Broccoli's progress on the 82 seca...

well...lots of tear down, and some modifications are taking shape...figured I'd share where I am so far.

beginning..


next was time to tear the monster sized signals and extra brake lights off.



I pulled off the old clunky stuff, and mounted little clears up front, and yellows out back. I moved the rears to the shock mounts, instead of behind the fender. (mainly because I took the fender off too)




Next...it was time to tear down the rear fender. I took off the huge taillight assembly, and the plate frame, and the rear portion of the fender. (the front half is still inside the frame) I cut the seat pan down shorter, and cut and shaved the seat foam (which is in good shape) down lower. Still comfortable, but not as bulky.

Seatpan not cut, foam cut...to show how much seatpan I took off:


after the seatpan cutdown, the rear end is starting to take shape a little.


much shorter and cleaner on the rear end. I left a little seat pan there to mount the rear "cafe style hump" to. I didn't want to cut it too short and not have a way to mount the rear cowl piece.

Next...the bars. Those old school bars were just awful, so I swapped them out for a nice set of clubman low bars.
here's a shot of both on the risers, to show the difference in position...


and here's a couple of other shots of the front, showing how low the bars are...looks much better.





Overall, its starting to come together...


Lots more to come...side panels need attention (removal? modification?) seat cowl, loads of other stuff...stay tuned!

Looking good so far. May I recommend, lifting that tank a little higher in the rear. Its a good looking tank, but the downward slope to the rear throws off the whole look. Undo the rear mount and prop it up a bit just to see how it looks.

hmm...I wouldn't have thought of that...I'l have to play with it this week and see what it looks like. Good call.

I disagree with raising the tank in the rear unless of course you plan on removing the side panels all-together, but even then it'd just make the slope in the rear more dramatic.

At the same time I can't wait to see how another seca turns out, and I'll be keeping track on both sites.

Can't wait to see what you come up with for a seat.

I'm taking on pod filters and re-locating the electrics this winter, so I'll keep some progress pics on here as well.

Good luck with it all!

tobiism said:

Looking good so far. May I recommend, lifting that tank a little higher in the rear. Its a good looking tank, but the downward slope to the rear throws off the whole look. Undo the rear mount and prop it up a bit just to see how it looks.

Click to expand...

I'm glad someone brought this up. One of the things I like most about cafe style bikes is the horizontal line the tank makes with the seat. A tank that slopes down at the rear just doesnt look good to me, same with a seat that slopes ahead. I think the tank and seat should have a continuous straight line. I dunno, but i think it makes the bike look faster

Will McD said:

I'm glad someone brought this up. One of the things I like most about cafe style bikes is the horizontal line the tank makes with the seat. A tank that slopes down at the rear just doesnt look good to me, same with a seat that slopes ahead. I think the tank and seat should have a continuous straight line. I dunno, but i think it makes the bike look faster

Click to expand...

I'd say just lower the bike in the front a bit, and adjust with the seat shape. Unfortunately the tank on the bike is made in such a way to sort of "mould" into the side panels. So we're kinda stuck with a tank that slopes down. It leaves the bike with the kind of kink in it (the v-shape from the drawing above).

I agree with you guys about the straight line from the bottom, but unfortunately on our bikes that means either some strange angles on the back of the tank (from raising it) or a different tank (which is the route I plan to take if at all possible). The shape is kind of like a later model CB - like a hawk - with the downward sloping piece meant to "tie the bike together" that kind of messes up the look of a cafe.

Quote from: Will McD on Nov 13, 2007, 02:07:30

I'm glad someone brought this up. One of the things I like most about cafe style bikes is the horizontal line the tank makes with the seat. A tank that slopes down at the rear just doesnt look good to me, same with a seat that slopes ahead. I think the tank and seat should have a continuous straight line. I dunno, but i think it makes the bike look faster

I'd say just lower the bike in the front a bit, and adjust with the seat shape. Unfortunately the tank on the bike is made in such a way to sort of "mould" into the side panels. So we're kinda stuck with a tank that slopes down. It leaves the bike with the kind of kink in it (the v-shape from the drawing above).

I agree with you guys about the straight line from the bottom, but unfortunately on our bikes that means either some strange angles on the back of the tank (from raising it) or a different tank (which is the route I plan to take if at all possible). The shape is kind of like a later model CB - like a hawk - with the downward sloping piece meant to "tie the bike together" that kind of messes up the look of a cafe.

Click to expand...

I'd have to agree with both of the above. With all the extra baggage the bike is carrying at the moment it looks like the backbone just caved in. The slope-down tank is pretty hard to work around but I love what Newman has done to his:
Even though the later model CB is not something I would start working with I have to say he's pulled it off very well. It's sort of a hybrid between the cafe racer and streetfighter. But in the end it's YOUR bike and you're building it for YOU, nobody else. My suggestions:

1. less IS more, so if you're not going to beef up the engine, lose anything and everything you can from the bike.
2. drop the front and/or raise the rear a bit. Dropping the 3xtrees might even sharpen up the handling.

Just my thoughts..

-The Unflying Finn-

Will McD said:

I'm glad someone brought this up. One of the things I like most about cafe style bikes is the horizontal line the tank makes with the seat. A tank that slopes down at the rear just doesnt look good to me, same with a seat that slopes ahead. I think the tank and seat should have a continuous straight line. I dunno, but i think it makes the bike look faster

Click to expand...

I do agree with Will. The bottom line should be continous.

just wanted to say something ive noticed that nobody has really talked about here, in addition to the straight bottom line, the bump stop seat (its called a bump stop seat or a solo seat, not a cafe seat. sorry pet peeve.) continues to an end at a similar angle to the angle of the tank (in nearly all the "perfect cafes" at least)

it never comes higher or wider and you can continue the tanks lines through the padding area and almost exactly to the back of the seat. when these dont line up it looks weird.

Get a boxy seat...H2 style..or there are a couple that i think will run great with the tank lines on that bike on airtech...