From cruiser to cafe

[56nomad]

Hi DTTers, My first post.

I've only been back into bikes for about 3 yrs now after many years on the hot-rod/custom car scene (hence my '56nomad' moniker). My first recent purchase was a red '79 XS650 SE, sight unseen, off Ebay that needs so much doing to it that I ended up buying a second one - off Ebay, sight unseen again! I never intended to keep either of them standard (stock is not my thang) so, having always lusted after a mate's Triton back in the '70s, I decided to go the cafe racer route. Not hardcore cafe so, tell you what, let's call what I've produced a Latte Chaser for now.....

I've tried to keep to the premise of an original UK cafe racer. Y'know, the sort of thing a youth may have done to his Beezer, Trumpet or whatever back in the day. Where possible, I've done it myself and as economically as possible so there's very little brand new stuff on it. For most of the time (except over Winter) the bike was kept roadworthy and all work was undertaken outside.

I started off with a US import '81 XS650 SH that I picked up for a few hundred quid. One of the pics shows it on the day it was delivered to me. Fairly corroded but nigh on complete, it had been stored in a lock up over here in Blighty for over 10 years.

After getting it running and stopping, next up was to undo as many of the PO's bodges as possible, tart it up a little, get it through an MOT and hit the road. With that milestone reached I took the now clean and tidy (read '10 yarder') bog stock SH and set about disguising it's origins.

I'll not bore you with a blow-by-blow account of how I did what, when and why, what I tried and discarded but simply list what forms the bike you see in the pics. Starting from the front:

- Pirelli Strada 3.25 x 19
- Green compound brake pads
- Rebuilt forks with Minton mods and gaiters
- Sports mudguard
- T140 Lucas "Prince of Darkness" headlight and peak
- Stainless headlight brackets
- Chromed alloy mini indicators
- 2" Clubman handlebars with dual-compound kevlar grips
- Honda(?) master cylinder
- 1 3/8" id header pipes with Dunstall style reverse cone megas
- Cut, shut, sectioned 'n' cowled SH seat and foam with reconstructed XS1 cover
- 1994 Kawasaki GPz500S CVK34 carbs hybridised with PWK needles
- Pipercross foam filters
- Not-so-rearset modified 1980s Yamsel 'rearset' pegs and levers on home-brewed brackets
- Hagon rear shocks
- Lucas tail-light on home-brewed bracket
- Bridgestone BT45 130/90 x 16

One thing I kept to rigidly is that I have not cut off one surplus bracket, etc. and I've kept all parts that I removed so that, if I feel like it, I can return it back to standard. It wouldn't look pretty and I doubt if I ever would want to but the option is there all the same.

And that's it. It's still a '10 yard' bike but I'm happy.

Tara for now...

 

[Titan performance]

Nice machine, it's cleaned up well. I always wanted an XS650 back in the day, but never got one.
What about a radical cafe job on the other bike, with no thought to ever returning to stock? The Japanese Triumph is a great starting point for such a mission.

 

[56nomad]

Thanks TP. No, I need something different. Anyway, the red one is on its way to being a brat, scrambler or 'odd chop' abomination with the frame already past the point of no return. Still working up the idea but here's a taster of the 'odd chop' theme in moody black 'n' white. Not sure I like it so I think I'm going with the brat/scrambler look I have in my head.

 

[56nomad]

Sweet lookin' bike, Miffa. I get your drift on your ideas but the length of shocks it would take would bring the chain into contact with the swing arm - it already touches now and again. Increasing the size of the drive sprocket would help but the gear selector shaft is in the way of any meaningful change.

 

[56nomad]

lengthen the chain and use a chain roller/tensioner at the top rather than at the bottom will solve that problem

post a pic of the other side

miffa

 

[xb33bsa]

you need a thin nylon or delrin slider on the top of the pivot area and a well placed roller BELOW the bottom run up front there
the extra swingarm angle gives you more and more chain slack the further down it goes
and you cant just run the chain tighter but having the well placed roller on the bottom run takes out a lot of the slack,you can even spring load it like all the old dirtbikse had to do before they got smart and made them have the c/s sprocket very close to the swinger pivot

 

[56nomad]

It's [sort of] brat styled and it's too late to go back. Anyway, I don't mind the challenge.

My thoughts all along were that it will have to be a combination or selection of: larger sprockets, slightly SHORTER shocks and a skid on the swing arm. Shorter shocks will have two beneficial effects: 1) the chain is lifted further away from the pivot and swing arm, 2) the swing arm angle and its effect on the chain is reduced. Can't see that I can do anything else without cutting off the rear of the frame and starting all over again.

I've looked before but are skids/sliders available to purchase or do you have to make them up yourself?