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Rocker (subculture)
Rockers (also known as leather boys and ton-up boys) are members or followers of a rock and roll and biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the late 1950s and remained popular in the 1960s, especially among youths. Rockers who rode bikes were widely known as ton-up boys for achieving a speed of 100 mph (miles per hour). By 1965, the term greaser had also been introduced to Great Britain and, since then, the terms greaser and rocker have become synonymous within the British Isles, although used differently in North America and elsewhere. Rockers were also derisively known as coffee bar cowboys. Their Japanese counterpart was called the kaminari-zoku (thunder tribe/clan/group, or thunderers).
Until the post-war period, motorcycling held a prestigious position and enjoyed a positive image in British society, being associated with wealth and glamour. Starting in the 1950s, the working class were able to buy inexpensive motorcars, so that motorcycles became transport for the poor.
Many factors allowed the rocker subculture to emerge: the end of post-war rationing in the UK, a general rise in prosperity for working-class youths, the recent availability of credit and financing for young people, the influence of American popular music and films, the construction of race track-like arterial roads around British cities, the development of transport cafés, and a peak in British motorcycle engineering. During the 1950s, they were known as "ton-up boys" because doing a ton is English slang for driving at a speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) or over.
The rockers or ton-up boys took what was essentially a sport and turned it into a lifestyle, dropping out of mainstream society and "rebelling at the points where their will crossed society's". This damaged the public image of motorcycling in the UK. The mass media started targeting these socially powerless youths, creating a moral panic through exaggerated, ill-founded portrayals of them as "folk devils", loutish, scruffy, motorised cowboys, loners, or outsiders. From the 1960s on, they became more commonly known as rockers, a term previously little known outside small groups.
The rocker subculture was associated with 1950s and early-1960s rock and roll music by American artists such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, and Chuck Berry, music that George Melly called "screw and smash" music.
The term café racer originated in the 1950s, when bikers often frequented transport cafés, using them as starting and finishing points for road races. A café racer is a motorcycle that has been modified for speed and good handling rather than for comfort. Features include: a single racing seat, low handlebars (such as ace bars or one-sided clip-ons mounted directly onto the front forks for control and aerodynamics), large racing petrol tanks (aluminium ones were often polished and left unpainted), swept-back exhaust pipes, rear-set footpegs (to give better clearance while cornering at high speeds) with or without half or full race fairings.
These motorcycles were lean, light and handled various road surfaces well. The most defining machine of the rocker heyday was the Triton, which was a custom motorcycle made of a Norton Featherbed frame and a Triumph Bonneville engine. It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day. Other popular motorcycle brands included BSA, Royal Enfield and Matchless.
The term café racers is now also used to describe motorcycle riders who prefer vintage British, Italian or Japanese motorbikes from the 1950s to late 1970s. These modern café racers do not resemble the rockers of earlier decades, and they dress in a more modern and comfortable style, with only a hint of likeness to the rocker style, nor do they share the passion for 50s rock'n'roll. These modern café racers have taken elements of the American greaser, British rocker, and modern motorcycle rider styles to create a look of their own. Rockers in the 2000s tend still to ride classic British motorcycles, however, classically styled European café racers are now also seen, such as Moto Guzzi or Ducati, as well as classic Japanese bikes, some with British-made frames such as those made by Rickman.
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Rocker (subculture) AI simulator
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Rocker (subculture)
Rockers (also known as leather boys and ton-up boys) are members or followers of a rock and roll and biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the late 1950s and remained popular in the 1960s, especially among youths. Rockers who rode bikes were widely known as ton-up boys for achieving a speed of 100 mph (miles per hour). By 1965, the term greaser had also been introduced to Great Britain and, since then, the terms greaser and rocker have become synonymous within the British Isles, although used differently in North America and elsewhere. Rockers were also derisively known as coffee bar cowboys. Their Japanese counterpart was called the kaminari-zoku (thunder tribe/clan/group, or thunderers).
Until the post-war period, motorcycling held a prestigious position and enjoyed a positive image in British society, being associated with wealth and glamour. Starting in the 1950s, the working class were able to buy inexpensive motorcars, so that motorcycles became transport for the poor.
Many factors allowed the rocker subculture to emerge: the end of post-war rationing in the UK, a general rise in prosperity for working-class youths, the recent availability of credit and financing for young people, the influence of American popular music and films, the construction of race track-like arterial roads around British cities, the development of transport cafés, and a peak in British motorcycle engineering. During the 1950s, they were known as "ton-up boys" because doing a ton is English slang for driving at a speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) or over.
The rockers or ton-up boys took what was essentially a sport and turned it into a lifestyle, dropping out of mainstream society and "rebelling at the points where their will crossed society's". This damaged the public image of motorcycling in the UK. The mass media started targeting these socially powerless youths, creating a moral panic through exaggerated, ill-founded portrayals of them as "folk devils", loutish, scruffy, motorised cowboys, loners, or outsiders. From the 1960s on, they became more commonly known as rockers, a term previously little known outside small groups.
The rocker subculture was associated with 1950s and early-1960s rock and roll music by American artists such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, and Chuck Berry, music that George Melly called "screw and smash" music.
The term café racer originated in the 1950s, when bikers often frequented transport cafés, using them as starting and finishing points for road races. A café racer is a motorcycle that has been modified for speed and good handling rather than for comfort. Features include: a single racing seat, low handlebars (such as ace bars or one-sided clip-ons mounted directly onto the front forks for control and aerodynamics), large racing petrol tanks (aluminium ones were often polished and left unpainted), swept-back exhaust pipes, rear-set footpegs (to give better clearance while cornering at high speeds) with or without half or full race fairings.
These motorcycles were lean, light and handled various road surfaces well. The most defining machine of the rocker heyday was the Triton, which was a custom motorcycle made of a Norton Featherbed frame and a Triumph Bonneville engine. It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day. Other popular motorcycle brands included BSA, Royal Enfield and Matchless.
The term café racers is now also used to describe motorcycle riders who prefer vintage British, Italian or Japanese motorbikes from the 1950s to late 1970s. These modern café racers do not resemble the rockers of earlier decades, and they dress in a more modern and comfortable style, with only a hint of likeness to the rocker style, nor do they share the passion for 50s rock'n'roll. These modern café racers have taken elements of the American greaser, British rocker, and modern motorcycle rider styles to create a look of their own. Rockers in the 2000s tend still to ride classic British motorcycles, however, classically styled European café racers are now also seen, such as Moto Guzzi or Ducati, as well as classic Japanese bikes, some with British-made frames such as those made by Rickman.