• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bike India

Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

  • Home
  • News
    • Upcoming Launches
    • Latest News
    • New Bike Launches
  • Reviews
    • First Ride
    • Road Test
    • Comparison
  • Features
  • Our Bikes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • NG Auto
    • AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA
    • CAR INDIA
    • COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
  • Brands
  • AUTHORS

Classic Bike Cult Feature: The Rockers v the Mods

April 6, 2016 by Aninda Sardar Leave a Comment

With their aura of spirited romanticism and devil-may-care attitude, the Rockers essentially took the sport of motorcycle racing and turned it into a street-based lifestyle statement, and, in the process, they ended up creating a motorcycle riding culture that has endured the test of time over the decades. Currently, the world over there is an increasing interest in this sub-culture from half-a-century ago. The reason? A desire to indulge in what these modern-day Rockers claim to be ‘real motorcycling’. Most Rocker aficionados claim that bikes today have become far too clinical and technologically advanced to be really enjoyable. They, therefore, prefer riding classic originals whenever they can get their hands on one. Today the groups are also peppered with enthusiasts who like the riding stance and feel of the classic café racers of old but with the reliability that is endemic to modern machines. As a result, their bikes may look old, but are actually spanking new machines, some featuring such contemporary technology as monoshocks, electronic fuel injection and disc brakes.

Classic Bike Cult Feature The Rockers v the Mods (5)

Classic Bike Cult Feature The Rockers v the Mods (9) But don’t let any of this mislead you, for they are just as loyal to the Rocker cause as any of the rest. It’s a deep sense of brotherhood that ties these modern-day Rockers to others of their kind. The espousal of this brotherhood, in fact, ran right down to the way this bunch of two-wheeler enthusiasts kit themselves up, mirroring the look of the original gangs from the 1950s and ’60s. A pair of jeans, strong black boots and a black leather jacket (preferably with a variety of bike-related badges and patches) combined with an open face helmet and goggles complete the Rocker look even today, just as it did 50 years ago. The difference being that the original Rockers took to this particular form of clothing out of necessity. This was the best kind of protection money could buy for café and jukebox racing. The fact that this look was made immortal by Hollywood celebrity Marlon Brando in the epic 1953 film, ‘The Wild One’, made it a cool lifestyle statement as well. Today they are a lifestyle statement more than anything else; yet another way to re-live the glorious past and delve deep into the world of nostalgia.

 

More on page 4>

Aninda Sardar – who has written 312 posts on Bike India.


Email • Twitter

Related posts:

Asiabike Jakarta 2025 – Electric Takeover

Adrift Astride a Guerrilla: Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450 Drift Clinic

TVS YMRP 9.0 - A Taste of Racing

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

Filed Under: Classic Bikes, Features Tagged With: bike, Britain, cafe, continental, Culture, Enfield, gt, II, Jukebox, Mods, motorcycle, racer, Rockers, Royal, scooters, Sub-culture, thruxton, triumph, Vespa, WW

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AlphaOmega Captcha Classica  –  Enter Security Code
 ⟲    ➴
 


* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

LATEST ISSUE

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

19TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

Triumph Street Triple 765 R and RS Review | The Best Street Triple Yet

Ducati Diavel V4 Review | Devil of the Mountain

Royal Enfield Hunter 350 first ride | Aspi Bhathena

SPECIAL Featured Story

Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid

Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid Launched

The Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid has been launched at Rs 1.45 lakh (ex-showroom). Yamaha claim that this is India’s first sub-150-cc hybrid motorcycle. 

More about this.

Recent Posts

  • CRA Motorsports Launch Student Moto Tech Challenge 2026
  • Ultraviolette Expands To Europe
  • Reise Helden ECE-certified Helmet Launched at Rs 3,499
  • Big in Size, Short on Practicality

Car India

Car India Magazine - Get your Digital Subscription

Footer

Latest News

CRA Motorsports Launch Student Moto Tech Challenge 2026

Ultraviolette Expands To Europe

Reise Helden ECE-certified Helmet Launched at Rs 3,499

TVS Apache RTR 200 4V 2025 Launched at Rs 1.53 lakh

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

Bike India: India’s no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
SiteMap

Copyright © 2025 · BIKE INDIA INDIA’S NO. 1 TWO WHEELER MAGAZINE, BY FAR! ·