Had the good fortune to be in London and could take some time out to visit the Ace Cafe in London. Mentioned it my previous post, this is kind of where that Cafe Racer movement started.
Excerpts from the history section of their site – would recommend you visit the site and read it all and see the lovely pics. If you love Bikes you will absolutely love looking at the pictures and the site.
“The original Ace Cafe opened in 1938 on North Circular Road in London. Planned as a transport cafe for truck and lorry drivers, it quickly became a place where motorbike riders gathered. An icon to English motorcyclists, it also has a significance for bikers elsewhere in the world”
“Driven by a passion for bikes and rock n’ roll, Mark Wilsmore started planning in 1993 to re-open the legendary cafe. Twenty five years after the cafe closed, the first Ace Cafe Reunion was held in 1994, attracting 12,000 people. The following annual Reunions, known as “Ace Days”, took place on historic ground: Brighton’s famous Madeira Drive. The original Ace site couldn’t accommodate the steadily rising numbers of visitors. Over 25,000 enthusiastic riders celebrated Ace Day in 1997.”
“We got the planning permission, and ACE CAFE LONDON bought the original Ace Cafe site. Finally, after a complete rebuild, September 2001 saw the Grand Opening of the famous bikers haunt. The Ace Cafe is back and is here to stay!”
Today at the cafe (pronounced Caff ) there were some vintage cars that had come in, gorgeous ones, all Bristol make cars.
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Bristol – Lovely car
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There are always bikers there I was sure, today was no different. There were quite a few street bikes parked and a few cruise bikes as well. Inside there were plenty of leather jackets hanging about with sundry pony-tails and all kinds of tattoos.
Your truly of course took the opportunity to get hold of an Ace Club London tee 🙂
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Yours Truly with the T-shirt proudly proclaiming Ace !
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Inside the cafe were a few bikes standing on a little podium, each of these was a modified cafe racer. The Triumph Thurxton took the cake but there was another one – a mean custom job with the most amazing silencers, lovely single hide seat and leather bags. Gorgeous ! Look at the picture below.
There was one red colored cafe racer, looked almost like the prototype of the one RE have been promising us. And there was an original British made Royal Enfield and with twin cylinders to boot. Guys at Eicher RE please take note, lets get that one out of the woods and in to production. I bet it will be awesome a twin cylinder model with about 800 – 1000 CC. Rocking!
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| The first bike in the pic is a Royal Enfield – with twin cylinders |
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| This is a complete custom job, look at the seat and the silencers !!! |
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| Thruxton- Beautiful Beast ! |
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| A BSA sitting on its own – looks like a classic bullet with a single cylinder |
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The perfect Cafe Racer
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| The walls of the cafe are full of event notices and pictures |
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| History of the Cafe – read it on their site |
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| About Rockers ! Check that riding position on a Racer. |
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| Other Vintage Bristols |
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| Bikes Galore |
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| The Bar ! |
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| A Triumphant Beast – it was the Rocket I think |
A most satisfying evening. The only thing missing was my own Classic beauty !
