When I got into motorcycling at a relatively advanced age — for motorcycling, anyway — the biggest inspiration for the first and only bike I ever bought was the late, great Steve McQueen. With visions of The Great Escape dancing in my head, I had no choice but to snag a gently used, classic-looking Triumph cafe racer.
![](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/yamaha-yzf-r7-1654110599.jpeg?crop=0.731xw:0.934xh;0.269xw,0.0656xh&resize=1200:*)