motorcycles caused me strife

[wild style]

Not having a bike finally got to me. 

Edited January 9, 2017 by dirbab
want pics removed from search

[ADDIC]

congrats man^

btw CAFE RACER on HD is back! two new episodes premiered.

[(10chars)]

anyone got a torrent for cafe racer?

[triumph.man]

love that show!

[red baron]

love that show!

agreed. Featured a lot of great builds/builders on there!

[(10chars)]

cant find anywhere to watch it

heres a few documentarys/shows ive watched lately

two good biker build offs with indian larry

1973 documentary on the british hells angels. very slow paced.. it shows the head of the group talking with his wife and then shows the group riding to a river to camp and party at an old abandoned boat. not very interesting but only 24 minutes. cool footage of all of them riding.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adamcurtis/2010/08/the_hells_angels_take_a_mini-b.html

this is a pretty long one on the hells angels in the 80s. i believe the documentary was made by the hells angels. its like theyre trying to show that they are just good ole boys. not worth watching the whole thing (90 mins), but theres a lot of cool footage of them riding

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v19574174cf4DdJPE

this one is a bbc documentary from 1985 on a british group called the outcasts. my favorite out of the three docs. great footage of them riding around and doing drugs.

http://vimeo.com/18217048

just figured id share those..

saw this dope little cafe style honda at a bike meet up tonight

snapped this photo a few hours ago out riding with two friends

[Denim Phenom]

congrats man^

btw CAFE RACER on HD is back! two new episodes premiered.

Was it the Fuller Hot Rod episode?

I saw this sweet cafe'd CB750 outside of a bar in Decatur, GA and it turns out the guy is going to be featured on the Cafe Racer show.

The CB was really nice. They made a custom swing arm with an oil tank hidden in it. Bored it out to 836cc and hid all the electrics in the seat. Plus it's white with a red seat, a combo you can't go wrong with. I wish I had a camera with me when I saw it.

[ADDIC]

yup, both episodes had segments on him..

[Denim Phenom]

My paint job is done and the bike is reassembled.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rsakPfz4SdQ/Tj3691AsH5I/AAAAAAAABVI/hz7-A8WY1qA/s1600/newclothesside.jpg

[will 1 am]

hey yall,

like the title says I have a 1977 Honda cb550F Super Sport & my dream is turn it into a cafe racer.

I want to do the work myself & plan on having the project through my years at art school so I will have access to all the necessary tools/equipments.

My question is, where do I start? I do not know a lot about motorcycles in technical terms so I am a little overwhelmed.

Can anyone give me some pointers?

[wild style]

Fucking awesome. You painted it yourself? Looks great.

[Denim Phenom]

hey yall,

like the title says I have a 1977 Honda cb550F Super Sport & my dream is turn it into a cafe racer.

I want to do the work myself & plan on having the project through my years at art school so I will have access to all the necessary tools/equipments.

My question is, where do I start? I do not know a lot about motorcycles in technical terms so I am a little overwhelmed.

Can anyone give me some pointers?

Motorcycles aren't that hard to get into and understand. Buy the manual for your CB and make it your best friend. Read it from cover to cover and every time you work on the bike, have the manual open to that area. It will make every ten times easier.

I'd also suggest doing a thorough inspection of the frame for any cracks, check the bolts/nuts to see if anything needs to be replaced, look for parts that might be worn down, rubber that is cracking from hardening cause those may need to be replaced as well. Hondas are pretty reliable so you should be good to go.

You could find some forums that specify in cafe racers and just look at build threads people put on there. Those are really handy because someone is trying and making mistakes that you can learn from or might have a good idea you could use on your bike.

Cafe racer conversions are pretty easy. A different tail, exhaust, and bars would dramatically change the look of the bike. Some go to further lengths of moving the battery and oil tank which takes a little more work.

With just a little patience/practice you could easily get what you want and post a picture of what you're working with.

--------------------

Wild, any closer and the paint job is really bad. You know how the saying goes,"it's good from far, it's far from good".

[Osmosis Jones]

hey yall,

like the title says I have a 1977 Honda cb550F Super Sport & my dream is turn it into a cafe racer.

I want to do the work myself & plan on having the project through my years at art school so I will have access to all the necessary tools/equipments.

My question is, where do I start? I do not know a lot about motorcycles in technical terms so I am a little overwhelmed.

Can anyone give me some pointers?

Sohc4.net will help you quite a bit. I'm also a fellow CB550 owner. The maintenance that you should be checking regularly are the ignition system and valves and timing. Ignition system - points, rectifier and regulator. Valves - valve clearance adjustment. Timing - cam chain tensioner.

To get a good idea of your engine's inner workings, start off with a compression check. You can go look through SOHC4 and find a service manual pdf but I prefer hardcopies from Clymer.

Also, new tires will make a world of difference if the tires are older 5 years. I'm also planning on installing a tapered steering bearing and I think somebody on this forum put them on their CB750. The swingarm bushings get sloppy after a long time so bronze replacements might be nice.

[red baron]

My paint job is done and the bike is reassembled.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rsakPfz4SdQ/Tj3691AsH5I/AAAAAAAABVI/hz7-A8WY1qA/s1600/newclothesside.jpg

your bike looks amazing!

[mike lowrey]

Motorcycles aren't that hard to get into and understand. Buy the manual for your CB and make it your best friend. Read it from cover to cover and every time you work on the bike, have the manual open to that area. It will make every ten times easier.

I'd also suggest doing a thorough inspection of the frame for any cracks, check the bolts/nuts to see if anything needs to be replaced, look for parts that might be worn down, rubber that is cracking from hardening cause those may need to be replaced as well. Hondas are pretty reliable so you should be good to go.

