Deciding to leave the English summer rain, Jamie made the move for fairer weather and sure enough ended up on Australia’s shores. It was here that he decided to follow through with his dream of getting his motorcycle licence. That dream became a reality, and in stellar style as he tears up the roads on this café racer on steroids.
Growing up in the UK, Jamie was always around bikes one way or another. “I spent a lot of time at my Nan’s when I was younger, her partner was a motorcycle courier who had a Honda CBX which constantly needed working on. I would help pass tools and watch as he would tinker on it all day.
I was too young to ride pillion, though I would literally have dreams about being able to have a go on the back. When I was in high school we would take my mates Gas Gas Trials bike up to the quarry and he would let me have a go doing laps. Then I would watch him leap from rock to rock on the back wheel.”
After getting his motorcycle learner licence, Jamie got searching for his first bike. “I saw the Deus Grievous Angel SR500, and from then on I was hooked on Café Racers. When searching for a bike I wanted something that was already built, being a chef it’s hard to get any spare time to yourself let alone build project bikes. I found a bobbed SR500 that I absolutely loved. The only problem was the bike looked awesome but was a rolling defect! I decided to drop a shit load of cash on it and get it looking exactly how I wanted. It was after this that I found Sydney Café Racers by searching Facebook and Instagram for anything Café Racer related. What an amazing group of guys and girls willing to help whenever it’s needed! All the rides and events are great as well, it’s good being able to rock up to a Thursday night ride, talk shit about bikes and then go for a ride with the group and hear all the different engines roar against each other.”
Jamie’s current bike is a 2006 Yamaha XJR1300, aptly named ‘The Muscle Racer’ it’s a modern café racer build with a lot of balls. “It’s certainly a step up from the SR500. I had seen the boss of RB Racing’s CB750 and had instantly fallen in love it – then I saw Harley’s XJR1300 and knew I wanted something with the big muscle bike grunt but also pure cafe style.”
-2001 R1 Front end conversion,
-All cables and lines shortened,
-New instruments,
-wiring all put under the tank,
-Full stainless exhaust 4into2 system,
-Air box removal,
-Battery relocated under cowl,
-New shocks,
-Fabricated tail and tail light placement,
-Frame stripped back all parts painted,
-Full bike painted
“As a chef, I work long hours. That feeling of jumping on the bike and hitting the road is one of the best and most relaxing feelings you can get. My days off are usually mid week enabling me to have clear runs through the national park some mornings, which is pure pleasure.”
“I literally can’t pick one thing as a favourite on this bike; every time I see it I literally get butterflies! I think it’s the love of my life. I have had mixed reviews on the small bates headlight, but I love it, I love the way it makes the front end look like a pit bull on ‘roids. I love the view from behind – pure symmetry. The way the 170 rear tyre sits so fat and the two dime city mufflers poke out each side the gap where the air box was, and then the big brute 1300cc engine just sitting there. I added the number 21 to the tail of the bike, which was my Mother’s birthday; she passed away a couple of years ago. When it came time to add a number to the bike there was only one that I would have on this bike to honour her memory.”
