It looks like someone’s pulled the engine and guts from a rather basic cafe racer chassis and replaced it with a stylish hotel safe.
I’ll admit that’s my first impression of the new E-XF Cafe Racer, which – along with the similarly styled E-XF Classic – comprises the first new offerings from forgotten Portuguese brand Famel.
Yeah, I’d never heard of Famel before, either. Not surprising, perhaps, since the brand hasn’t actually produced anything since G. Love and Special Sauce released their debut album.
Founded in Agueda, Portugal, in 1949, Famel started as a business making rims for motorcycles and mopeds. In 1952, it expanded to production of mopeds and scooters built around engines from several different manufacturers. For the most part, according to the always-trustworthy Wikipedia, it relied on powerplants from Germany’s Zündapp.
Famel’s hey-day came in the 1970s, when it released the XF-17, a five-speed 50cc machine that looked a hell of a lot like a Suzuki Stinger 125. Eventually, though, Portuguese consumers gained more buying power and decided they wanted more than the affordable Famel brand had to offer. After ceasing production in 1994, it went bankrupt in 2002.
Some two decades later, the brand resurfaced under the direction of a fella named Joel Sousa. I can’t find a great deal of information about him outside of the fact that he is annoyingly young and handsome (Annoying, that is, if, like me, you are no longer either of those things).
Famel’s official website says that he is driven partially by a sense of social responsibility.
“More than nostalgia, the project has a mission: to leave a sustainable legacy for future generations and continue to be an affordable vehicle for all, just as it was in the past,” the site says.
Both the E-XF Cafe Racer and E-XF Classic debuted at this year’s EICMA show, back in November, but I certainly don’t remember spotting them during the two days that I was covering the show for Visordown. It seems not many other people noticed, either.
Whatever the case, both bikes are effectively the same but with styling tweaks. Claiming a peak power output of 5.5 kW (that’s just shy of 8 bhp in old money), the E-XF can allegedly hit a top speed of 100 km/h (or 62 mph if you deal in crumpets or freedom). A range of 75 miles is reportedly possible before needing to recharge. Charging time is 4-5 hours.
Attractively for a bike of this type, the E-XF’s two 2.5 kWh batteries are removable. Which means you can ride to work, drag the batteries into the office, and charge ‘em up on the company dime.
The ‘tank,’ being a redundant item, now serves as a place for storage in which you can charge your phone.
One of the things that I particularly like is that the bikes are built in Europe. I can’t find any information on when, exactly, they will hit the market, but Famel suggests the starting price will be around €7,000 (about £6,150 at current exchange rates). There’s also not much of an indication of exactly which markets these bikes will show up in. Will they come to the UK, for example? Dunno.
I did find a short video of Sousa speaking on a podcast recently. When asked about his ambitions for the brand he said: “If the brand is global? Who knows. But, at least European it will be.”
He also said that one of his ambitions is to sell the bike in Times Square.
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