New to the Forum - Waiting for a bike to find me...

[Oilycafe]

Lived bikes from the time I was 12 until my late 20s. Worked part time in a Honda shop a couple summers. (changing oil and ugh - changing tires

Getting back into bikes after a literal lifetime, I gave up riding in 1982 after a couple of close calls. My soon to be wife was an influence.
My Dad really put the nail in it when I was telling him about the close calls. He said, "It takes two to make an accident and you're the common denominator".

Got my jollies over the years with over the top Hot Boats and Snowmobiles.

Most of my friends stayed in the hobby and sometimes would encourage me to get another bike. My wife would tell them, "He can't get another motorcycle 'till he grows up".
She told somebody a couple of months ago that I was 60 going on 18. YES! I thought - all these years of being 16 and now I'm grown up!!

Don't need a go fast. (Wife calls Sport Bikes Zoom Splats).
Restoring vintage cars has taught me to appreciate the past ( It's not miles per gallon but smiles per gallon ) so cafe racers hold an appeal.

Some of my more recent Restorations / Restomods http://www.supermotors.net/users/Snakoil

Been lurking here for months and looking all last summer doing research and soaking up anything "cafe" on the internet - a loose term to be sure...

I'm leaning Honda of course. Last bike was a 82 750F .
Came across an original owner CB 550 "Barn Find" that I know won't be going anywhere so I've filed that one away.

Friend has a 650 junker - file that... mmm 650 motor, bore kit in a 550 frame with Cognito Moto oozing from the seams....

Then I see the SOHC pics - Classic lines but they seem like a-holes and Chevelles everybody seems to have one - But wait, how many do I see around here...NONE
Sometimes the internet makes things bigger or more prevalent than reality.

As with vintage cars, seems the best one find you not the other way around.

So I'll keep looking... In the mean time maybe I'll look for that 82 750F.... until I find a bike that I can cobb - I mean Cafe.

Danny

 

[CarbsAndCylinders]

Welcome Did you do all those Fords?

 

[Oilycafe]

Yes

The only one that was a bare shell to finished car was the Shelby GT 350 clone convertible.

The 64 Galaxie is all original except for me lowering it and the wheels.

The Boss 302 is unrestored original w 64,000 miles that I freshened the engine with all NOS parts - mostly hens teeth. Great mobile 401K

The 63 Galaxie, 69 Mustang Convertible, 65 Falcon wagon were all "80 percenters" - Projects that people ran out of steam on.
Wiring, Drivetrains, Bodywork, Interiors etc.
Rolling restorations that I wish I had more pics of but lost when a host crashed . Sometimes the information super highway becomes an information black hole. Lesson learned.

I know you shouldn't have favorite children, but the 65 Clone (Mighty Whitey) is one and the Cal Special is the other.

I had the 65 for 14 years having just sold it back to the guy that I bought it from. ( with a reciprocal agreement )
If you read the specs you'll see it's a 7000 rpm small block screamer.

Did a lot of road rallies and open tracking and surprised a lot of people with it including Cobra owners. Did the 5 speed conversion w hydraulic clutch and put a fully rollerized and urethaned suspension and the 9" rear. Upgraded the brakes for track use.

The Cal Special has been a family member for 15 years and a Road Trip companion. I bought it unrestored, New top and paint, drivetrain , wiring upgrades, safety upgrades and suspension upgrades to bring it into the 21st century. She goes on vacation with us

The 65 is what I'd like to emulate with a 550 - Small ballsy boy racer that keeps the retro look but has an edge.

I like the Cognito Moto 550 and the Kott 550s and of course there are a multitude of really great bikes on here (that I saved for reference)
I just hope that i can reach the level of those. A high bar so it make take awhile.

Even if a virago or Seca finds me... or even a err... Nighthawk....

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

Welcome to DTT

Be aware of people that can be forward with opinion, argue, call you dumbass... but really just give a shit about this stuff and will offer as much advice as you want... good or bad (see disclaimer in my handle) if you've bee lurking you know this already.

Cafe bikes ARE British motorcycles modified to race or raise hell... anything Japanese or other would be a modified with a "Cafe" inspired theme... JMO. (soon to be corrected... wait forit) 8)

You seem to have a grip on the tool room so if I were you, I would dig a deep hole and jump right in... find an old Norton or Ducati and break new ground with it. :-X

 

[Oilycafe]

Welcome to DTT

Be aware of people that can be forward with opinion, argue, call you dumbass... but really just give a shit about this stuff and will offer as much advice as you want... good or bad (see disclaimer in my handle) if you've bee lurking you know this already.

Cafe bikes ARE British motorcycles modified to race or raise hell... anything Japanese or other would be a modified with a "Cafe" inspired theme... JMO. (soon to be corrected... wait forit) 8)

You seem to have a grip on the tool room so if I were you, I would dig a deep hole and jump right in... find an old Norton or Ducati and break new ground with it. :-X

Hehe
Thanks!
Been around enough forums and actually enjoy the camaraderie that I've seen. Yes there are some know-it-alls but their respect comes later and sweeter with time.
Hey, a slap in the back of the head is just what the doctor ordered sometimes :'(

Part of the Cafe mystique for me, stems from my uncle who came back from the service in Europe with tall tales of the Isle of Mann and these fast nimble stripped down street racing motorcycles that these gangs of fans were riding. His old hand me down Cycle magazines fueled that fire. He rode an old used Indian and then later a Harley Dresser and concurrently, a Triumph Bonneville.
I got to ride the Triumph and soon my first street bike was used a BSA 441 Victor. Then the Japanese invasion got more entrenched,
I pulled up to my uncles house all proud of my well used 305 Scrambler and he just shook his head.

