Cafe racers, custom motorcycles and classic motorcycles

If you’re a fan of 1980s superbikes, the closest thing you can buy today is the Yamaha XJR1300. It’s a throwback muscle bike, with an air-cooled DOHC parallel four motor that pumps out a smidge under 100 hp and a whopping 108 Nm of torque. It’s not sophisticated and it won’t lay waste to a 600 sport bike, but it packs a solid dose of old-school cool. So I’m surprised we haven’t seen more café racers based on the XJR1300, like this one from RF-Biketech. They’re a Kawasaki dealer based in the small Bavarian town of Nüdlingen, but turn out a steady stream of customs and café racers. This bike is called “Nothing Else Matters”: it’s running custom bodywork with integrated LEDs at the back, matched to retro-style instruments. The 4-into-1 exhaust system has been fashioned by RF-Biketech themselves, along with the radical new swingarm, which is a beautiful piece of engineering. It’s hooked up to an 8.5”wide back wheel, carrying 240-width rubber. I’m not sure how the bike will handle with that huge rear tire, but it certainly looks the business. [Via RocketGarage.]