Bikes that make the best cafes

[twistekeys]

Yeah I know this is probably brought up everyday...

I was wondering if I were to spend time and money on a real cafe project what base bike I should start with. Here's my criteria:

Must be an inline-4

Compatible with the full size rectangle tanks

Must be easily customizable and have a higher value after I'm done.

Must be a cheap bike to start with.


What do you think? Maxims come a dime a dozen here, but the front end of their frame looks dreadful for a cafe, although a nice engine. ANY CB is not only hard to find but is extremely expensive where I live, so that's kind of out of the question... Any other ideas?

 

[Kanticoy]

Tanks won't magically fit. You'll never get more out of it than you put in it unless you find a major sucker to buy it. Don't build it with the intention of turning a profit. It'll never have soul if you do that. I don't mean to come off as crass, but there have been cafe racers built from anything out there. Skill, talent, and determination dictate the end product. They don't build themselves, and the end product is directly related to the effort you put in. to answer your question, Kawasaki Suzuki, Honda, and Yamaha all built bikes with stout inline 4's from the early 70s up until now.

 

[Rich Ard]

This is one of those things where if you get one or two out of three, you're in pretty good shape.

Especially these two:

>Must be easily customizable and have a higher value after I'm done.

>Must be a cheap bike to start with.

 

[Rich Ard]

And of course, if you want to make a small fortune in vintage motorcycles, start with a large fortune.

 

[PeteyWash]

If you're shooting for cheap you can always go with kawasaki kz's or suzuki gs models 550 or bigger..... again, a new tank is never going to fit perfectly without modification

 

[twistekeys]

Just to make it clear the profit I make from eventually selling the bike isn't priority. And yes I understand that about the tank but for example there's no way you could fit some of those tanks on a SR250 or something.

High priority? Cheap, straight four, horizontal frame.

 

[Rich Ard]

Don't be lazy

 

[Sonreir]

This might be one of those questions without an answer.

A cheap bike with a higher value than when you finished is something that doesn't really exist (at least in general).

There will always be those lucky guys who find stuff on Craigslist, but that usually isn't one particular make and model of bike.

The closest thing I can think of to your requirements would be the CB750s and 650s of the early 80s. They can be had fairly cheaply and you can make a bit of money from them once you're done, but only if your time isn't billed.

 

[jdseibe]

how about an inline 3 cylinder? the Yamaha XS750 and XS850 are pretty cheap to get ahold of.. and the standard model comes with a square style tank.. I picked up my xs750 for $200 and have been building it form the ground up.. I'd say its worth more now than what I bought it for too haha.. but I also put a lot of money into it so far.

 

[twistekeys]

how about an inline 3 cylinder? the Yamaha XS750 and XS850 are pretty cheap to get ahold of.. and the standard model comes with a square style tank.. I picked up my xs750 for $200 and have been building it form the ground up.. I'd say its worth more now than what I bought it for too haha.. but I also put a lot of money into it so far.

That's not bad, I've seen the XSs around but were there 550? Or am I confusing them with another model?

 

[jdseibe]

pretty sure all the XS models below the 750 were all 2 cylinder twin models, the 750/850 were inline 3 cylinders, and the 1100 was an inline 4 cylinder.

the xs650 seems to be the most popular of the XS line of bikes though.

 

[VonYinzer]

You're saying that an inline four is a priority because of the tank you want to use, if I'm reading this right?

If that's the case, what tanks are you thinking of specifically?

 

[snowman]

With all said and done, nothing beats an early CB750 in my opinion. ;D

 

[twistekeys]

You're saying that an inline four is a priority because of the tank you want to use, if I'm reading this right?

If that's the case, what tanks are you thinking of specifically?

Honestly I could form the bike around an inline 4, but that style of tank is kind of the posterchild part for the type of cafe I would want to do. Are far as specific tanks go, I have no idea. I haven't been in the sport long enough to say "I remember that '76 CB450, it had such a nice tank!" I'm simply too young.

 

[VonYinzer]

Ok...

Ill rephrase...

Can you show us a pic of the tanks in question? Or of one of these bikes you're describing? It'll go a long way in helping us help you... Though I'm not sure exactly what you're asking now. Haha.

 

[50gary]

I would always make the engine first priority after all they are MOTORcycles, you ride the motor. The CB550 is such a nice size bike. If I wanted a four banger in a full sized motor a Suzuki GS 1000 or GS 1100, super motors both in two valve and four valve. Plus lots of up-grade parts and fast. Think Wes Cooley replica. The donor bike is not too costly either. Always buy a running bike if you're not sure of your mechanical ability.
Cheers, 50gary

 

[Swapmeet Louie]

Just to make it clear the profit I make from eventually selling the bike isn't priority. And yes I understand that about the tank but for example there's no way you could fit some of those tanks on a SR250 or something.

High priority? Cheap, straight four, horizontal frame.

By "horizontal frame"... do you mean a single back bone? And any tank can be made to fit any bike. Sounds to me like you want a "catolog" friendly bike. In that case CB750. I-4, cheap, common, and everybody and there fuck'n dog makes bolt-ons... Ta-da!

 

[twistekeys]

Ok...

Ill rephrase...

Can you show us a pic of the tanks in question? Or of one of these bikes you're describing? It'll go a long way in helping us help you... Though I'm not sure exactly what you're asking now. Haha.

I honestly don't know what they're called, but they're similar to the ones they used in the 1950's Honda racebikes. The super long rectangle type tanks. That's kind of the style I'd go for but I'm still not sure... I'd LOVE to visit a meetup or cafe show to really see what I liked. It's just Harleys and trikes here in Utah...

 

[twistekeys]

I would always make the engine first priority after all they are MOTORcycles, you ride the motor. The CB550 is such a nice size bike. If I wanted a four banger in a full sized motor a Suzuki GS 1000 or GS 1100, super motors both in two valve and four valve. Plus lots of up-grade parts and fast. Think Wes Cooley replica. The donor bike is not too costly either. Always buy a running bike if you're not sure of your mechanical ability.
Cheers, 50gary

Thanks for the advice, I was looking at those and they aren't too bad, pretty cheap too. And yeah I can mess around where it gets dirty

 

[twistekeys]

By "horizontal frame"... do you mean a single back bone? And any tank can be made to fit any bike. Sounds to me like you want a "catolog" friendly bike. In that case CB750. I-4, cheap, common, and everybody and there fuck'n dog makes bolt-ons... Ta-da!

By horizontal I mean it doesn't look like a V (take a Savage for example, that's NEVER going to make a decent cafe racer with its frame design).

And yeah, again I'd love a CB but they're to the point where I'd feel safe calling them "rare" in Utah. And when you do find one they're pretty pricey. My bud has one and won't let it go for anything under $3K and it's a stock well-used 1980's model. Guess ebay might be my best bet for a CB, a very tempting bet.