Come on guys thought this was a forum

Why is everyone so quiet?

Thought we all shared a common passion!

hi yes i no what you mean no one talk's to you on here anyways hello

Hi Dave,

Pleasure to meet you

i all so thought i'd come here to talk about cafe racers has i'm building my fist one out of a honda cb750kz

Dave,

Is there a for sale / wanted section or should we start one up LOL

Got a rear manx fibre glass mudguard I ned to get out off for a decent steel one

you know the type spalsh guard to fit a wide line check out e-bay item number 330536175792

All the best

Jon

Dave,

I work for a modern day dealership so if you are after any bits for the Honda let me know

Jon

Not been a member here long, bl**dy quiet in comparison to some of the other forums I lurk in!

However, guitarman64dave, I'm also building a cafe racer out of the reminants of a 1977 CB750 F2, and I found inspiration from a couple of places:

Steve 'Carpy' Carpenter's web site [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] who is proof that the CB750 sohc is alive and doing very well in the land of the free!

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And the guys at Custom Cafes [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] I've seen this bike in the steel and man, it is awesome!

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Hi guys that 750 looks awsome I am still undecided on the trademake drilled drum and I think the 750's really need the spoke wheels to set them off, but sweet none the less. Manx8 I'll be looking for a set of pistons for my Honda CB200 as soon as the barrels are rebored. Let me know if you can help. Cheers

CB's MMMMMMMMM I see my next project coming on!


Slippery I'll do what I can


Jon

here we go we are starting to talk

Hi Dave,

This is what it's all about............

Think I've just got hold of another Triton with all the goodies attached

Worth buying it just for the lucas wader mag fitted that works

Jon

My New Toy [img][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.][/img]

hell people im just starting up with the cafe racer n i love em. im gonna build 1 real soon. im looking 4 a bike at the mo. wots some of the best
1´s to convert?

oh and ill b on quite a tight budget!

gavb wrote:

oh and ill b on quite a tight budget!

As lovely as Manx's Triton is I'd set my sights a wee bit lower if I were you, I suspect that set him back a very pretty penny (Not that I'm jealous you understand!)

As for what to start with, a good solid older jap is probably easiest, have a look in your local yeallow paper, E-bay, try for a running project bike rather than a non-runner or box of bitz, ask round your mates and see if they know anyone with a bike lurking in a garage or shed, even stick an ad in your local paper asking if anyone has a bike they want rid of. I picked up my basket case CB750 for 300 quid with only 10,500 miles on it, so they are out there.

Good luck,
Paul

Hi Gav,

The projects are out there and couldn't agree with pauliexjr more (yes costing me a fortune!)

A Jap twin 4 stroke or 4 is the way to go or if your feeling daring I've often thought about a 3 cylinder 2 stroke in a featherbed and calling her Menage a trois (3in a bed)

What ever you decide we are here to help

Good luck

Jon

Hi there,

Room for another? Move over and I'll pull up a chair, I need to bend your ear for a bit of advice

My names Rob and I'm about to have a bash at my first bike build, so any advice is well appreciated.

Hope I'm not interupting

Cheers

O.C.D. wrote:

Hi there,

Room for another? Move over and I'll pull up a chair, I need to bend your ear for a bit of advice

My names Rob and I'm about to have a bash at my first bike build, so any advice is well appreciated.

Hope I'm not interupting

Cheers

No Rob, you're not interrupting, the more the merrier 'cos this forum is a little bit on the quiet side!

What advice are you looking for, do you have a bike to start with or are you in the same boat as Gav, looking at where to start?

As has been said on here before, cafe racers are a personal choice, no hard and fast rules, if you have a look at Wikipedia [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] it gives you some idea of where the term and genre originated. Obviously no-one nowadays goes to the Ace and tries to do the 'ton' up to Hangar Lane and back, too many 'effin speed cameras and cyclists for one thing, but the bikes are about individuality so it's down to you, one man's cafe racer is another's two wheeled nightmare.

E.g. my sister (who is 53 btw) rides a scarlet Honda VFR and hates everything to do with 'those old heaps' as she decries them, and no amount of telling her that without the cafe racer genre her sports bike probably wouldn't have existed will change her mind!

So ask away bud, I'm sure there will be someone on here who can help.

Looking to build something like this Paulie, a bit of a mix-match of a few different bikes.....

