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I was having a quiet breakfast in Muizenberg earlier this week when a fellow biker came across to me to ask if I’d ever actually been to the Ace Café in London. His line of questioning was clearly due to the “Ace” motif boldly printed on the T-shirt I was wearing that day.
Bob, that was his name, damn near told me his life story in just 15 minutes. He was a South African and had worked in London in the late 1960’s as a fireman at a station off Hangar Lane. On his night off he would ride over to the Ace Café on the North Circular Road on his Vincent Grey Flash and listen to the juke box, ogle the chicks and grab a cup of “strong British tea”.
1000 BIKERS
He'd sip at the scalding brew and chuckle at the occasional nutter on a lesser bike dicing his way around two nearby roundabouts and back before the Helen Shapiro record finished - such was the level of boredom back then when men were men and women were double-breasted!
I've been to the Ace on numerous occasions down the years but the latest visit was just a few months ago during the height of the British summer and I'd estimate at least 1000 bikers were gathered for that evening’s entertainment…
The roundabout races are long gone, replaced by a band of modern-day bikers standing around admiring each other’s machinery while waiting for the “Velocette Club” to appear for their monthly meet on their aged Thruxtons, Venoms and even the occasional LE200 (aka Noddy bikes, due to most police forces in southern England choosing them as patrol bikes).
FAMOUS MOVIE
During the summer months just about every evening from Monday through Sunday there’s a motoring event of some sort to take part in or just watch*. Occasionally car clubs do get in on the act but, since Hugo Robert Edenborough (better known as Vic) first opened the doors back in 1938, it’s the bikers, past and present, that have really made the place famous.
Indeed, an A-grade movie that was shot there in the mid-1960's entitled 'The Leather Boys' and starring Rita Tushingham, probably did much to herald the arrival of the anti-social mods and rockers (mods were on sissy scooters, rockers rode the real thing), while probably giving bikers in general a thoroughly bad name.
The media of the day tended to present us as a threat to the law-abiding public for some reason
Today it’s all very different, folk are far gentler, it seems. The Ace’s owner Vic finally handed over the reins in the late 1980’s to motoring-minded entrepreneur Mark Wilsmore. His vision attracted 12 000 visitors when the biggest motorcycle reunion celebrated the re-opening of the Ace Café in 1994.
True, there’s still an amiable police presence to be found outside the “Ace” who, perhaps slightly surprisingly, turn a blind eye to the occasional show-off who wheelies his way into the car park and then parks his bike by way of a stoppie. But should he then whip out a half-jack of brandy the men in blue will most definitely react!
'BEE'S KNEES'
Seriously, if you are ever in London (that’s when the weather warms up), be sure to try to get along to the Ace Café for at least a couple of hours any evening of the week - the food’s not bad - and you might even spot a genuine Dave Degen’s-type Triton motorcycle standing in the crowded car park.
The Triton was the “bee’s knees” machine to own back in the 1960’s: the Norton featherbed frame offered excellent road-holding and a Triumph Bonnie pre-unit motor gave the most power … perhaps we’ll save more of this for another column!
*Check out the diary of events at London’s Ace Café .
Bob, that was his name, damn near told me his life story in just 15 minutes. He was a South African and had worked in London in the late 1960’s as a fireman at a station off Hangar Lane. On his night off he would ride over to the Ace Café on the North Circular Road on his Vincent Grey Flash and listen to the juke box, ogle the chicks and grab a cup of “strong British tea”.
1000 BIKERS
He'd sip at the scalding brew and chuckle at the occasional nutter on a lesser bike dicing his way around two nearby roundabouts and back before the Helen Shapiro record finished - such was the level of boredom back then when men were men and women were double-breasted!
I've been to the Ace on numerous occasions down the years but the latest visit was just a few months ago during the height of the British summer and I'd estimate at least 1000 bikers were gathered for that evening’s entertainment…
GOLDEN OLDIES AT THE ACE: From left are an early 1970’s Trophy Special built for Six-Day Scottish events; a 'Slippery Sam' replica in a Metisse frame that is perhaps the most celebrated Triumph of all time for winning five TT races in five consecutive years; and at the back a mid-1960’s Triton with Norton Roadholder forks, Featherbed frame and Triumph 650cc power.
FAMOUS MOVIE
During the summer months just about every evening from Monday through Sunday there’s a motoring event of some sort to take part in or just watch*. Occasionally car clubs do get in on the act but, since Hugo Robert Edenborough (better known as Vic) first opened the doors back in 1938, it’s the bikers, past and present, that have really made the place famous.
Indeed, an A-grade movie that was shot there in the mid-1960's entitled 'The Leather Boys' and starring Rita Tushingham, probably did much to herald the arrival of the anti-social mods and rockers (mods were on sissy scooters, rockers rode the real thing), while probably giving bikers in general a thoroughly bad name.
The media of the day tended to present us as a threat to the law-abiding public for some reason
HEAVY WITH METAL: Forget the "bicycles in Beijing" bit - check out this breakfast gathering at the Ace Café on London's North Circular Road.
True, there’s still an amiable police presence to be found outside the “Ace” who, perhaps slightly surprisingly, turn a blind eye to the occasional show-off who wheelies his way into the car park and then parks his bike by way of a stoppie. But should he then whip out a half-jack of brandy the men in blue will most definitely react!
'BEE'S KNEES'
Seriously, if you are ever in London (that’s when the weather warms up), be sure to try to get along to the Ace Café for at least a couple of hours any evening of the week - the food’s not bad - and you might even spot a genuine Dave Degen’s-type Triton motorcycle standing in the crowded car park.
The Triton was the “bee’s knees” machine to own back in the 1960’s: the Norton featherbed frame offered excellent road-holding and a Triumph Bonnie pre-unit motor gave the most power … perhaps we’ll save more of this for another column!
*Check out the diary of events at London’s Ace Café .
