And now you know.

If only it were that easy. Let's begin with the Café Racer. These bikes mean many different things to many different people (for a fantastic look at the love that goes into these machines check out http://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/ or http://caferacerdesign.com/). The basic Wikipedia history lesson goes like this. Back in the 50's bike owners would strip down and customise their own road bikes to imitate the Moto Grand Prix bikes. It was a craze primarily in Britain and Europe. The inspired style features a very distinctive line under the fuel tank and along the base of the seat parallel to the ground. The name Café-Racer was originally a mildly derogatory term describing “a motorcyclist who played at being an Isle of Man Racer” and would seldom make it very far away from the café's they would frequent. Ultimately, the term has been fondly adopted to celebrate the undeniable style such creations represented.

The “Brat” is Japans foray into the Café-Racer style. They feature a very distinctive skateboard or banana-like styled seats.

At first glance the Tracker looks very similar to the Café-Racer and while there are some similarities the origin of the tracker is in the name. The tracker is a design that stems from American dirt track racing. So street trackers are designed to imitate flat tracker bikes as opposed to the Moto GP bikes the Café's imitated. They are usually single seaters supporting a more upright position for the rider. The most famous trackers would be those ridden by Evel Knievel.

Scrambler. Scramblers are very similar to trackers but the pipes tend to run higher to keep out of any mud or other off-road hazards. They also feature knobbly tyres for more of an off-road feel. 

Choppers start with a rigid frame and get "chopped" to extend the front forks and often feature high arching handlebars. It's probably the style of bike you think of when you hear "Bikie."

Bobbers are similar to Choppers but with straight handlebars and are always single seaters.

Is there anything I’ve missed? Leave your comments or any questions below or share your own Story. While you’re here check out braaap’s own range of Café-Racers the ST-250’s available here.

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