New to Cafe Racers in Afghanistan

Sawjack

New Member
Greetings! I'm three months into a yearlong deployment and was just introduced to cafe bikes. I've never built a bike before but I have a couple of friends who have. They can help me with the build but aren't schooled up on cafe bikes. I am part of a unit out of Hawaii and it's hard to find bikes out there. So, I guess my question is, does anyone know of a cheap way to ship an old bike to Hawaii once I find one? I'm guessing I'll have to shop along the west coast and ship from there. Also, I was thinking of starting with a Honda cb450. I was told they are probably the easiest to find and easiest to get parts for. I'm looking for late 60's early 70's. I have 9 months to find the bike and do some research on rebuilding it. Any help would be appreciated.
Does anyone know of any big galleries I can peruse for inspiration? There are a few bikes I've seen that I'm really impressed with, but usually I can only find small groups of photos.
Again, thanks for the help.
 
As far as photos go, I was specifically interested in a site where you could browse cafe racer rebuilds buy make/model/year. Does anything like that exist?
I'm a medevac pilot and was going to do a Dustoff themed bike and, after the recent Blackhawk crash, I am planning on incorporating my fallen brothers into the rebuild somehow.
 
First, welcome to the site and stay safe while on deployment.

There are many projects on the site which does make it tough to find things sometimes, but some of them are organized a bit here:

http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?board=52.0

You can also always use the Search function to try and find CB450 specific topics. It's a great bike to work with - very popular for cafe racers.

Sadly I can't help out with shipping. Not sure how much personal gear you're allowed to bring home, but a bike will break down into pretty small boxes if you take it apart :)
 
Thanks Tim! I could brake it down into small parts, but first I'd have to get ahold of it here in Afghanistan. :) Thanks for the link though, I will definitely check it out.
 
Starting a large cafe, mod, rocker, 59s, classic, and.... mods scene in hawaii join the group!!!

Events to come :)

http://www.facebook.com/groups/hawaiimotoryder
 
you should be able to ship it through the military if you can get it to the right location. My cousin is shipping his vespa from Kansas to Japan in a navy crate.
 
SawJack, what base do you call home? KAF? I'm out in Afghanistan as well. Been out here for almost 8 months now. I'm out at FOB Smart. I was at KAF, then LNK, then Lagman, and now Smart. I'm working as a Paramedic here. Small world.
 
Dude, Afghaniland blows dick. Been here 3 months and got 3 months left, to hell with a year tour. The snow sucks too. Anyways, I have just been ordering parts and parts and parts, waiting to get home to put Maggie together. Mine is a 81Cb750k.
 
Hey, do you guys need or want anything over there? I know I would be interested in shipping stuff over to DTT brothers serving overseas, and I imagine I'm not the only one.
 
Stay safe over there man, and thanks for your service (to all that have served over there as well!) I just got back from Mazar a couple of months back, year long as well. But now officially out of the military!

I found out about cafe racers last deployment and have been in limbo about what bike to get, central texas has a load of bikes most of which are either crotch rockets or harleys. Searching for the right bike is probably going to take a bit of time and a lot of patience. Definitely look into military shipping if you can/if it's available, I don't see it being an issue if it's on a space A type deal.

Take it easy to all that are in that country!
 
Worst cb650 ever said:
Hey, do you guys need or want anything over there? I know I would be interested in shipping stuff over to DTT brothers serving overseas, and I imagine I'm not the only one.

+1

Maybe we can get a big box of bike mags and whatnot together.
 
Unfortunatly the last time sawjack the OP was active here was when he started this thread... Apr 26, 2012.
Hope all is well. If you can read this, Be safe brother!
 
Well hopefully he is safe and at home working on his new bike. I'll be home in May and I have a boat load of parts waiting to go on my Kawi!
 
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