An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - I am ALIVE - New pics

Hello all,

My name is Matthew, and I have been reading this site for that past few months, and really enjoy the cafe racer projects I see on here. I am 18, and just got my first motorcycle a few days ago. It is a 1970s Yamaha DT360 Enduro...Well, it was, it is already mostly stripped down and well on it way to becoming something like a cafe racer. Obviously, there are more conventional choices to making a cafe racer than a vintage enduro. But, I want something unique, and it was 55 dollars.

The Engine was seized, but with some 'gentle' love and care I got the head and cylinder off, to find it in fairly good shape...I am going to pull the crank soon and inspect it more closely, but I have one of ebay ready to buy if I need to replace...Probably buy it anyways.

My plans for the bike are as follows

Strip bike down,
Modify frame to accept rear disc brakes (either a PM Caliper I have laying arund, or a old Tokico caliper that used to be on my dads 1986 GSXR750 Limited. I am also modifying the bearings to accept forks from an RG500. If I win the auction, the front will have duel Tokico 6 piston brakes, on 280mm rotors. It is also going to have wheels from a rg500. (I may or may not have to fabricate a rear axle, luckly I have a titanium rod laying around that should fit the bill)
I am going to then go with a white and black paint job (going to attempt rattlecan, if that proves unacceptable, I will borrow/buy a paint gun and do it again) Frame will be white, all aluminum parts will be left natural color (matches well with white) Engine and tank will be flat black (maybe gloss later). I have opted to do clipon handlebars instead of clubmans (triple clamp isn't set up for them, and I like how clip ons look).
The engine will most likely end up being ported by me, and I am going to modify a race expansion pipe off of a new yz250 to fit onto my engine, it will then be fully wrapped in black or white header tape, all the way to the muffler. The oil injection and airbox will be scrapped in favor of the largest pod or can filter I can fit on the bike.
Finally, when I can afford it (after the mechanical parts are out of the way) I will finish the project with a cafe seat with built in taillight I found on ebay (it's exactly what I want for looks, I will find a different fiberglass project.) here is the link to it http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cafe-Racer-Seat-Yamaha-Honda-Kawaski-Suzuki-NEW-STYLE_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem2c52308436QQitemZ190357472310QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
If nessesary I will reinforce the seat with fiberglass (not sure about how strong it is.)
For the rear disc conversion, I am going to use a brake stay off of a yz250, and the lines and master cylinder off of some crashed bike my dad scrapped out years ago.
the bike will be finished with some random dress ups (newer sleeker foot pegs...ect)

Here are some pictures of the progress so far, tell me what you think.
PS, I am not sure if what I have planned constitutes a street fighter or a cafe racer...my guy says a bit of both, but as I am new to this scene, I could be well wrong. That being said, I am building this bike to my tastes, without regard to fitting into any given category.

Bike when it first rolled into my garage:
http://img709.imageshack.us/i/dscn0321.jpg/
http://img199.imageshack.us/i/dscn0322c.jpg/

Bike, after stripping and mocking up the wheels and fork...Notice how low the bike is, it was already short, and the fork/wheel combination lowers it another 2-3 inches, the front is lowered more though, which shortens the rake, and improve the stance a bit. The wheels ended up being quite a bit lighter than the stock wheels (several pounds each)...And the stock forks don't hold a candle to the RG500 forks. Still, the rake is a bit more than I would like...But I think it will be more aesthetically pleasing once the expansion pipe is on, filling the gap between the frame and fork. The thing that worries me slightly, is the wheelbase is so short, it may be a weird riding position when done...Still working on how to deal with that. The cafe seat I am going to get will probably be quite a bit farther back though. I am also playing with the idea of getting a aluminum swingarm, and adapting it to this frame...Found a few good candidates on ebay.
http://img696.imageshack.us/i/dscn0323.jpg/
http://img709.imageshack.us/i/dscn0324f.jpg/

-Matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

very very cool!!! i tink this can constitute as a cafe....try lowering the forks down in the triples a bit, itll make it look less raked and a little leaner great job so far and welcome!!