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Probably will start with a different frame, probably a Jap one. Thing is I've been a massive Cafe fan for years, but its only now that I'm getting round to building one. Just finished building my wife a Mk3 Golf Cabrio for a wedding present, so now its time for me to have a bit of fun. I have been building both air and water cooled VW's since i could drive, but I've grown a bit bored with them all and time for a change. I have a Corrado in the garage that I have no interest in doing any more to, so its for sale to fund the bike build.

I dont have any questions at the minute, well apart from what would be a good frame to start with, I'm not looking a massively overpowered machine, I would love a skinny 100/125cc stroker, but years of ample dinners and small bikes dont go well together so I was thinking something around 600cc.

O.C.D. wrote:

Looking to build something like this Paulie, a bit of a mix-match of a few different bikes.....

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Probably will start with a different frame, probably a Jap one. Thing is I've been a massive Cafe fan for years, but its only now that I'm getting round to building one. Just finished building my wife a Mk3 Golf Cabrio for a wedding present, so now its time for me to have a bit of fun. I have been building both air and water cooled VW's since i could drive, but I've grown a bit bored with them all and time for a change. I have a Corrado in the garage that I have no interest in doing any more to, so its for sale to fund the bike build.

I dont have any questions at the minute, well apart from what would be a good frame to start with, I'm not looking a massively overpowered machine, I would love a skinny 100/125cc stroker, but years of ample dinners and small bikes dont go well together so I was thinking something around 600cc.

Nortozuki? Never seen one of them before, looks very mean!

Again up to you, but it doesn't have to be a ground-up build, i.e. different frame to engine etc. A lot of cafes are standard bikes that have been modded, this is one of my faves:

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Which is a stocker CB750 with a lot of hand-made mods, and this was one of my earlier bikes, an XJR 1200 with Nos, and lots of bits from Mr Renthal!

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Yeah Paulie that CB750 that Carpy built is a belter, the CB750 seems to be the bike everyone wants at the minute for a Cafe build. Thats something along the lines that I have planned, buy a bit of a fixer-upper, keep the frame/engine/loom together and bin the rest and replace it ie tins, wheels, brakes and suspension.

Liking the look of your XJR, and its given me an idea - XJR400 Grey Import, not a masive fan of big power as I said before so that would be a cracking bike for me to base my build on, or its equilivant from the other big manufacturers.

Thanks pal

hows tricks? dont mind me just popped in to say hello.
paulie,
that cb750 from customcafe is nice, an i found out last week (i saw it for sale for £11000 on ebay) at customcafe is just down the road from me.... how did i not notice! needless to say, as ive just started a cafe project it was a sign. so i emailed them to ask if they only fabricate parts for thier own bikes or do they do odd jobs for other "wanna be custom-ers" like me!
anyway the guy emailed back with this:

"Hi Mark,

Thanks for getting in touch. Your project sounds cool and we're glad to help whether it be with advice or with actual work.

Seeing as you're down the road why don't you pop by the workshop for a tea and a chat or give us a call to discuss your plans and ideas. The number is 01740 630 620.

If you are going to come give us a ring before hand to be sure we'll be there. Ask for Paul he's the resident expert.

Cheers,
Ian"

seem like a nice chap. haven't had chance to yet mind.

anyhoo, altho im liking all the designs you lot like, and its cool having a full spectrum of ideas, from classic style cb's to more modern customs made from different bikes, i'm more going for the "wrench monkees" look,

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Yes, I've been in to see Paul and the guys, that's where I saw CC002 in the steel. Tiny little engineering shop in Stillington. Paul's a great guy and happy to impart his many years of wisdom, Ian's his son who does all the web and marketing work. I think they are considering doing parts, but having seen the finish I don't expect them to be chea!

Slight cock-up with putting CC002 on E-bay, it's actually a customer's bike and is already sold, but the new owner agreed to let them use it for pro-mo shots, unfortunately the way they worded the ad it read like you were bidding on that particular bike, not just "You can have a bike like this bult for around 11k!"

Hellllllloooooooooooooo

Guess what we are all talking

now this is a forum!

a pic of the near completed 8 Valve cant wait to fire her up

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Ok Mr Manx, very nice looking pre-unit, what age is that and what's it from originally? It must be something very special because in my experience all pre-unit twins were 4 valve?