My buddy has a Triumph 650 that he wants to sell me but ... the whole opposite side thing and no electric start. (got 4 screws and a pin in my right ankle from a car wreck. )

I like what the guys are doing with Viragos, some got this whole Matchless thing going on. I've not heard nimble and Virago in the same sentence though...
Saw a couple of CX 500s that surprised me like the Viragos with their transformations too.

Yea I've got a good shop and some latent experience and it looks like this is a good place to be.

I like the turns that your current project is taking. Been following that too. (sounds creepy when you call it lurking)

Thanks for the input!

Danny

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

Nice! Stay tuned, the CB is getting a second swinger real soon, just need to have some machine work done and find another R6 wheel.

The CX 500 is that the one they took a well pump motor and put it in a Honda frame? ;D

Okay we'll keep an eye out for the new arrival!

 

[Oilycafe]

Nice! Stay tuned, the CB is getting a second swinger real soon, just need to have some machine work done and find another R6 wheel.

The CX 500 is that the one they took a well pump motor and put it in a Honda frame? ;D

Okay we'll keep an eye out for the new arrival!

I hadn't looked at CVs that way but now that you say it , They do appeal to the Industrial side of me. Sort of Military/Tractor - like...

Kott had a 550 they called Storm Trooper. I think these CXs lend themselves better to that style..

http://www.clockworkmotorcycles.com/p_product_6_el-numero-uno

IN A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY....

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

No really, a guy in Mexico makes well heads out of those motors and they run almost wfo for hours at a time filling cisterns, the motor takes it well haha!

 

[DohcBikes]

cx500 motors have been known to make it to 200,000 miles on the original internals. I had one with 136,000 miles on it and it ran like a top.

Dustin Kott drives me insane. That is all.

Empty 'triangles' look horrid, especially on a cx

 

[Oilycafe]

Good point on the exposed "triangles".
I find through my internet crusin' that, with the SOHCs, for example, no matter how elegant the solution for the oil tank is, if the triangle is exposed, it seems a distraction.
I've saved a bunch of pics of solutions for my possible future.

I like the perforated metal approach... In the office furniture world, the front panel on a desk is called a modesty panel. Maybe all this exposure to celebrate the mechanics needs a little "modesty" As with women, a little exposure can be sexier than full exposure

The other aspect of aesthetics and balance seems to rear it's head. While asymmetrical can be pleasing, you still need balance.
Virago's cafe'd forward look comes to mind. Though the bike lends itself to a wide range of front to back iterations, you still need balance.

Kotts 550s seem to run on a common design thread. Hey, it's a biz now. Anybody that can turn a hobby into business has my respect. Happens in every creative hobby ( Big Dog Choppers etc) Buyers vs builders.
Pissed me off when I spent 5 years on my Shelby GT350 Clone with all the modern upgrades underneath while looking almost stock on the outside. Before I finished there were a couple of companies doing the same thing. At the rallies, people would comment "Oh wow, is that one of those CDC Flashback Mustangs??!! Grrr


Danny

 

[DohcBikes]

Good stuff. You're gonna be just fine Danny.

Don't rule out a gs450.

 

[Oilycafe]

Really?
Drove past a GS550 for the last year about 4 miles from my house... Old fart special with a windjammer
Not comfy with them. Probably unfounded...and biased.

Danny

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

Big diff in a GS 450 twin and a bagged and jammed 550 four but the 550 is a formidable midsize.

450 T-Win

 

[Oilycafe]

Wow

I'm truly impressed.
Great combo of old and new

I see what's going on up front,
What is the swingarm / mono shock from?

Got to admire you guys.
My problem being away from bikes for so long is that I don't have that "inventory" in my head. -- like .. " Hey I saw a swingarm on something that just might fit here... mmm That's right! it was a Dingelberry 500! What took me so long to come up with that? All I need now is a bolt from a 78 - 80 600 Ring Ding and some spacers out of my junk parts box!"

That's how it is with me and the cars but we're talking 40 years of wrenching.

Hard to be original when I don't have the depth of knowledge that you guys do. So everything I do will have been done before. I hope my first build doesn't come off like --"oh (yawn) another frikkin CB"

I can't even get the alphabet soup straightened out yet - YZ KZ CX CB CBX CBR R1 etc.

GREAT Bike! Looks like a fun ride too.

Danny

 

[Tune-A-Fish]

It's all Ducati Monster parts, but the swinger... not sure what that is from but a classic touch that appeals to me over boxed. The brake on back is off the same Duc with a shaved/modified bracket.

This: is sitting in my shop... look familiar?

 

[Oilycafe]

OH CRAP!! A TEST ALREADY!!!???

mmm ...sportbike for sure...

How am I doing so far?

I need to cruise more of the bike dismantlers. For most cafe guys, it's probably more fun than a titty bar...
Might be a good education on the newer stuff as options.

Danny