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

Hey man, Sounds like you've got a plan. What year is that Enduro? Some of those bikes are super collectable. You may be better off getting that running and cleaned up and sell it. I looked at one last summer that was barely running and needed a full cosmetic resto. And the dude got $900 for it. Restored they go for like 3K. Look into it before you make a final decision.

A grand would get you a nice beater and plenty of money to cafe it!!

Also, if you load your pics in Photobucket you can get paste the IMG. link into your posts and the photos will pop right up.

Good Luck!

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

forcefanajd said:

very very cool!!! i tink this can constitute as a cafe....try lowering the forks down in the triples a bit, itll make it look less raked and a little leaner great job so far and welcome!!

Click to expand...

I am thinking about that, I might actually modify the forks and cut them down a bit too...But the forks are rather rare, and I don't want to modify them (yet) I might do what you said about putting them lower in the triple clamps, but I will wait until it is all together, to see how it looks with the expansion pipe. As it is, I don't think it's to bad, but we will see.

diesel450 said:

Hey man, Sounds like you've got a plan. What year is that Enduro? Some of those bikes are super collectable. You may be better off getting that running and cleaned up and sell it. I looked at one last summer that was barely running and needed a full cosmetic resto. And the dude got $900 for it. Restored they go for like 3K. Look into it before you make a final decision.

A grand would get you a nice beater and plenty of money to cafe it!!

Also, if you load your pics in Photobucket you can get paste the IMG. link into your posts and the photos will pop right up.

Good Luck!

Click to expand...

Yeah, I know, I see these going all the time for over 1000, when they are running and whatnot. Even when they are modified. But, that being said, the most expensive one I seen was modified to be a flat tracker, and it went for 3200, and was far from stock restored. The idea for the pipe and filter actually came from that. Also, the parts I am putting on the bike are highly collectible to...So, I figure if I do decide to sell it, I could still get a good price for it even modified. Plus...Selling a bike or restoring a bike to factory is no fun...Man must tinker, then ride the hell out of it!

Thanks for the responses, I will keep you posted as I get work done on it.

-Matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

even if it was rare.....fuck it cut it up and make it your own.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

I agree with making it your own. I only bring it up from a purely economical standpoint. sometimes it makes more sense to shift it and take on something else. the decision is all up to the owner.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

I rode one of these several years ago. The thing was really fast and had lots of "git". Even if you went to a little smaller sprocket to make it more streetable, have a higher top end, and get better mileage it still have more than enough get-up-'n'-go to give you a really good time.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

Well, I lost the bidding on the RG500 Calipers, so I instead bought a used set of 4 piston brembos off of a Ducati. This is the set: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200415274099

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

Just so you know, if you call "dibs" on something from ebay on DTT, it's kind of a little rule that nobody else will bid on it. There was a post about calling dibs somewhere on here.

Good luck and nice project!

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

Okay, now I have gotten the frame totally stripped down. I brought the frame, swingarm, rear brake lever, kickstand, head, and cylinder all to a local place in town to have them baked and cleaned until all paint rust and dirt is removed. I also ordered the tail section, and found some clipons that would be perfect for my build, the adjustable clipons from roc city cafe...Emailed to see if they are available still, and if I could have a set made for my 38mm forks. If not, I will get the 37mm ones and modify them to suit. My brakes and tailsection should be in later this week, hopefully around the time I get my parts back.

I also stripped the tank of most of the paint (I wasn't able to get some of the stuff in the tunnel on the bottom of the tank, but I am fine painting over that because it is not visible.) I then sanded any rust spots, and then sprayed rust nuetralizer on the tank, to get any rust that was pitted in, or otherwise missed. I have now just put the third layer of bondo on it (should be last) Hopefully I can then put the glaze/gel coat on and prime it tonight. I am painting the tank with low gloss black engine enamel. That way it will not be affected by heat from the motor. The cap I plan to paint a semigloss or gloss white/cream color, to match the frame.

