That stylish racer heritage

The new Cafe Racer blends three cultures that have contributed to the history of motorcycling. The Scrambler soul. The legend of the Ton-Up boys and the sports spirit of Ducati, embodied in the 125 GP Desmo style livery and the tribute to rider Bruno Spaggiari.

VICTORY:
Fruit of the genius that was Fabio Taglioni, the 125 GP Desmo is the motorcycle that marked Ducati’s entry into the world of track racing, as well as the first to adopt desmodromic timing.

It debuted in June 1956 at the Cesena circuit, ridden by Gianni degli Antoni, and obtained its first win already the following month, at the Swedish Grand Prix.

From there, it continued to grow. In 1957, the 125 GP Desmo dominated in Italian championships. The following year, it just missed out on a world title, during a season that would go down in history thanks to the Grand Prix of Nations, at Monza, where five 125 GP Desmo bikes occupied the top five spots, all the bikes from sixth place down lapped during the course of the race.

The first to cross the line, with number 54, was Bruno Spaggiari, the courageous Ducati rider and test rider who, in 1958, scored a further Italian championship title on board the 125 GP Desmo.

REBELLION:
Ton-Up Boys were one of the most influential and widespread subcultures in motorcycle history. If you don’t know them by that name, then you probably know them as the original cafe racers.

Ton-Up Boys were named as such because they were driven by the common goal of doing “the ton” — going over 100 miles per hour, which was quite a feat back then. To do so required extensive, methodical modification of one’s motorcycle. To do the ton, motorcycles were modified to maximize speed and handling, not for looks or comfort — although cafe racers ended up being so uniquely stylized that they birthed a whole new and iconic genre of motorcycle that would last for generations to come. Ton-Up Boys would strip their motorcycles down to the absolute bare minimum, removing any and all unnecessary parts that would weigh them down, increase air drag, or detract from the bike’s overall performance. This is how the bikes with a single seat, low bars, no mirrors, underswept pipes, and barely anything else on them were born. They came to be known as “cafe racers” because the transport cafes along the arterial highways were their gathering places.

While the Ton-Up Boys all had a definitive look, with their motorcycle jackets covered in pins and studs, pompadours, and engineer boots, they prized being individuals, and found being a Ton-Up Boy to be a form of self-expression. They took what was essentially a sport, and turned it into a lifestyle by refusing mainstream society and rebelling against that which they did not believe in.

Rebellion, freedom and style. The cafe racer culture, one of the most influential movements in the history of motorcycling, blends with the Scrambler soul in the new, unedited, Scrambler Café Racer. And with the new "Silver Ice Matt" colour the Land of Joy is ready for another revolution.

Get a deal on a this Cafe Racer with a lineage of victory and rebellion.