AUGUST 2010 BIKE OF THE MONTH - VOTING!
- Thread starter Tim
- Start date
- Status
Steve F
Been Around the Block
Here's a link to my build Ratty Cafe
And a summary of how it got to where it is now.
I bought the bike for $420AUD in July last year, it was located over 1000km from home so a me and a mate hopped in his old postal van (no reverse gear and a badly slipping 1st in the auto) and drove up to pick it up along with another bike and some bits for my Jeep. It was an interesting trip but set the scene for the build, do it as cheap as possible and make sure it was fun
When we picked it up it looked like this, as rough as it was it ran pretty well but had a bad miss up top and wasn't registered.
I had a pretty decent plan of what I wanted so picked up most parts from ebay or the US, much cheaper than here in Australia where the cafe scene is not really that big, in fact I've never seen another on my weekend rides yet the only ones I have seen have been at Deus.
In total I spent less than another $1000AUD on the bike, that included the RocCity cafe seat, Acewell gauge, ebay headlight, ebay bars, budget indicators, ebay water temp gauge, $80 of paint (done by a great mate for just materials) and numerous bits and pieces like pods and jets and silencers (that dont silence at all). The whole thing was built in my garage and painted in the backyard
Some pics along the way.
Seat bars and gauge on
Running and registered
Stripped down for paint
Back together with paint, its a lot lower with the weight on the wheels, check the video
And the video
CX500 Cafe Racer
So the aim of the build was achieved, take a cheap unloved bike that had some character hidden in there somewhere and build a reliable cool fun bike that I could ride everyday, the shaft drive and water cooled V-twin CX is just that. It sounds awesome and I bet I never see another on the road like it
Cheers
Steve
And a summary of how it got to where it is now.
I bought the bike for $420AUD in July last year, it was located over 1000km from home so a me and a mate hopped in his old postal van (no reverse gear and a badly slipping 1st in the auto) and drove up to pick it up along with another bike and some bits for my Jeep. It was an interesting trip but set the scene for the build, do it as cheap as possible and make sure it was fun
When we picked it up it looked like this, as rough as it was it ran pretty well but had a bad miss up top and wasn't registered.
I had a pretty decent plan of what I wanted so picked up most parts from ebay or the US, much cheaper than here in Australia where the cafe scene is not really that big, in fact I've never seen another on my weekend rides yet the only ones I have seen have been at Deus.
In total I spent less than another $1000AUD on the bike, that included the RocCity cafe seat, Acewell gauge, ebay headlight, ebay bars, budget indicators, ebay water temp gauge, $80 of paint (done by a great mate for just materials) and numerous bits and pieces like pods and jets and silencers (that dont silence at all). The whole thing was built in my garage and painted in the backyard
Some pics along the way.
Seat bars and gauge on
Running and registered
Stripped down for paint
Back together with paint, its a lot lower with the weight on the wheels, check the video
And the video
CX500 Cafe Racer
So the aim of the build was achieved, take a cheap unloved bike that had some character hidden in there somewhere and build a reliable cool fun bike that I could ride everyday, the shaft drive and water cooled V-twin CX is just that. It sounds awesome and I bet I never see another on the road like it
Cheers
Steve
IanOberholtzer
green behind the ears
where can i see more of this bike from cb360ty
beautiful creamsicle dream you have there steve
beautiful creamsicle dream you have there steve
Here is a link to the build http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=15956.0. So it is a 1981 cb 125.
Extended the tank 4 inches or so, built new tail, added clipons, new rims 18 in front and rear (as opposed to stock 17 in rear), with bridgestone bt39ss 2.5. I wanted the bike to look like a 60s small displacement racer that was converted to a street bike, not a custom. the little guy is a blast on super tight stuff. Thanks for nomination, I am honored! Just wish I wasnt nominated this month, with this groupe of bikes, well I guess you could say the same thing every month, thats why this site rules!!!
