For a while, rumors have been circulating about the demise of the traditional cafe racer. With scramblers and flat trackers dominating the scene, the low-and-sleek genre has been taking a back seat.
But like a venerable art rock band, the cafe racer is hanging in there. Interest is still high?so high that manufacturers are entering the fray.

So let?s take a very close look at the R nineT Racer?BMW’s factory cafe, and one of three new models based on the R nineT platform. The other two?the Pure and the yet-to-be-released Urban G/S?are styled as a bare-bones roadster and a retro adventure bike, respectively. The Racer is a vintage speed machine through and through.
All three share the same platform as the R nineT Scrambler?a Euro4 compliant, 1,170 cc / 110 hp air- and oil-cooled boxer packed into a tubular steel frame. They also share the same steel fuel tank, the same suspension (fettled according to model), and the same alloy, five-spoke wheels.
On the R nineT Racer, those wheels are a 3.5 x 17? up front, and a 5.5 x 17? out back. Plus it gets a host of café racer-focused mods: clip-ons, rear sets, a sleek nose fairing and a neat little tail hump. With a silhouette that screams 70s steeze, it’s pure two-wheeled nostalgia; the throwback to end all throwbacks.
Think of it as a production version of the Roland Sands-built Concept 90, for those of us who can’t afford a completely bespoke machine. Or, if you prefer, a homage to the legendary R90S, as pi...