BabyFace: Infantile brand name, authentic racing components

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BabyFace is a Japanese parts builder that started out by manufacturing titanium exhausts. They have changed and grown with the times, now focusing on CNC machined parts, and are known today as a backbone brand that supports various racing teams in Japan. BabyFace is a brand that continues to carry on Japanese craftsmanship. They have their own racing team which competes in the All Japan Road Race, allowing them to see and feel the technological evolution of racing firsthand and then feed that technology back into their products.

Who is BabyFace?

Origin

Founded in Japan in the 1980s, BabyFace began producing extremely lightweight titanium exhausts for racing motorcycles in the late 1990s and quickly expanded its market share.

However, as the cost of titanium skyrocketed and motorcycle noise regulations tightened in Japan and other countries, manufacturers of exhaust systems, who had not been restricted by such regulations until then, were forced to downsize. Even BabyFace phased out exhaust production, and eventually disappeared from the market. Although the decision was disappointing to the many fans of BabyFace exhaust systems, they decided to expand the development and production of other racing parts that they also specialized in. It has been more than 15 years since the company withdrew from exhaust system production.

It turns out that this decision was a wise one, as evidenced by the fact that the company still continues to provide motorcycle parts and achieve results in the racing world.

Products

BabyFace's main product concepts can be broadly divided into the "Race Concept" series and the "Performance" series. Among the parts they manufacture, rearsets have become synonymous with BabyFace and have gained many fans in Japan.

Performance Step

The concept of BabyFace products is to provide the best functionality and quality, along with excellent design. Their products are tested not only on ordinary roads, but also in the extreme conditions of races such as MotoGP, AMA, and the All Japan Championships. They are tested by BabyFace's support riders, whose opinions are taken into account in the daily evolution of these products. They use CAD, CAM, and CAE for design, and the latest machining centers and NC lathes for manufacturing to create ideal products with the highest precision. Step kits from BabyFace have captured the hearts of riders not only in Japan, but also in North America, Europe, and other parts of the world.

Race Concept Rearsets

Their Race Concept series products are designed for racing and the quality and design are exactly the same as those used to support top contenders.

These rearsets are pure racing-spec rearsets designed for dedicated track bikes, with no compromises to make them compatible for street use. Compared to the Performance rearsets, which often have a limited range of positions in order to maintain compatibility with the stock brake switch and ABS, the Race Concept rearsets are able to provide a much more aggressive range of positions. This track-optimized design means there is no built-in compatibility with the stock exhaust hanger, brake light switch / ABS on most models. They admit their Race Concept rearsets are not for most riders, but if you are building a full-on race bike, these may be exactly what you are looking for to get an edge over the competition. Not only are many of their products GP Shift compliant, they also believe that it is important for racing teams to keep the beauty of their products untainted while still increasing strength and reducing weight.

Race Concept Handlebar

BabyFace offers many handlebar options, such as a "Flat Type Short Offset" which reduces the amount of offset to the front fork and directly transmits information from the front of the bike to the handlebars, as well as an "Up Type Front Offset" and "Up Type Side Offset" which are suitable for bikes that flat types cannot be installed on. It's hard to fully convey the beauty of the machining and the fitment just through photos, but the precise angles and positions are proof enough that these products are manufactured for top riders to shave off even one tenth of a second from their time. It should be noted that for these Race Concept products some modifications may be necessary depending on the bike model, but this is also a part of the spirit of manufacturing that can be felt from these products.

Webike’s thoughts on BabyFace

Unfortunately, despite the high quality of their products, many riders around the world probably do not know of BabyFace. However, they are well known in the Japanese market, and Webike sells more than 10,000 pcs. of their products annually. It is true that CNC machined products are often made overseas and it's hard to get an edge over other products on the market. Though it might be hard to differentiate between the many products out there, and it might be hard to tell just from photos, we believe that BabyFace's success in Japan is backed by the high quality of their products. BabyFace is one of those brands that it is very difficult to convey how good the product is until you experience it for yourself, but if we've at all piqued your interest, please give them a try. I can assure you that you will have a great experience.