FIRST THERE was the tattooed sleeve, vintage workwear, the full beard and the flat white. But now hipsters have found a new love affair and this time it's about speed as well as style.

Though motorbikes may, in recent years, been the preserve of middle-aged men trying to rediscover their youth around the next corner, industry experts claim a new generation of hipsters are revolutionising the scene, favouring pared back classic and retro bikes inspired by fifties and sixties motorbike icons from James Dean and Steve McQueen to Hunter S Thompson.

Sales of motorbikes have increased across the UK, with a particular rise in vintage designs and custom-built bikes, which aim to allow bikers to show off their individuality.

Hipster favourites include bobbers – where excess bodywork is stripped back, the front fender removed and the rear fender "bobbed" to reduce the weight – and cafe racers, another stripped back bike with low mounted handlebars and rebellious origins in rock n' roll. Modern versions are now made by iconic brands including Triumph, Harley-Davidson and Yamaha. Lightweight scramblers based on the original Ducati design are also in demand.

This weekend the Scottish Motorcycle Show at Edinburgh’s Royal Highland Centre is devoting a whole hall to a collection of over 700 classic bikes which, according to event director Tom Siddall, is now one of the largest show collections in northern Europe.

"The interest in classic and vintage bikes has grown massively," he said. "There is also a real trend for modern manufacturers to create new bikes in a retro fashion.The look is a strong nod to the style icons of the fifties and sixties. That style is carried through to the clothing and even the motorcycle safety gear."

Glasgow's House of Custom, which specialises in creating custom-built Harley-Davidson bikes using spare parts to fashion unique creations, is also at the show this weekend

Stuart Baillie, co-owner of the 13-year-old business, agrees motorbikes are now attracting the hipster generation. "It's similar to the way that tattoos take off, you know, the hipster thing," he said. Popular bikes include a sporty Hot Rod series, as well as bobbers and cafe racers.

"It's all gone very old school," he added. "And the people into bikes are very diverse – we're seeing people from 19-70. A lot of younger folk are getting into the bobber scene – there's a cool vibe to it and you take one bike and create seven or eight different styles. It means that everybody can be unique."

The trend for "new wave" custom bikes, built with a hipster aesthetic in mind, has been growing steadily in London in recent years. Organisations like the Bike Shed in Shoreditch – still the city's hipster hub – "curate" three annual shows of customised bikes, and offer a cafe, barbers and exhibition space at their 12,000 square foot headquarters. While websites such as Bike EXIF offer online 'how to guides on building cafe racers, scramblers and bobbers.

Gary Inman, editor of Sideburn magazine, which he set up in 2008 with the aim of telling the stories of "the heroes and the zeros of the motorbike world" rather than glitzy bike launches, said: "There isn't a motorcycle revival, but a change in emphasis, a new urban crowd becoming more visible. It's changed the kind of bikes that are being bought. The full-faired sportbike market has died and been replaced by a burgeoning retro and naked bike boom, for bikes like the Triumph Bonneville and Ducati Scrambler, plus a desire to modify old bikes and classics."

Though the trend is still less mainstream in Scotland, Blair Willoughby, sales manager at Ducati Glasgow, claimed it was already evident.

"Ducati re-introduced the Scrambler range in 2015 and in the same year those bikes accounted for a third of our sales," he said. "People are just screaming out for bikes with that retro feel. They are hopping from foot-to-foot for these type of bikes. The manufacturers have tuned into the gap in the market and are now working hard to fill that. It's appealing to the hipster generation and so we are seeing more of it. Motorcycling went through a fairly recent period where it was uncool but that's changing quite dramatically."

But he claimed that although people might initially be attracted by the style, most developed a genuine love for motorbikes. "What we are seeing now is that people are snared by the style and then it becomes a passion. Our customers are usually youthful through to middle-aged with plenty of disposable income. They work hard and are looking for some escapism, to get on the bike and away from reality."

Paul Lilly, Triumph general manager for the UK and Ireland, said that the brand had experienced a record year in 2016 and seen a growth in the number of Scottish customers. In response Triumph Glasgow, its new dealership, will be opening later this month in the west end of the city.

"The demand in nostalgia has allowed our Modern Classics line-up to thrive, accounting for around 40 per cent of Triumph sales in the UK," he added.