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I never knew what a cafe racer was until about 3 weeks ago. I love they way they look so thought I'd have a crack at a new daily rider to replace my Vespa px 150. I don't even have the bike yet so my 'plan' is based on much internet research. As it's a first build & I will be developing & honing my engineering skills I don't want to go too deep. If I can avoid it I don't want to pull the engine apart although the current owner of the bike thinks the valve seals might need to be replaced. So basically I'm going to work with what I have - embrace the chrome, work with the kick up in the frame and lots of polishing!
I see Gixxer has just started a KZ250 build & he seems to know what he's up to so I'll be following very closely what he's doing...
I'm in New Zealand so I'm stoked to become part of this forum & ride along with the passion & knowledge the people bring here.
Things I learned researching this weekend about my not very stylish not very popular KZ 305 csr
1. The drop down - kick up chassis shape is a real challenge to work with to get a cafe racer look. That's ok, I like a challenge & I think I have come up with a good solution based on some other photos I've found. The white & green image is my current design. I'll 'in-fill' down to the dropped chassis bars with my fi-glass seat base & paint out black so visually I get a better line.
2. One of the fundamental design queues of a cafe racer is 'raw'. To me that means a lot of black on various engine parts, rims, hubs, spokes, fork legs etc, wrapped pipes - the list goes on. As this is my first build I'm not confident to pull the engine apart for painting etc. And I don't want to spend too much time 'polishing a turd' so to speak. All I want is a new daily commuter bike for my 10 minutes to work. I will literally be polishing the crap out of this bike so instead of raw I'm going for a very clean look in a cafe style. Let see if that gets any haters going...
3. The Lithium battery I've bought may not enjoy a charging voltage over about 14.5 (apparently can peak at around 16v) so I've bought a new regulator / rectifier for 15 bucks that should keep it under 14.5 and that the battery should be good to install on its side instead of vertically - nice & tidy under the seat!
4. Adding pod filters without re-jetting will more than likely cause it to run too lean. I found a post that discovered adding a tube from a cut down beer can can reduce the air flow to the correct mix using UNI foam type filters. http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=33247.0 Maybe one day I'll spring for some Mikunis...
I watched an interesting you tube clip today about using the 'Golden Ratio' 1.618 so I applied it to my own design plan. I like the results...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ_rnmB2RBI
My 305 got delivered yesterday. I took it for a quick spin and didn't drop it! Almost blew the first corner cos I hadn't tried the brakes until then - very touchy compared to the ole' Vespa.
I'm not entirely sure what to do with my wheels. Alloy hubs, galv/rusted spokes & chrome rims. The chrome rims are in pretty good nick. A few small spots of rust that I can probably polish out and get to a pretty good finish. I think the spokes too far gone to do much with so I'm thinking about ordering new stainless steel sets from Buchanans. I live at the beach so s/s probably the best option or chrome... The hubs I'm thinking soda blast & paint black with rattle can. Then lace 'em back up following the instructions on the wheels etc forum
Here's my current design. This time its over-laid on my actual bike!
The colour scheme I'm thinking now it a bit more cafe trad. Bright metallic silver tank, gloss black tail hump with some subtle Kawasaki green pin/racing stripes.
Yep, down to naked frame. Not quite sure what to do next, de tabbing & rough prep for sand blast I think, any suggestions?
Here are my teardown photos & my current and I think final design
well the desisns that you have made look great, now the fun part starts.... getting there.
My experiance on the forum is people dont start commenting until you get a bit further down the track, unless they say, buy a manuel preform re-tuning small mods first bla bla bla
im not such a wizz with photoshop, i have a picture of a bike that i like and where im "heading"
First thing to do is really thing about fab work that needs to be done first seatpan, battery placement tank placement, get the line of the bike looking how you want, then you can move forward
i will drop my frame this week to be powdercoated, then i can start to put her back together
I've always liked the 305, and have wanted to see someone do a cafe out of it. I personally like the shorter tail, and can't wait to see where this goes! I feel like (from personal experience) it takes a while for posts here to get recognition, especially if you're a newer guy. Just keep doing your thing, and posting up here!
Yep, down to naked frame. Not quite sure what to do next, de tabbing & rough prep for sand blast I think, any suggestions?
Here are my teardown photos & my current and I think final design
Do you have the seat and seating position (bars, rearsets) done yet? If not, all of that should have been done prior to stripping down the bike, stripping it down. I wouldn't sandblast or detab until all of this is done as well since you may need some of those tabs and you don't want the frame sitting bare all that time.
Thanks for all the advice guys. I've ordered my clip on bars & a few other things from the US so they should be here in a week or so hopefully. I'll definitely mock up my setup then. I can easily slip the triple tree back together & put the front wheel on, then I can hang the back end from the rafters & sit on it. These are the sorts of things that are easy for us first timers to overlook so thanks again!
I don't think my exhaust ports should look like this! I think this confirms the source of the smokey pipes as a valve seal problem. I think I'll pull the heads off while I wait for my parts to arrive.
Also I've partially reassembled the bike to work on the set up with clip ons and rear sets etc. I don't have the bars or rear sets yet but I tried out the existing rear peg position but they feel too high and too far back. To get a comfortable position I'm thinking about straightening the last kink in the pipes to lower them about 100mm at the mounting point and maybe replace the rear triangles with a machined 6 or 8mm plate with mounting positions for the pipes, rear sets and rear break pivot. Does this sound like a good plan? I won't be making any final decision until I have all the parts.
Well Hama, sounds like hard work to me. OK then, after thinking on it for a while I've decided the pipes can stay as they are. I found a comfortable spot for the rear sets about 75mm back and 50mm down from the swing arm pivot. I’ll weld a 8mm plate into the rear triangles, drilled for the M10 bolts of the rear sets. Depending on how much space there is I'll drill some extra holes for mounting variations. I’ll also need some 35mm spacers so they clear the exhausts. I've also confirmed I'll cut 75mm out of the rear hoop. When that's done I can start on the seat pan.
I'm pretty sure it's in behind there and won't clash. There's a photo of the left side of the bike earlier in this thread. The new pegs will sit forward of the old rear pegs. I'll double check tomorrow. Thanks
I've been working on the battery tray and seat pan mock ups. I was going to do a nice tidy tray underneath but when I put the wheel on I only had about 55mm clearance. Max travel is 105mm.
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