day at
