Can Two People Ride A Café Racer Motorcycle? Yes, With These Mods

Café Racer motorcycles first appeared on the streets in the 1950s in London, when restless teenage "rockers" began stripping back and customizing their British bikes for power, speed, and agility. After the austerities of World War II, motorcycles were fast becoming an affordable platform to express the rebellious nature of the rock-and-roll age. Rockers began chopping and lightening their bikes for a more aggressive stance, lowering handlebars — or clipping grips straight onto forks — to bring the rider down low, reducing drag. 

Some riders added chunky tires and gaiters to cope with dirty, rough roads, while others taped a black "X" across their headlamps, ostensibly to protect them from flying glass, while also signifying membership of this new subculture. Mudguards, side covers, side lights, mirrors, rear pegs, fairings — any accessories deemed unnecessary — were tossed aside to reduce weight. Seats were shortened and frames cut down, with a pronounced cowl added at the rear. There was an air of romance about the windswept cool of the Café Racer, but its minimalist, single-seat arrangement severely limited the practicalities of actually picking up a date. 

While two people can indeed ride a Café Racer, that ride may not be altogether comfortable, safe, or even legal — unless the motorcycle is designed to carry two people. To ride pillion, modifications such as welding up a longer frame, adding a full-length seat, and bolting on rear footpegs may be required. However, some diehard enthusiasts would argue modifying a Café Racer for spaciousness and comfort goes against its entire ethos.

What started as a youth rebellion has ended up being commodified. Young people have disposable income, so just as with 1960s choppers, what was once a backyard mod is now a manufacturer's trim option. Production model Café Racers from the likes of BMW, Triumph, Kawasaki, and Norton are now plentiful, but often have limited flexibility when it comes to adding a passenger.

The main limiting factors are the seats and the pegs. Not all Café Racers have the single seat and cowl combo: some, like the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650, offer a dual-person touring seat as an option, while others have removable cowls which allow adding a passenger. Many customized bikes feature a "brat" style seat, typically long, flat, and low, not to mention painfully thin, with any notion of comfort thrown to the four winds. 

A larger seat can be added to your Café Racer — but take careful note of the mounting points when seeking a replacement. If the frame has been chopped, you could take a welding course and extend it yourself, or pay a custom shop to do it properly. A better, if pricier, option is to fabricate a reversible bolt-on assembly to take the larger seat. Accessory footpegs are readily available in different styles and designs, either bolting onto an existing mount point, through a hole, or clamping onto the frame. Spring-loaded pegs that fold out of the way will keep your bike lean and mean, and help prevent getting pegs snarled on obstructions.

There are downsides to adding a motorcycle passenger: while it may improve your love life, it will not improve your bike's handling, not to mention the aesthetics. Some Café Racer purists see pillion mods as a definite no-no that drastically diminishes your bike's the resale value. And because Café Racers are designed to be lean and mean, passenger comfort is nowhere near that of dedicated touring bikes. 

A Café Racer generally has a short wheelbase for improved agility, which means a physical limitation to getting bums on seats. When adding weight at the rear, a shock wrench will come in handy. Use it to add preload to your rear shock (or shocks), and if there is a damping adjustment, reduce the rebound and increase the compression by about 25%, to avoid lightening the steering. Adding heavier fork oil can also help compensate for the added weight.

As always, be sure to check state laws that may prohibit you taking passengers such as young children. If, at the end of the day, you find riding with a passenger amounts to little more than a royal pain in the backside for both you and your beau, perhaps the Café Racer lifestyle is not for you. Remember, there are plenty of touring motorcycles out there designed for two — and it may surprise the lengths to which Harley-Davidson will go to make the partnering experience more comfortable, offering some amazing upgrades for long-term passenger comfort.