I will get pictures up later tonight.

-Matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

Here are pictures of the tank in various states of bondo and prepwork. Going to prime tomorrow, and hopefully paint shortly after.

Tank, right after being stripped of paint
http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab263/MatthewPMenze/cafe%20racer/?action=view&current=DSCN0325.jpg

What I stopped at tonight - will prime tomorrow
http://s870.photobucket.com/albums/ab263/MatthewPMenze/cafe%20racer/?action=view&current=DSCN0331.jpg

-matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

If you click on the
and then right click on the image in PhotoBucket and select "copy image location"
then paste it between the {img} tags it will pop the image up like this




{img}http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab263/MatthewPMenze/cafe%20racer/DSCN0325.jpg{/img}

looks like this in the post but replace all the { with [

Nice build BTW!

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

Thanks for the advice. I wasn't sure which tag it was on the forum. I am just used to linking, because a lot of forums I have been on do it that way - do to technical issues with that forum, or whatnot. Anyways, thanks, I will start doing that.

-Matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle

I just finished priming the tank, it turned out pretty nice...Still a few imperfections, but I think they are small enough that I am the only person who would really notice them. At any rate, I will probably eventually get a different tank, to better match the lines of the rest of the bike.

Tell me what you think:


I'll probably start painting soon, so I will have those pictures up soon.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - Gas tank is finished priming - picture

Before you paint. hit it with one light coat of a different darker color primer then wet sand that with 1000 grit and use a soft block (a sanding sponge wrapped with the 1000 grit will work) sand it until you start to see the lighter primer come through in spots but don't necessarily sand it all the way off. This will give you a really smooth and even primer surface for the paint to go over. it only takes another 20 minutes or so and will make a big difference.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - Gas tank is finished priming - picture

That's a good idea, I really wish I would have thought of that before I had bought my paint supplies. Oh well, I will see what I can get like this, and if it doesn't turn out well enough, I will go buy more supplies and do it that method.

Definitely do that on the next thing I paint - Thanks for the pointer.

-Matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - Gas tank is finished priming - picture

You can still do it. Just shoot a mist coat of your paint color and do the same thing.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - Gas tank is finished priming - picture

Hmm, I might give that a try then. I suppose I just need to let it dry to the touch, not cure or anything, since I will be sanding it off?

-matt

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - Gas tank is finished priming - picture

You use the darker primer as a "guide coat" it will show any imperfections in your body work and will allow for a nice even finish. Your bike should be pretty cool I wish I had a stock pile of parts and tools to build with at your age. It took me 17 years to get to the point of building a bike. Albeit I was too busy riding the crap out of my mx bikes to even think about another bike. But my kid will be able to build himself a hell of a bike when he wants to.

Re: An Introduction, and a Motorcycle - Gas tank is finished priming - picture

Yeah, I am real lucky my dad was insane with his bikes. Makes it a lot easier, plus I have his massive knowledge base to work off of. You should see his bike, he designed so many different things for it, for a while he was talking with Eric Buell about a few of his designs for brake rotors, and had a chance to get his bike in motorcyclist magazine, but he never quite finished the fuel injection system he made for it (he made it back in the late 80s, early 90s) but he couldn't get a good enough ecu to drive the system, along with some issues he never fully resolved with the intake manifold/throttle bodies he built. Freaked out a lot of people with his bike though, to this day, older people read my name of my debit card at a store, and will ask about his bike.

Now he says I can have his old gsxr, but frankly I am scared to drive it, so that's why I am building this, to learn with.

Anyways, I wet sanded the tank without a guide coat (place was reaking way to much of paint fumes and I was getting light headed, and it's way to cold outside to open a door) so instead I methodically sanded it by feel with 2000 grit, and it turned out pretty nice, except for one little spot I went though, but I sprayed over that, and will give it a final wet sanding in about a half hour. Whole thing is glass smooth, and I can't see any imperfections with the flat grey primer, so I am assuming that the flat black topcoat will look as close to perfect as I am going to get.

-Matt