o/t cafe racer motorcycles

anyone into them? did anyone pickup the ironworks magazine with the HD cafe racer on the cover? im hoping to see a comeback of cafe bikes.ive been into them for some time now.ive been fighting for a while about if i should build a sporty chop or cafe..anyways check out this guy

http://www.americancaferacers.com/

 

i might go cafe with my sportster,mostly because i can't stand 99% of the people who ride H-D,and i'm including the 1%ers in that figure.

 

I think Cafe bikes are really cool. The old 70's harley cafe bike is the only factory bike I really liked from the past 30 years or so (unlike just about everyone else). I'd do it to a sporty, unless your going to do a bob job. The streched out chopper sportys are way over done. A buell would be a great starting point also. I really prefer the 60's brit bikes for a cafe. An original Triton (norton featherbed frame and a Triumph 650 twin engine is the cats ass!) I'd really like to build up one or get an old bonnie, or my dream BSA A10 650!
There are alot of websites with cafe bikes on them, there are some REALLY cool jap bikes also. Honda 350's in a race frame with a full ducati style 60's fairing is freaking awesome! I got an old 76 honda 360 twin I might do that to.

 

thats another idea.`bobbed sporty and a cafe'd yamaha xs650

 

mine that i built and sold some time back all custom stuff

 

Bonny or Commando in a Chenney (SP?) frame.

I had an Atlas that probably fit the bill as a Cafe Bike (more of a TT type bike) when I was in high school. What a bear to start.

 

Here's my Z1 that I built in the late 70s. Heavily gusseted frame, bridgework swingarm with layed down Fox coil/gas shocks, triple discs, bored to 1025cc with cams and carb work.

The pic is crappy because I had it stuffed behing the sun visor of my truck for years.

At the time, this bike ruled all it surveyed. I would hang out at a dam near a twisty road road (which I knew every inch of) that was popular for the cafe racer types. I'd lay bets as to who could make it down to the bridge first - about 8 miles of all-out flying. Never once got beat.

One of the "wish I'd kept that" items from my past.

 

i have a buddy that is a cafe, trump, bsa, freak. you wouldnt believe his stuff. ive told him to get on here cuz he likes old rods too. i bought my truck from him. he thought he was gonna do a rod but just cant get away from the bikes. he mechanics for his son who races the corsa classica stuff and vintage circle track. he told me just yesterday that his son's current race bike will do the quarter in less than 11 sec. can ya imagine what that sounds like around the track. his son is actually my age, 30. he's about 60. i'll try to get pics of his shit.

 

I am in the middle of building one right now, should be badass. I will post some picks when it is done.

 

cool shit here. anyone seen this joint?
www.garagecompany.com

 

I love cafe bikes, turned my first 3 or 4 bikes into cafe style bikes. My favorite being the RD400 I should have never sold. Rearsets, clubman bars, bronze swingarm bushings, tapered steering head bearings, Marzochi shocks, Bassani chambers.... man that thing was cool. I'd like to find a 70's Guzzi or Ducati to make into a cafe bike. Though I can't say I'm doing bad in the bike dept. right now anyway....

 

Yep, I like em. Not sure what you can catagorize it as, but here's my CB450. More cafe than anything else I suppose....

 

Our first Harley was a cafe racer!! We loved it, wish we still had it too!! But it sure wasn't comfortable for 2! we did get the little seat for the fender had it for 2 seasons then sold it and got a superglide.

 

69 bsa 250 but fast, believe it or not.

 

I have a 1976 R90S BMW that sort of qualifies,also is a comfortable all day tourer.Ace Cafe is a cool site as well as www.postaldave/cafebeemer/cafebeemer.html

 

About ten years ago I built a race bike out of two RD350s and one R5. Turned out a lot nicer than I had expected, and drew more attention than the Ducati I was riding on the street at the time. Took it to the track once, had some transmission problems, rebuilt it, then sold it before riding it again. Never even took a decent picture of the thing! Idiot...

I tend to gravitate towards the Italian stuff though, and am now finishing up a rebuild of a '74 Ducati (not cafe style) but am getting info on a 1964 Ducati that I want to do up as a cafe racer.

 

Is that a Beezer??? I can't tell from the angle but it's got the right side cover
That tank is freaking cool! I really like the alloy look, did you make that? Very nice bike, that is what I was aspiring towards, until I got my Chevy (and my baby boy )

 

no it's a matchless G12 csr all that stuff was hand built by a guy i know over here in the uk ..........marq

 

Cafe racers rule, I have always wondered why someone hasn't built a HD into one. I have an 68 XLCh that I have been thinking about building into one. Last year at Daytona I saw one using two front heads running two amals that was perfect. Now if I could only start the thing without busting my leg or nuts, I'd complete it. Thanks for the post.

 

Here's my moto guzzi. I started to convert it. I couldn't stop riding it long enough to replace the seat and paint it. this thing was a blast. I stripped all the controls off, straight wired the head light and wired up a momentary switch for the starter. When I went to get my mc license the instructor wanted to test my signals, hi low beams, horns, etc. I told him it was a rare Italian race bike that came that way from the factory. He bought it.

 

Some one did Harley. I was called the XLCR It kicked ass here's a pic

 

how to run an open primary like that?

doesn't that burn your clutch up? or is there a belt drive in there?

i'd like to run open primary on my commando engine but i can't afford the 900 dollar belt conversion.

 

Ahh, I didn't notice you were across the pond
Matchless, very cool, a buddy of mine's dad has an old matchless single he is restoring very nice bike. I really like yours.

 

cool place but how can they have cafe racer shirts and stuff on everything EXCEPT norton and triumphs?

they have ariel and matchless and that's it for british shirts...?

 

Of course your right I remember that bike. At the time it seemed a little heavy and not quite what a lot of people had invisioned for a cafe racer, now of course they are worth big bucks.

 

They had the coolest exhaust ever

 

how about an Indian bonneville bike. the other is the baddest cafe racer ever, it's a moto guzzi. check out the flipped heads. here is also a link to a guy that built a blown moto guzzi. it rocks. Did I mention that I love moto guzzi's

http://translate.google.com/transla...rev=/search?q=kohler+guzzi&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8

 

Last year I picked up a 79 Goldwing GL1000. It belonged to a good friend of mine in Canada. He bough it wrecked around 1980-81. He rebuilt it as a cafe racer. Its been put on a diet by removing all the sattle bags and the big fering. He lowered it put a flat bar on it and modified a BMW 900 fering to fit. His inspiration was the HD bike of the era so its all blacked out. I have yet to get it running. It still need the carbs rebuilt but I have not yet had the time.

 

You don't need a belt to run open. Just get a dry clutch (Barnett makes 'em) and a can of chain lube. A when you park for the evening (while the chain is still hot) hose the chain down.

I run open primary on several of my bikes and never owned a belt drive until the '80s.

 

I love cafe-racer syled bikes. Kind of true to tradition. If you want to see lots of pics of real cafe bikes, and kind of a history lesson on the subject, go to www.ace-cafe-london.com this is said to be the place where it all started. I also like the idea of turning a sportster into a cafe bike. Would love to see some pics if anybody gets going on one.