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First off a little history- I bought the bike about 4 years ago, started tinkering with it, got distracted, moved a couple times for work, bought a house, started racing dirt bikes again, got married, rebuilt a bike for her and now finally worked out the title issues and am ready to get the ball rolling.
It burned oil and the carburation was a little iffy but it started easy and put-putted around well. Reminded me of a smokey sewing machine. 28K miles with mostly OEM parts. I rode it around a little bit to try to get the "new rings" to seat in and stop smoking. No luck there.
Anyway I thought I would play with some easy stuff to improve the braking & turning. The previous owner vintage raced CBs and from him I picked up a pair of aluminum wheels laced to stock hubs and a CB750 front rotor along with a pair of forks with a grimeca caliper/brembo master combo. The brake combo although very mushy (flex in the caliper mount) improved the braking performance 10x. Amazing. Still needs to get better feel and less mush.
Next she needed a new front fender. I also was able to get a beat up old extra fender from the PO's stock of parts. So away I went with the cut off wheel and grinder.
Now the turn signals were killing me so I picked up a bent up headlight bracket and cut off the stock turn signal tubes. But I thought the bike would look better if the headlight was sucked in closer to the forks and lowered a bit so I made a new bracket.
This is the best I can do for before and after pics to compare how much it changed the look of the front end. Combined with another bracket to lower to stock gauges to flush with the indicator light housing, the front end really tightened up. I also did a quick refinish of the gauge housings.
Any proper cafe racer needs a solo seat, so I embarked on my first fiberglass mission (ever). The idea was to continue the raised accent in the tank back to the solo section and provide a large enough area for a number plate background. The tail light is a '28 ford model A unit with a glass lens and the word "stop" that illuminates when you hit the brakes. The glass work was trial and error and it didn't go smoothly but I am happy with the results and learned a bunch. I just ordered the seat foam today so the finish work remains yet.
Here is the solo section in bodyfiller with the tail light mounted and a second picture of pretty much the way the bike sits today (except the carbs are in pieces on the work bench). The solo seat was made from the male plug in the previous post. I didn't bother making a female mold. I should have. It would make the finale product WAY lighter. I have also found another swing arm that I shaved off the passenger pegs and repainted. It has already been installed in the second pic.
I had also read that a major weak point in the front end was a flimsy lower triple clamp. Part of my original (and maybe current??) plan was to keep the mods looking as much like they could have been done in the 70's as possible. So no billet lower triple (besides they are kinda pricey). So here was my alternative - pick up two extra triples off ebay for next to nothing and do a double stacked boxed triple. Definately not light weight but certainly could have been done back in the day!
Now we are all up to date. My immediate plan is to get the get carbs cleaned up and back on the bike, check the valves, points and timing and get her running as well as possible with the oil burning issue. I plan to take her up into the mountains of N GA and surrounding areas this 4th of July. My wife will be on her FZR400 we just resurrected and the CB should be enough of a handicap to keep things fun.
The trip will be somewhat of a continued shake down period for the yamaha.
We'll have my other bike with for 2up riding and in case either the Honda or Yammie have problems.
Alledgedly there were new rings installed within 100 miles and a few weeks of me buying it. I rode it about another 200 miles right after buying it to see if the rings would seat. Then it sat for while. And hasn't been started in longer than I can remember.
Future plans:
Make the bike turn and stop! I can accept it will never "go" and in fact look forward to the challenge. Riding a slower bike fast is way more fun than scaring yourself stupid on a bike that will always be faster than you.
In the coming months (years?) i plan on improving the chassis/suspension performance.
The frame will be welded up and stiffened - still researching the best way to do this. Looking to learn to TIG during this operation. Install some mid level quality shocks.
And naturally a thorough inspection of the engine internals with a freshen up (and maybe big bore kit since they are so cheap).
But here is where I am at a crossroads:
I have been thinking of swapping on a pair of FZR600 forks, modifying an FZR600 swing arm to keep the stock wheel base & dual shocks but provide a stiffer hoop. Swap on a set of 17" super moto wheels with disc brakes. Single 320mm disc 4 piston billet caliper up front and mx disc single piston caliper out back. The rear wheel is an earlier SM wheel set up 140 width tires. I already have all the parts listed above ready to be modified for fitment.
But this would deviate far from my "back in the days" possible theme and possibly lead me down a snowball path from a modification and budget standpoint.
No cush drive on the SM wheel. It has Talon hubs. I wondered how much that would matter given the low power output and smooth power application of these bikes. I was probably just trying to justify it to myself!
I could always find a KTM SM hub with cush drive to lace into the rim if that was a concern. That would even keep the rear wheel more stockish looking. The KTM hubs are pretty plain compared to the billet Talon piece.
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