Café Society. A Documentary About Rockers, Ton-Up Boys, Mods, Low Handlebars And High Speeds

cafesocietyCafé Society”, a 60-minute documentary on the men, the machines and the legends of the Café Racer is a fascinating 60 minutes ride into a vibrant motorsports subculture that continues to grow even today.

The movie includes never-before seen historical footage, interviews with legendary cafe racer builders including Dave Degens of Dresda Tritons, Ian Kennedy, Erik Buell and others, plus eyewitness accounts of the “live fast, die young” era presented by the rockers and Ton-Up Boys themselves.

Initial filming commenced in March, 2008 at the annual Southend Shakedown ride-out from London’s Ace Cafe with a wrap on production slated for September at the Ace Cafe Reunion ride to the Brighton seafront. Along the way, the producers of “Cafe Society” have recorded a library full of eyewitness histories and interviewed dozens of builders, riders, former denizens of Britain’s transport cafes, police officers, road racers, Teddy Boys and modern-day Mods and Rockers.

“Cafe Society” has proved a labor of love for its creators (Chet Burks and Mike Seate) while providing an illuminating, occasionally shocking glimpse into a vibrant motorsports subculture that continues to grow even today. The film, shot in stunning high-definition video, takes you on an unforgattable journey from the British Midlands to the legendary Box Hill gathering to London and on to Southend, the location of countless weekend burn-ups in years past. Some of the recorded stories – some tragic, others inspiring and some just plain silly- will stay with us for a lifetime and the characters revealed themselves to be just as memorable.

“Cafe Society” will be broadcast on Speed TV later this year in a one-hour format, and released on August 28 as a feature-length DVD including lots of extras. . Watch for the launch of “Cafe Society” (website not ready, yet) with clips from the film, screening and release dates

7 Responses to “Café Society. A Documentary About Rockers, Ton-Up Boys, Mods, Low Handlebars And High Speeds”


  1. 1 nicker Jul 18th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    Ah yes, “Rockers,” the stuff that scared every boy’s mother.

    Can’t Wait to see it…..!!!!

    -nicker-

  2. 2 alan Jul 19th, 2009 at 10:15 am

    cool something about real motorcycle

    where we can find it

  3. 3 Woody Jul 19th, 2009 at 11:05 am

    YUM!!! Can’t wait!

  4. 4 Rodent Jul 20th, 2009 at 9:40 am

    Did they have push botton starters? No they were real bikers!

  5. 5 nicker Jul 20th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

    And no ASB…… they should have become extinct…… what happened….????…. 🙂

    -nicker-

  6. 6 silly joe Jul 20th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    test one two–

  7. 7 Rusty Knuckles Jul 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    this sounds incredible, can’t get enough of cafe race bikes.

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Cyril Huze