Thanks again,
Bradsm
If you are like me, I had never seen a 125 in person till I aquired this one, so here is a pic for the scale of these little things.
Extended the tank 4 inches or so, built new tail, added clipons, new rims 18 in front and rear (as opposed to stock 17 in rear), with bridgestone bt39ss 2.5. I wanted the bike to look like a 60s small displacement racer that was converted to a street bike, not a custom. the little guy is a blast on super tight stuff. Thanks for nomination, I am honored! Just wish I wasnt nominated this month, with this groupe of bikes, well I guess you could say the same thing every month, thats why this site rules!!!
Thanks again,
Bradsm
If you are like me, I had never seen a 125 in person till I aquired this one, so here is a pic for the scale of these little things.
midnightcafe
Been Around the Block
I'll vote after I get to see spiderman or halfsack's build stories. Can somebody link them?
some pics of the HD build... i know it is not ya'lls cut of tea but it is my baby and i will keep her forever... this build is not bolt on, tons of custom CNC and fabbed parts.
start:
durring:
wheels and some powder
more
CNC work
assembly
final:
bike:
2006 harley Street bob, bike is black cherry (HD color) with color matched powder and PPG ultra clear over it. there is nothing on the bike at all that has not been off, modified, or changed. (including tank and fenders)
suspension:
all progressive performance springs (front and rear) 15w fork oil, stearing damper, metzler 120 front and 170 rear hold it to the road and let me rip turns
motor:
95', fuel injected, Screaming eagle race tuner, Welded crank, lefty bearing, Heads by WFOLarry, andrews 37 cams, powder pulley, barnett clutch spring, tappered pushrods, flat top pistons, dyno: 94HP and 98TQ
start:
durring:
wheels and some powder
more
CNC work
assembly
final:
bike:
2006 harley Street bob, bike is black cherry (HD color) with color matched powder and PPG ultra clear over it. there is nothing on the bike at all that has not been off, modified, or changed. (including tank and fenders)
suspension:
all progressive performance springs (front and rear) 15w fork oil, stearing damper, metzler 120 front and 170 rear hold it to the road and let me rip turns
motor:
95', fuel injected, Screaming eagle race tuner, Welded crank, lefty bearing, Heads by WFOLarry, andrews 37 cams, powder pulley, barnett clutch spring, tappered pushrods, flat top pistons, dyno: 94HP and 98TQ
tWistedWheelz
BUILT NOT BOUGHT!
Joe..your right that it is not my cup-o-tea, but that is one great looking bike! Very classy and well done! Great job man!
midnightcafe said:
Where do I begin?
I guess I can blame a friend of mine who started off as an employee.
This friend of mine owned a few bikes and raced in some 400cc class.
As time went on and a few race meets, where I witnessed my first
nostalgic class. I fell in love with the retro race looking bikes.
Later that day my friend said that they were called cafe racers.
A year later my mate decided to leave for Europe for a period of one
year. In that year I decided to build this thing. He has returned and
couldn't believe what I've built while he was chasin hot Euro birds for that
year, LOL. I know what I'd rather be doing instead of building this
bike, I got the raw end of the deal
With no experience in building bikes I thought I'd give it a go, how
hard could this be as I once raced pocket bike for a very long time,
where I played around with Dell'Orto carbs, BZM pipes and motors
(50cc).
I have about 5hrs of road time on a few bikes which were all in the
process in gaining my motorcycle license
Life of this bike began as a rolling shell and I gradually bought 90% of
the parts on eBay. With no experience, a handful of tools and no
garage, 95% of this bike took place in my lounge room. Which is a bit
of an achievement not losing my G/F over this
Joe did mention something about off the shelf bolt on parts, I agree, but the transformation
of what off the shelf parts can do is remarkable
The bike is currently in a work shop finishing the last 2% that i couldn't do as I'm
limited to the enviroment and lack of equipment.
I'm sure most of yo'll seen these, but here is a quick summary of my build ;D
- Status
