Styles
Cafe Racer Art
The cafe racer is the most drawable motorcycle ever built. Clip-ons, a long tank, a humped single seat and nothing it does not need - it reads as a gesture, which is why it suits ink. The style was born outside London's transport cafes in the late 1950s, when riders stripped their machines to do the ton - 100mph - between jukebox songs, and the look has never gone out of production since.
Our Cafe Racer ink series draws that world in single flowing lines on warm cream: The Ton at full crouch, Kickstand and Coffee at rest, Clip-Ons in close study, Two Up and Last Orders for the nights. For the technically minded there is The Cafe Racer - Study, the archetype drawn to plan in blueprint cyan.
Built or bought your own? The Paint Shop turns a photo of your cafe racer into art in the same ink style - or as an oil painting or vintage poster - with a free preview before you buy. Related styles: scrambler, bobber, classic.
Workshop notes
Questions, answered
What is a cafe racer?+
A stripped-down motorcycle built for short fast runs - low clip-on bars, rearset pegs, a long tank and a single seat. The style began with 1950s British riders racing between transport cafes.
Can you turn my cafe racer into art?+
Yes - upload a photo to the Paint Shop, choose ink line, blueprint, oil or poster style, and preview it free in seconds.
From the journal