We have seen some incredible builds the last 12 months, and we have to say that despite the world pandemic, we are very pleased to see that so many people still take time work on that what we love most: motorcycles. For 2021 we have created a TOP 5 of some of the most interesting, esthetically pleasing cafe racers we wrote about here on BikeBrewers. We looked at the number of views and shares on our website and social media channels, but also at originality. After all, the list is subjective.

So without further ado, and in complete random order, here are the BikeBrewers TOP 5 Cafe Racer builds of 2021

1. Moto Guzzi 1100 Cafe Racer by Robin Mehnert
When Robin Mehnert, the woodwind instrument maker from Germany, messaged us that he and his father had built a cafe racer based on a Moto Guzzi 1100 California, we got very excited. When you see the pictures of the Guzzi, it’s not hard to see why. Make sure to read the full article to find out more about this clean looking example of Italo-Germanic craftsmanship

2. Icon Motorcycle Triumph Bonneville Triton
Okay, so this Triumph Bonneville was actually built a couple of years ago. However, we only really heard of Icon Motorcycles last year. We didn’t know much about the outfit, and sadly their website has gone offline since. All we know is that the 2 Triumph Tritons they’ve build are unlike anything we have seen in a very long time. It’s almost like a spiritual experience. Luckily, we spent some time writing an article about the work of these fine people, that are based in the Netherlands.

3. Harley-Davidson LiveWire “Rule Breaker” by Moto Adonis
Moto Adonis has been working hard in 2021, with a number of unique projects and builds, we are impressed by the work the 2-man team from the Netherlands has been delivering. When they presented their Harley-Davidson LiveWire project our jaws literally dropped to the ground. This must be the most menacing looking electric motorcycle we have ever see. Period! It looks like a great white shark. In black. On 2 wheels. We dare anybody to show us a custom electric motorcycle that looks better than this.

4. Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 “Lilith” by XTRPepo
There is such a thing as a match made in heaven. In this case, it would be Pepo Rosell, founder and owner of XTRPepo, and Royal Enfield. Let us explain. Pepo has been building race bikes since before we could remember. He has been doing that passionately for the past 25 years. The last 6 years or so, he decided to take step back from building radical custom racing machines for high end customers, and to focus on the more “fun” side of business. Which brings us to Royal Enfield. The people’s champion as far as we’re concerned. Royal Enfield has rapidly gained popularity outside of its domestic market in India. No frills, simple, classy, and affordable. Heck, 2 of our editors bought a Royal Enfield 650 for personal use! That says something! Pepo built a period-correct racer around the Continental GT, and it looks the part.

5. Triumph Bonneville “Gotham” by Tamarit x MotoShare
Tamarit has been building bikes for a long time now, and this heavily modified Triumph Bonneville was their 81st build to be precise. The Alicante, Spain based builders were commissioned by MotoShare to build a cafe racer that provokes people. A bike that gets people talking. José Antonio of Tamarit says: “We took a 2007 Triumph Bonneville and turned it into this ominous looking machine. It was during a video call that one of the guys from MotoShare mentioned it looked like it was made for Batman. It was ‘The Gotham’ from there on.”

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Booming!
The number of electric motorcycle manufacturers is increasing fast, and the portfolio of new models is booming. We have seen Zero Motorcycles, Energica, Cake, and many more, creating some very good looking machines. There is something about having maximum torque available from the get-go. Honestly, go ahead and try one out, we dare you! You would be surprised at how much fun it can be. Yes, they sound different, and yes, they feel a bit different too. But, at the end of the day, they have two wheels, and with the pull you feel when you twist the throttle, you will smile guaranteed.

Pioneers
It is safe to say that typically, electric motorcycles are designed and built by non-motorcycle building companies. Let me explain: Tesla never built a petrol or diesel car before. As a matter of fact, for a car manufacturer they are still very young compared to, let’s say, Ford or Volkswagen. Still, Tesla is now considered as one of the world’s leading electric car manufacturers.

Traditional
When we think of Harley-Davidson, we think of one of the world’s oldest motorcycle manufacturers. They have a reputation of being the opposite of innovators*. And quite frankly, they didn’t have to be innovators for a long time. Their customers wanted air-cooled, push rod, big v-twins for years. However, decreasing sales numbers as well environmental restrictions are making it harder and harder to continue to build the same type of bikes with the same type of engines as they used to.

Unexpected move
That is, until we heard of Project LiveWire. A radically different Harley-Davidson. Not only was it a naked bike (totally different segment), it was also going to be 100% electric! Clearly this bike was meant to attract a new audience. Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor took two of these machines from Ushuaia to Los Angeles, with some support of course, to show just how capable Harley-Davidson had build this motorcycles; an impressive feat! It definitely got our attention.

Moto Adonis
When we saw that one of the Netherlands finest builders, Moto Adonis, had gotten their hands on a Harley-Davidson LiveWire, we lost our shit. Really, we literally jumped up in excitement! So, we hit Arthur Renkema up, one of the 3 founding members and co-owner of Moto Adonis, together with Job Leussing, to ask if we could see the bike for ourselves. The answer was: YES! But we had to be quick, because the owner of the bike, who wishes to remain anonymous, was. going to pick up his bike in 2 days time. The results of that visit can be seen on our YouTube channel. It is mind boggling when you realize that this entire build was created in just 4 months time!

If you haven’t heard of Moto Adonis before, they have been building custom motorcycles for years. We have featured a great number of articles about their builds in the past 5 years, make sure to check those out! This is the first time we have seen a HD LiveWire build like this. Since the bike is all electric, they left the internals of the motorcycle untouched and focused primarily on the esthetics. And they did an incredible job at that! A quick look at the spec sheet shows: 105hp, 116 Nm, 251kg, 160km range and a top speed of 185 km/h. Not bad at all!

We can’t wait to see more builds like this. In the meantime, enjoy these beautiful shots of the Harley-Davidson LiveWire

Photo Credits: Mark Meisner

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