The very basics of custom buliding

M

mortonc

New Member
I've recently fallen under the spell of cafe racers and have hardly spent a minute away from my laptop checking out some of the great creations out there.

So i thought I'd go get myself a bike and get building but there's so many things that I've seen on here, on the web and on Cafe Racer TV that confuse me a little. Any help would be amazing.

[list type=decimal]
[*]Can you just take any tank and place it on another bike? What work is required to do that?
[*]How do you go about performing a front end swap and how can this affect the bike's handling?
[*] how can you lower the front end
[*] is there a way to make a bike sit more up-right at the back (making the seat further away from the wheels) without screwing up handlng?
[*]How difficult is it to convert a bike to a monoshock? [/list]

Think that's about it for now.

Thanks
 
Oh my....ok so the search function is going to be your best friend here. Just about all of the topics you're asking about are regularly discussed here and there is a wealth of information.

Start there and get more specific with your questions. Most of that stuff is way to broad of scope to answer

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Welcome to the madness!


Well, the good news is that you're asking these questions *before* you pulled out your checkbook and/or grinder.


First I suggest several afternoons spent searching through this forum with the "Search" bar. There is a truly amazing amount of information to be found within.


To answer your questions we need to know more about you. Your current skill set and knowledge base, geographical location is helpful to so we can point you toward possible local help.


To take a stab at it:
1. Not every tank can work on every frame, but some swaps are easier than others. Much measuring is required, and welding/cutting/beating may also depending...
2. Front end swaps are fairly simple, but not necessarily easy. There are a lot of details beyond simply getting the right bearings.
3. There are several ways, but all *will* affect the geometry and that *will* affect the safety/handling characteristics of the bike.
4. See above. It depends on how big a change. Putting shocks that are 1" longer will raise the rear slightly and have minimal handling affect.
5. How good of a welder/engineer are you? To most folks a mono conversion is above their skill set, as it takes a TON of effort to do safely, not to mention lots of money and time.

Again, Welcome!
 
First off, welcome to DTT.

Bozz pretty much hit the nail(s) on the head there. That said, I'll assume you have NOT bought a project yet. A few of those questions you've asked have answers that change drastically depending on what bike you end up with so keep that in mind.

You also seem to be eager to jump into a BIG project. I cannot stress to you how bad of an idea this is. I'd bet that a solid 75% of the "new to bikes" folks that show up here with a massive project, dissapear in short time. And they do so with a pile of parts and an empty wallet, but no dream bike. Know what I mean?

Do yourself a favor and find a nice complete and running bike.the nicest you can find and afford. Something in the 200-500cc range is always a good starter.

Learn to ride, and service the bike. Spend a season keeping it going, learning the processes needed to keep it running at peak performance and learn HOW IT WORKS. You can always replace/upgrade things while doing this as well. Suspension, exhaust, lighting, etc. All can be done on rainy days by a novice.

Also, customizing a motorcycle takes a very large number of tools. Power, hand, specialty, etc. Some can be had cheaply and easily. Others will cost ya. Start building your stash BEFORE tearing the bike apart.

Anyhow, sorry for the rambling post. Good luck on your hunt!
 
Thank you to all of you for the helpful posts.

A little about me: I live in the UK. I've always been a tinkerer taking things apart etc. but never done anything as drastic as this. I have family and friends who I can look to for welding and the likes but the rest I would plan to do myself.

I'm not planning on carrying out all these things, I guess it's just a bit of curiosity really. I quite fancy starting off with a cx500, cb500 , sr250 or similar and create a nice little cafe


Hopefully you'll see a project before long!


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That's great that you have friends and family to lend a hand. Just remember though, free advice (or help) tends to cost the most in the end ;)
 
The CB and SR are both good options, but you'll be stuck with 125cc until you drop about 500 quid on the direct access scheme. CX500 is a competent bike, but it takes some serious skills to café one. The lines are all wrong and a lot of engineering and fabrication is needed to get a decent looking result.
 
