Ryca Motors Low-Cost Cafe Racers

Ryca CS-1 650cc Cafe Racer

Casey Stevenson, founder of cafe racer builder Ryca Motors, is an engineer who left a job at NASA to design motorcycles. He wanted a lightweight thumper for navigating the streets of Los Angeles, but found slim pickings. So, he decided to build his own machine. His solution will probably surprise you:

"I discovered my ultimate thumper café racer hidden inside a bike known as the Suzuki S40 (aka the Savage). They have been around for over 20 years and are still available brand new. The custom parts and accessories were designed to avoid any major modifications to the frame or engine, which allows anyone with basic tools to build their own bike from kit components. The end result is a machine that is simple, fun, and affordable."

Take a look at the raw source materials here, the Suzuki S40 Savage/Boulevard, and marvel at the fact that someone could draw so much inspiration from the frankly uninspiring S40.

Check out the gallery of buyers' bikes at the Ryca Motors site. Casey's work has garnered some great press, too, from the likes of Cycle World and The Knee Slider. Now's he's got a scrambler in the works, also based on the Suzuki.