DP Customs Naked Cafe Racer

In their small shop of DP Custom Cycles in New River, Arizona, the Del Prado bothers (Jarred and Justin) build bikes for for the working’ man. What they love to build usually doesn’t start from the ground up but as stock motorcycles that they love to turn into practical old school hot rods. Forget about chrome, billet wheels and anything bling. Their customs are titled donors, mostly Harley Ironheads & Evo’s, so all are easy to register and ride. Customization process is always a mix of restoring some original parts while adding their own one-off pieces and original designs.

The “Naked Cafe” featured here is based on a classic ’80 Harley Ironhead, 1000cc and take some inspiration from the 2011 Le Mans winning Audi R18 TDI. Result is a very light racer looking bike, with very good proportions, lines and symmetry and the raw appeal that 70’s English Cafe Racers had. You would be surprised how affordable their bikes are. This one is sold, but you can drool on others at their DP Custom Cycles Website

14 Responses to “DP Customs Naked Cafe Racer”


  1. 1 luSca custom design Sep 1st, 2011 at 9:36 am

    Nice exhaust!

  2. 2 Bob Petrocelli Sep 1st, 2011 at 10:08 am

    A Cafe Racer not looking like all typical Cafe Racers. Great bike.

  3. 3 Brian Sep 1st, 2011 at 10:16 am

    Exhaust doesn’t seem well fabricated, but idea is trick.

  4. 4 Charlie F. Sep 1st, 2011 at 10:56 am

    why are the new flock of cafe racer/harley builds afraid of good parts. This thing looks cool. but what about making it handle. Resevior shocks, radial brakes, etc. all this stuff if available sourced from current sport bikes and can be grabbed up for a good price. I like seeing all the “cafe” styles coming out but lets start seeing some performance parts being utilized.

    I’m just sayin

  5. 5 Steve Carr Sep 1st, 2011 at 4:33 pm

    First of, let me say that this bike is cool and deserves 2 thumbs up for sure.

    With that being said…., enough with the cafe’ fad already. I appreciate this style as much as the next guy, but this is just a style trend, it is not here to stay, a year from now this will all be old news. Maybe this current trend is due to our sluggish economy, which in some ways allows a few of us to dip into “custom” bike building, that’s great.

    These bikes, if not done correctly, are simply nothing more than hacked up old Japanese bikes from the 60’s and 70’s, which a year or so ago, we all would have looked at and snicked, but now, for some reason, we all ooo and ahhh when we see one at a bike night or on t.v..

    I respect and understand the history behind this latest movement, but as with anything in our history, it needs to be correct and true to history. I may be wrong, but didnt this entire movement start and end in Great Britan? Were these bikes not generally British bikes?

    Some of these bikes that are called “Cafe Racers” , is like calling John Tesh, Heavy Metal…….

    Steve Carr

  6. 6 Progressive Suspension Sep 1st, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    Beautiful machine. Stock shocks? Really? Tell you guys what, next guy buidling a high profile Cafe, please call us. We’ll help. We swear!

    http://www.progressivesuspension.com/970/index.html

    Love

    PS

  7. 7 morpion Sep 1st, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    NICE IRON HEAD SPORSTER

  8. 8 fluke Sep 2nd, 2011 at 1:31 am

    I am not really sold on this US V twin centric resurgence of Cafe racers. 6 grand body kits for Sportsters? WTF? , I suppose having grown up in the UK, real cafe racer bikes lined up outside of the local greasy spoon on Friday nights, rockers,greasers and the tonne up boys are part of the general back drop to life.

    For those who want to replicate the style, leave off the US engines please or at minimum chuck them in a featherbed frame, Back in the UK in those days you almost never saw a HD, at one point even the UK chapter of the Hells Angels didn’t even have a member who owned an HD. If you did it see one on the road it was ridden by some rich dude or the tealeaf who stole it off him.

    Cafe style is about trying to make your basically crap brit bike that was all you could afford in a bankrupt country go as fast as possible, it wasn’t a posing style, but a grass roots one born from necessity and ingenuity in the pursuit of the fabled tonne.

    As for the above bike, I am sorry, it just looks like an untidy ill conceived wannbee trying to replicate something that never existed. I am sure DP do great work, but in my mind it isn’t a cafe racer.

  9. 9 Kustoms and Choppers Sep 2nd, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    Cafe Racers are cool and all but I just prefer the 60s style Choppers and Bobbers with a modern twisted added.

  10. 10 MDSPHOTO Sep 4th, 2011 at 8:46 am

    I appreciate all styles & makes of bikes and the current fad of cafe racers is cool, but I agree its a fad and will be gone in a year. Everyone keeps wondering what will be next and while most people think baggers will continue, I have started to see long low pro-streets appear in all the bike rags again for the first time in about 4 years.

  11. 11 CafeSportyTC Sep 6th, 2011 at 10:19 am

    I agree with many, its a fad. but I like anything that is stripped out , bare bones , lighter is faster , etc etc etc. i could care less for the tank, i think its neat where they in corporated the oil tank. my thought is mainly “how does it perform?” . those Iron heads do not disperse heat very well… source up some aluminum ones before you wish you had in the first place. Nice concept , its alot like what i have in mind for a sporty cafe i just like longer and bigger tanks. Im rambling , nice bike!

  12. 12 nicker Sep 8th, 2011 at 9:40 pm

    It’s a “Fad”….. ???

    Well,….. no more than High-boy roadsters are a fad today.

    RE:
    “… it needs to be correct and true to history. I may be wrong, but didnt this entire movement start and end in Great Britan? Were these bikes not generally British bikes?…”

    Look, (historically) roadsters are the back-bone of Hot-rod history. Some times they’re popular an some times not, but they have been and always will be around. And just so, Cafe racers were the backbone of Brit hot-rod M/C history. Rockers of the 1950’s were working class kids that had bikes, not cars, to get em to school and work.

    Now here in the CA, those of us who had Cafe racer were into both MC road racing and the Rocker look. Even in the late 60’s (in the east SF Bay) one of the local endurance racing hot-shots was doing his thing on a Norton.

    TT Motors in Berkeley CA fielded a number of Triumph based club road racers.

    Reality check, in the early 60’s around here no one wanted a Harley because they didn’t handle and were too heavy and slow. Check with Dick Man on this one. There was a reason he rode a Clubman BSA.

    When a “sponsored ride” was a dealer bike that selected riders were given on Friday to use on their paper rout and then strip down and race on Saturday/Sunday, to be returned to the sales floor on Tuesday…. the last thing anyone was looking for was a 74″ DuoGlide. Not when you could get a Triumph Daytona or after the rule change, a T120 TT…..

    It took factory backing or mega mucks to get a fast HD.

    -nicker-

  13. 13 nicker Sep 8th, 2011 at 10:09 pm

    RE:
    “…enough with the cafe’ fad already. …”

    That’s like saying “…enough with the Roadster fad already…”

    Cafe racers were here when i first got me license.
    The one i rode to school is still under the house……. 🙂

    -nicker-

  1. 1 The Del Prado Brothers Re-Birth A Harley Ironhead Sportster at Cyril Huze Post – Custom Motorcycle News Pingback on Oct 17th, 2011 at 7:16 am
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