Either that or try to mod an off road bike but I get the impression that is much harder? Would be great to have the mono shock.


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mortonc said:
Would be great to have the mono shock.


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Click to expand...

Front end swaps, not so difficult

Mono shock customization, really difficult, especially for a FNG

Like stated above:

Baby steps

Search function (a lot of members on here have already done the things you're thinking of doing so you can look into the details and see if it's something you're willing to tackle.

ANYTHING you change on the bike is going to affect the performance and/or handling to some degree either positive or negative.

Choose your bike carefully, otherwise there may certain things you may want to do that will be very difficult on certain bikes.
 
VonYinzer said:
Of the bikes you named, I would strongly suggest the SR.
Click to expand...

I've always liked yamahas and I like the frame of the sr but it's a pretty small engine. What makes you suggest it?


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Well... As a new guy to this whole deal, a single is as simple as it gets. Super easy to learn the basics of how it functions and how to keep it functioning. Everything you learn is easily transferred to whatever bikes you have in the future.

Also, when it comes time to customize the bike; the overall design of the SR is a much better platform than other machines. Especially the CX (I'll admit, I have a serious dislike for the CX line).

Add to that the fact thay the SR is a mild enough bike to learn to ride but has enough pep and enough performance potential to stay interesting for years to come amd you have a winner. In my book at least.
 
VonYinzer said:
Well... As a new guy to this whole deal, a single is as simple as it gets. Super easy to learn the basics of how it functions and how to keep it functioning. Everything you learn is easily transferred to whatever bikes you have in the future.

Also, when it comes time to customize the bike; the overall design of the SR is a much better platform than other machines. Especially the CX (I'll admit, I have a serious dislike for the CX line).

Add to that the fact thay the SR is a mild enough bike to learn to ride but has enough pep and enough performance potential to stay interesting for years to come amd you have a winner. In my book at least.
Click to expand...

I could always go for an sr 400 or 500

There doesn't seem to be a hell of a lot of bikes in the UK for donors, and if there are they're not exactly cheap


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Like that!!!! Holy shit!!! Sorry I just had to share it. That thing is amazing!!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Other-1978-Yamaha-SR500-Cafe-Racer-by-Lossa-Engineering-Solus-Sr-500-Cafe-Racer-TV-/221385229351?forcerrptr=true&hash=item338b968427&item=221385229351&pt=US_motorcycles
 
mark13018 said:
Like that!!!! Holy shit!!! Sorry I just had to share it. That thing is amazing!!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Other-1978-Yamaha-SR500-Cafe-Racer-by-Lossa-Engineering-Solus-Sr-500-Cafe-Racer-TV-/221385229351?forcerrptr=true&hash=item338b968427&item=221385229351&pt=US_motorcycles
Click to expand...

Crazy what a name and being on TV can do to the value.

Not that I'm doubting the undeniable skill that goes into their bikes, they're awesome.

eBay search cafe racer and you'll see a couple done by joe bloggs generally going for less than the un-modded ones


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We can't forget the sr542 from deus of course

http://www.motographite.com/2011/07/yamaha-sr500-street-tracker-mono-by.html?m=1


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Just a tip from another guy that has done a front swap/monoshock build.

I would suggest buying something that actually runs and riding it for a period of time before modifying. Get a good feel of the bike's characteristics, its, as well as your likes and dislikes. Learn to appreciate the nuances and you can use this to develop a good plan for what you're actually looking for in a custom built bike. You want to make sure what you build is not solely an exercise in creativity but also something you can absolutely love owning and riding. For me personally, I just jumped straight in -- I wish I hadn't. I've ridden my bike once in two years and although I'm somewhat close to finished I really wish I knew her a little better before so I could really appreciate all the work that's been done. Building a bike is a serious investment in both your time and money -- anything you can't do yourself will be expensive. Anything done cheap won't be very good. Also don't expect to see any financial returns if you ever plan to sell.

Good luck!
 
Thanks bannanas really good advice. Knowing me I probably would have torn straight into her


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