Cheap way to build a Royal Enfield café racer

Turning a Royal Enfield motorcycle into a café racer is a natural impulse for any Brit-bike minded red-blooded male. That's why they sell the parts you need as a kit.

Unfortunately, the kit costs money. But I came across this delightfully cheap modification on a motorcycle at the Los Angeles International Motorcycle Show Dec. 5. It consists of four strips of black electrical tape laid across the headlight.

Why? Looks cool, that's why. Obviously, you are the racer type, who needs to insure that the immense speeds you attain do not cause your headlight to shatter and spread glass across the track.

It's just for show, of course. Would tape even do the job?

Thirty years ago, when Hurricane David threatened us here in Florida, the maintenance man at my place of work carefully stretched quarter-inch wide strips of masking tape across the massive plate glass windows at the front of our building: one giant "X' of narrow tape! This was meant to prevent the glass from shattering and flying in to lacerate workers.

I wonder which pointy-headed boss thought that would work? It's funny now, but it wasn't so funny at the time.

But black tape on the headlight is neat. Naturally, I'd remove it before riding at night.