makotosun
Avoiding creeping perfection!
So where to start? The beginning is usually a good place, so here we go.
I have been posting a bit already, but I guess it would have been more polite to introduce myself first. I guess I am a bit of a party crasher. I happened on this board quite awhile ago and have always had a great big soft spot for cafes and trackers. It is a great board with a ton (bad pun) of talent and knowledge. I bring a great deal of knowledge of the 70's vintage yamaha singles and hopefully I can add something. The title said it, but I hail from the Northwest based in SW Washington State. Land of the eternal lack of sun. Probably explains my overuse of the Japanese war flag . . .
I am a lifelong bike guy - started in the late 60's on a Monkey-Wards, Briggs-powered mini bike, followed by a succession of trail, then street, bikes, (Honda 50, 100, Yamaha 125, (2) Kawasaki H1's, CR250 Elsinore, Kawasaki 440 LTD. Now I find a Magna 750 (with cafe fairing) for fun, a Valkyrie for long jaunts, and half a dozen vintage Yamaha enduros in the stable. (I was one of the crazy old farts that recently rode vintage Yamaha Enduros from Kitty Hawk, NC to Port Orford, OR along the Trans-America trail. We got a partial report in Motorcyclist Magazine) Several of the enduro-based builds may soon grace the tracker section.
The other affliction are some Honda minis. The latter will be my first topic - even though it is a bit tongue-in-cheek, it will be a full on streetable build. I don't know if you would call it a cafe or tracker as it will have elements of both, at least a little bit of . . . :
Let's call it the "Half-ton"!
We start with a street titled mini from across the pond and obtain full Washington MC plates for it.
49cc of power. Damper-free suspension. Fits in your trunk . . .
Lots of other neat upgrades which will make it capable of hitting the half-ton (50 mph) assuming I have the intestinal fortitude and cahones to ride it there! Time will tell.
We have already upgraded the suspension, lengthened the swinger, new wheels and tires. On the way - 125cc and a manual 4 speed and a custom pipe when the 125 motor gets installed. Also bars, seat, tank, and gauges. Reworked rear light and plate mount. Better rear shock setup. I may even end up modding the rear of the frame to get a bit more leg room and a better rear suspension angle.. Rear-sets likely to be needed.
A few in progress shots:
The tires are Pirelli SL26 in the 10" variety. The funky carbon fibre-look fender in the background of the last pic is now installed and I'm working on the seat, rear-set setup before doing the engine swap. The little thing will hit about 32 mph as it sits. Can't wait to over double the HP with the 125. The current motor is an auto also, so the manual 4 speed should make it more streetable.
I will do up a full build thread on the little fella so long as no one laughs too hard. I suppose you wouldn't if it passed you doing 50 on a public street . . .
Great fun around town!
The tank in my sig is the other also current project which really doesn't fit on this board too well, as it is more of a period-works styled resto-mod of a Yamaha RT1 360. Lots of neat parts and fully streetable. I am shooting for a "gravel tracker" styling . . . More on that later. A teaser . . .
It's evil twin is a DT400 based street tracker that is still mostly in my head, but is well represented in the parts pile. It is still a ways off, but it may bet some air time if the rest of my life begins to cooperate.
I have been posting a bit already, but I guess it would have been more polite to introduce myself first. I guess I am a bit of a party crasher. I happened on this board quite awhile ago and have always had a great big soft spot for cafes and trackers. It is a great board with a ton (bad pun) of talent and knowledge. I bring a great deal of knowledge of the 70's vintage yamaha singles and hopefully I can add something. The title said it, but I hail from the Northwest based in SW Washington State. Land of the eternal lack of sun. Probably explains my overuse of the Japanese war flag . . .
I am a lifelong bike guy - started in the late 60's on a Monkey-Wards, Briggs-powered mini bike, followed by a succession of trail, then street, bikes, (Honda 50, 100, Yamaha 125, (2) Kawasaki H1's, CR250 Elsinore, Kawasaki 440 LTD. Now I find a Magna 750 (with cafe fairing) for fun, a Valkyrie for long jaunts, and half a dozen vintage Yamaha enduros in the stable. (I was one of the crazy old farts that recently rode vintage Yamaha Enduros from Kitty Hawk, NC to Port Orford, OR along the Trans-America trail. We got a partial report in Motorcyclist Magazine) Several of the enduro-based builds may soon grace the tracker section.
The other affliction are some Honda minis. The latter will be my first topic - even though it is a bit tongue-in-cheek, it will be a full on streetable build. I don't know if you would call it a cafe or tracker as it will have elements of both, at least a little bit of . . . :
Let's call it the "Half-ton"!
We start with a street titled mini from across the pond and obtain full Washington MC plates for it.
49cc of power. Damper-free suspension. Fits in your trunk . . .
Lots of other neat upgrades which will make it capable of hitting the half-ton (50 mph) assuming I have the intestinal fortitude and cahones to ride it there! Time will tell.
We have already upgraded the suspension, lengthened the swinger, new wheels and tires. On the way - 125cc and a manual 4 speed and a custom pipe when the 125 motor gets installed. Also bars, seat, tank, and gauges. Reworked rear light and plate mount. Better rear shock setup. I may even end up modding the rear of the frame to get a bit more leg room and a better rear suspension angle.. Rear-sets likely to be needed.
A few in progress shots:
The tires are Pirelli SL26 in the 10" variety. The funky carbon fibre-look fender in the background of the last pic is now installed and I'm working on the seat, rear-set setup before doing the engine swap. The little thing will hit about 32 mph as it sits. Can't wait to over double the HP with the 125. The current motor is an auto also, so the manual 4 speed should make it more streetable.
I will do up a full build thread on the little fella so long as no one laughs too hard. I suppose you wouldn't if it passed you doing 50 on a public street . . .
Great fun around town!
The tank in my sig is the other also current project which really doesn't fit on this board too well, as it is more of a period-works styled resto-mod of a Yamaha RT1 360. Lots of neat parts and fully streetable. I am shooting for a "gravel tracker" styling . . . More on that later. A teaser . . .
It's evil twin is a DT400 based street tracker that is still mostly in my head, but is well represented in the parts pile. It is still a ways off, but it may bet some air time if the rest of my life begins to cooperate.
