The Ace Cafe Brighton Burn Up

A RUN TO THE BEACH

Every year, bugs permitting, Brighton hosts the annual Ace Cafe Rockers Reunion run, which thankfully goes ahead as planned on Sunday 5th September. The run, widely known as the Brighton Burn Up, starts at the Ace café on London’s North Circular and finishes next to the beach on Madeira drive in Brighton. The run has a reputation for good weather and this year was no exception, with bright sunshine, temperatures towards the mid-twenties, and enough humidity to make leathers and boots a bit uncomfortable.

The focus of the event is on the Café Racer motorcycles of the mid-fifties to the mid-sixties, such an iconic part of British motorcycling history, and on the Rock ‘n’ Roll that goes so well with them. Traditionally Rockers would ride to the coast on bank holiday weekends, sometimes coming into conflict with the Mods that are also such an iconic feature of that era. Thankfully today their grievances are forgotten and several suitably mirrored and lit scooters join in with the classic British motorcycles. We see AJS, Ariel, BSA, Lambretta, Matchless, Norton, Triumph, Vincent, and of course the Tritons that are the amalgamation of the Triumph Bonneville engine in the Norton featherbed frame. As local South Coasters ourselves MPW feel it would be rude not be there, so we set our stall and chat and swelter with the thousands of fellow bikers who make the effort to attend.

It is sad to see that the number of genuine Café Racers of the era diminishes every year, but good to see that motorcycling itself thrives, along with the banter, humour and good feeling that forever exists between bikers. What is also good to see is how very few of the thousands of motorcycles arriving are the same as when they left the factory. Fettling, farkling, customising, improving, personalising, call it what you will, but it is evident, as it always has been, how we love to care for and nurture our machines, to give them something extra to make them something unique. It is a tradition that hopefully will never die and never be legislated against. It is a statement that is as much about the rider as it is about the motorcycle.

In the fifties and sixties there were far fewer aftermarket parts and accessories available off the shelf than there are today, and often creating something different required a lot of skill. Today there are many superb custom builders around who achieve stunning results through the careful application of their skills, both mechanical and artistic, but sometimes the cost is prohibitive. But thankfully the opportunities to create something unique and special on a budget are there for far more riders now than in the past, and the motorcycling staff at MPW are such riders. Our aim is to encourage riders to work on their own bikes, to take an interest in getting creative themselves, to become involved with their own bike by having their own ideas, selecting their products and fitting them themselves. It’s what we do, and we get a lot from it.

At MPW we offer a large selection of parts and accessories from major brands, and we also have our own brands, such as MPW, Toro and Rezo, and the MPW Speedshop specialises in achieving that special look. Take a look and have a think. See what you can achieve.

 

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To see the full range of parts and accessories available from MPW browse the motorcyclepartswarehouse shop.