Yamaha SR500 cafe racer

A few weeks ago I was in Brighton, on the south coast of England. It’s a spiritual home for the English cafe racer scene, and I was pleased to see the odd custom zipping about—with many riders sporting open-face helmets and goggles. Most of these bikes had a low-key, monochrome look, just like this Yamaha SR500. It’s owned by Brighton man Marc Woodward, and took him nine months to put together. Marc bought the bike part-finished from the builder Retrograde Mechanica. (It already had light frame mods, the pipes, and the new seat and tank.) Marc wanted to ramp up...