Issue #243 Crosspolinating the Ace. | Ace, Café, Have, Into, May

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Issue #243 Crosspolinating the Ace.

Written by John Campbell
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
Deeper into this issue, our Vintage Motorcycles Editor Robert Smith delves into trends: specifically launching into a mediation on the notions of “cool” and “hot.” Obviously, his conclusions aren’t going to work for everyone; they are, after all, drawn by a man who started shaving in the England of the late sixties, when London’s original and legendary Ace Café was in decline, though its legacy in Robert’s early teens was a generation of snakebit motorcyclists still buzzing with hotrod Norton notions, and for whom the hybrid Triton was the final word in street performance. It’s very much in the context of the Ace Café and its influence on his generation that Robert steps into the briar patch that is trend commentary. Originally opened in 1938 as a 24-hour roadside trucker’s diner, the Ace Café became a hangout for bikers during the fifties and early sixties, who established the Ace as a cultural centre for motorcycles and rock ‘n’ roll in England. The café was closed in 1969 due to cultural changes, growth in the car market and the expanding highway system in and around London. However, it was reopened in 1997 by Mark Wilsmore, a real rockabilly, who has since brought the Café back to the centre of motorcycling for a new generation of enthusiasts by hosting club gatherings, rock ’n’ roll bands and industry events. Though a retrofit Ace Café may not have the definitive “cool” factor enjoyed by the original—which exists now only through the gauzy lens of teenagers grown to be middle-aged men—it certainly is an important contemporary venue. A caveat here: The Ace Café owes much of its current status to its mythic past and to the charisma of the standing host. “But once a hot bike stops being hot, it stops being cool too,” says Smith in ‘English Speaking,’ this month. The same applies to accoutrements, rock stars, and cafés. Overexposure may well do its number on Wilsmore’s operation, especially if he persists with plans to bring the Ace to places it was never meant to go. Last year, came the announcement that the Ace intended to bring a 100 cu. in. S&S V-Twin-powered café racer into production, sometime in 2008, as part of the classic diner’s 70th anniversary celebrations. A limited run of 100 production bikes was the target, to be sold in Europe, Japan and the United States. Cool is only cool when it’s oblivious of itself. Wilsmore is obviously quite self-aware, which is fine from an entrepenuriel point of view, but it just seems flawed and ultimately doomed to franchise and globalize a sensibility that rightfully belongs to the lunch bucket row of post-war England. To borrow from Vegas: what happened at the Ace, should probably stay at the Ace. But in May, organizers of the AMD Official World Championship of Custom Bike Building announced they had reached an agreement with Ace Café London Ltd. to bring the legendary gathering spot to the Sturgis Rally in August as part of the pro builders annual showdown, and to help commemorate S&S Cycle’s 50th Anniversary celebration—which coincides with Ace Café’s own anniversary year. “Our vision has always been to have Champions Park as a centre of activity on Lazelle Street during the rally,” says AMD executive, Robin Bradley. “We have always wanted to bring something to Sturgis that would be iconic for all bikers and what better than the Ace Café?” Iconic yes, but for whom? Sturgis and big V-Twins belong to the American Myth. Royal Enfields and fast Triumphs: that’s the stuff of the Ace Café. That’s not to say that the icon of one culture cannot be enjoyed by riders who come from other walks of life. The peoples of the world continually borrow and extrapolate from one another in the ongoing experiment that is social evolution. But, cross-pollination seems like a wholly other kind of genetic experiment and I simply can’t see it. Not in this case anyway. The charm of the Ace Café is the time and place it represents—an era now best symbolized by English impromptu street racing clubs such as the Ton-Up Boys and the definitive clashes between Rockers and Mods. Kevin Dunn of Victoria might argue the point. He has, after all, imported the English motorcycle café culture to Vancouver Island with his very successful Sidecar Café. Moreover, cultural touchstones such as bars, stores and restaurants have been happily franchized between nations with completely different lifestyles. Harley-Davidson is a prime example of a successfully transplanted state of mind. Still, how many societies not living in North America would get, truly get, what that 10-by-15 wooden shed built in 1903 by William S. Harley, Arthur and Walter Davidson, means to the Harley-Davidson Story and the ongoing mystique of “good ol’ fashioned Yankee know-how?” Harley-Davidsons are merrily sold the world over for many of the same reasons that sales boom here. People everywhere “get” what Harley means. That shed in Milwaukee? Not so much. The Ace Café is like that too. If Harley has been so adroitly exported between cultures, much of that stems from the factory remaining true to its heritage and ideals: the very commodities that made the marque a legend. Harley has never veered from that course, not with any success at any rate. Borrowing from other cultures to augment its mystique would simply not work. And it’s this lesson that may well be in store for Wilsmore and the Ace. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.