one, two or four cylinder ? looking at different bikes, opinions ?

A

autoguy

Been Around the Block
well i am trying to decide what bike to make into a cafe racer, i would love to find an old single cylinder ducati, but they are scarce in my price range, i found a 1968 bsa starfire with a triumph single cylinder 250 motor in it that all i would do is put some clubmans on and ride, but it would eat my whole bike budget, it runs though and i think it has a title, i have not called the guy yet

or i could do a cb350/cb400/cb450 twin if i could find one local and reasonable

i know i can get a running with clear title cb550 for about $500-600 from my local motorcycle salvage yard

i would like to do a british/italian bike into a cafe racer and i am thinking hard about the bsa, how hard are parts to get for the old triumph motors ?

i wont be taking the bike on the highway and it will mainly be ridden around town :)

me and my father have very good mechanical skills, and we have tool chest full of tools and we have metric and standard tools too, this would not be my first or last vintage vehicle, i have a mint 1979 trans am, a 1964 vespa, and a 1975 land rover

opinions ?
 
by the way, for a cb550 running with a clean title for 500 to 600 is a great price, seeing how your gonna hack the shit up out of it. thumpers are hard to find. ive had my ears to the ground for a SR any size for at least a half month now, with no such luck and cash in hand.
 
brewtown16 said:
by the way, for a cb550 running with a clean title for 500 to 600 is a great price, seeing how your gonna hack the shit up out of it. thumpers are hard to find. ive had my ears to the ground for a SR any size for at least a half month now, with no such luck and cash in hand.
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cool, i thought it was a good price but was not too sure

the guy would not go any less on the bsa so that one is out

i will probably go for the cb550 at least that way i can make it my own :)

what is a SR
 
deus ex machina made a sick ass yammy SR400 or was it a half grand?, and alot of your bratstyle bikes are SR's and xs650s

bratstyle.com
 
brewtown16 said:
deus ex machina made a sick ass yammy SR400 or was it a half grand?, and alot of your bratstyle bikes are SR's and xs650s

bratstyle.com
Click to expand...

aye see, i looked up picts :)

i might have a line on a cb350 local ;D
 
Im no expert by any means but I ve had most of the Honda CB series bikes starting from a 72 cb350 all the way to a 75 cb750f.
Here's what I found....

- the cb350 & cb360 are fantastic bikes. I loved my cb350. Parts are everywhere and you can get both the bikes and parts relatively cheap.
- the are nimble and very peppy espcially riding around in the city.
- On the highway, I would ride it to my parents place in the burbs 40-30 min ride on the highway and even tough it would hold 120kms/hr no problem, those smaller bikes vibrated like crazy..
- however that being said, I found that I out grew it really fast and was out of it in a year.
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- The cb450T is another amazing bike. Again, lots of fun to ride, but I found that it seemed to need more attention and tuning.
- there was always something that needed to be done to it. It always seemed as though that some nut vibrated loose.
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- Again like my cb350, I felt like I out grew it in no time. Even thought the back end was raised a bit with the cb1100f shocks, it still seemed small.

- the 75 cb750 was an amazing bullet-proof bike.
- It fired right up after sitting for over 15 years. It was a pretty powerful bike compared to the twins, very smooth acceleration.
- Its not for a beginner.
- I loved riding the bike on the highway, but it was a TOTAL pig in city riding.
- It was very heavy and after the initial enjoyment of riding something new, I quickly started to enjoy riding it less and less.
- It was jus no fun to ride it short distances in the city.. But that bike never once failed me or gave me any problems. 0 maintenance.
- you'll probabbly lose interest in this bike before you out grow it...
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- The cb550f in my opinion the best of the lot.
- Super quick, not to small like the cb450, yet not as heavy as the cb750.
- Smooth acceleration on the top end and yet pretty darn peppy from light to light.
- I think its the best compromise between the cb750 & the cb450.
- Its easier to maintain and you can even do a complete engine tear down with out taking the engine out of the bike!
- they are still pretty inexpensive and parts are still pretty cheap on ebay and at most swapmeets
IMG_0161.jpg

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cb550big-1.jpg


The cb550 is the bike that I enjoy riding the most over all the other bikes.
Its bike that I've owned the longest and put the most work into. - (that being said, its for sale ;D)
If you are thinking Honda,I'd personally recommend the cb550 over the other bikes...
 
Leon's a pussy. Don't listen to him.

get a 750. PERIOD.

There is very little that's more fun than spooling up an inline four. As reliable as a stone too.

I rode my 750 for almost a decade by doing little more than put gas in it. And I continually wind it up close or into the red zone.

A for it being heavy? Just how weak is that leon fella???

I started on CB360. Yeah their smaller and SLOWER. You'll out grow it before you get to end of your drive way.
 
locO leoN, thanks for the in-depth review of the different bikes thanks for the picts too ;D i think i will go with the cb550 when i get some things straightened out, it will be a while though :)

thanks to everyone else for there opinions too :) they helped a lot
 
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