You could find some forums that specify in cafe racers and just look at build threads people put on there. Those are really handy because someone is trying and making mistakes that you can learn from or might have a good idea you could use on your bike.

Cafe racer conversions are pretty easy. A different tail, exhaust, and bars would dramatically change the look of the bike. Some go to further lengths of moving the battery and oil tank which takes a little more work.

With just a little patience/practice you could easily get what you want and post a picture of what you're working with.

very good advice.

I bought an XL this spring and had zero experience with bikes, though I had worked with cars for several years. I still don't know much about engines, but assembly, installations etc was easy to pick up.

I would start by thinking what you want to change on the bike, and then just start looking around manuals and/or online for instructions on how to do those things. then you'll get an idea on what kind of work you are looking at.

build threads etc are indeed very handy, you can get ideas on what to do and what not to do, how its done and so on.

[JackCrank]

hey yall,

like the title says I have a 1977 Honda cb550F Super Sport & my dream is turn it into a cafe racer.

I want to do the work myself & plan on having the project through my years at art school so I will have access to all the necessary tools/equipments.

My question is, where do I start? I do not know a lot about motorcycles in technical terms so I am a little overwhelmed.

Can anyone give me some pointers?

Read this, and don't start unless you have at least $5k in the bank. Also, learn to ride WELL before you start modifying your bike.

http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2011/07/gogo-bozo-and-the-neo-moto-hipster-hobobobo-nouveau-with-an-afro-it%E2%80%99s-the-next-big-thing/

[JackCrank]

NYC VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE SHOW

Sunday, August 21, 2011, 10am-6pm

Rain or shine.

Works Engineering

168 North 14th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Open free to everyone!

The largest exhibition of Vintage Motorcycles in New York City. Bring your vintage motorcycle for all to see. All motorcycles welcome.

200+ individually owned vintage motorcycles

Competition and prizes

Free beer and BBQ

Live music

NYCVMS.ORG

[will 1 am]

Motorcycles aren't that hard to get into and understand. Buy the manual for your CB and make it your best friend. Read it from cover to cover and every time you work on the bike, have the manual open to that area. It will make every ten times easier.

I'd also suggest doing a thorough inspection of the frame for any cracks, check the bolts/nuts to see if anything needs to be replaced, look for parts that might be worn down, rubber that is cracking from hardening cause those may need to be replaced as well. Hondas are pretty reliable so you should be good to go.

You could find some forums that specify in cafe racers and just look at build threads people put on there. Those are really handy because someone is trying and making mistakes that you can learn from or might have a good idea you could use on your bike.

Cafe racer conversions are pretty easy. A different tail, exhaust, and bars would dramatically change the look of the bike. Some go to further lengths of moving the battery and oil tank which takes a little more work.

With just a little patience/practice you could easily get what you want and post a picture of what you're working with.

--------------------

Wild, any closer and the paint job is really bad. You know how the saying goes,"it's good from far, it's far from good".

Sohc4.net will help you quite a bit. I'm also a fellow CB550 owner. The maintenance that you should be checking regularly are the ignition system and valves and timing. Ignition system - points, rectifier and regulator. Valves - valve clearance adjustment. Timing - cam chain tensioner.

To get a good idea of your engine's inner workings, start off with a compression check. You can go look through SOHC4 and find a service manual pdf but I prefer hardcopies from Clymer.

Also, new tires will make a world of difference if the tires are older 5 years. I'm also planning on installing a tapered steering bearing and I think somebody on this forum put them on their CB750. The swingarm bushings get sloppy after a long time so bronze replacements might be nice.

very good advice.

I bought an XL this spring and had zero experience with bikes, though I had worked with cars for several years. I still don't know much about engines, but assembly, installations etc was easy to pick up.

I would start by thinking what you want to change on the bike, and then just start looking around manuals and/or online for instructions on how to do those things. then you'll get an idea on what kind of work you are looking at.

build threads etc are indeed very handy, you can get ideas on what to do and what not to do, how its done and so on.

Read this, and don't start unless you have at least $5k in the bank. Also, learn to ride WELL before you start modifying your bike.

http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2011/07/gogo-bozo-and-the-neo-moto-hipster-hobobobo-nouveau-with-an-afro-it%E2%80%99s-the-next-big-thing/

Thank you so much for all the friendly replies. Thats another thing I love about motorcycles, is the community factor.

So I will definitely get the manual and take a few laps around the bike checking it out. I will also snap a few pics & check out all those links you guys gave me.

As for what you said JackCrank, a little depressing about the cash side of things no doubt, but definitely wont scare me off. Is there anyway to read that article as a nonsubscriber?

& good advice about riding well, i've been riding almost daily now since I got the bike back from the shop in proper order & I definately have a deeper understanding of riding well. At first I kind of thought "if you can ride, you can ride" now I see thats not the case.

I look forward to sharing progress & looking back at this thread

[bruised]

i also have a 1976 cb550 cafe, feel free to ask me about what i know. make sure bike is in good mechanical shape before you start modifying it. you want to start with a good base line before fucking with the styling of it.

i dunno, about 5k in the bank, but i think i've invested about 2k and tons of elbow grease.

one thing that differs between working on cars and vintage motorcycles is in the restoration aspect. be prepared to polish and remove rust and fabricate parts that you can no longer find replacements for. ebay is your friend and SOHC forum for sale section also.

[JackCrank]

You can make one for less than that for sure, but all told, it'll probably not be worth it for less.

[bruised]

You can make one for less than that for sure, but all told, it'll probably not be worth it for less.

worth in what way? not everyone wants a show bike. i'm perfectly happy with my dirty dusty rotten bare bones cafe. just getting to ride is fun as shit.

its a process dude

[JackCrank]

Yeah, my beef is with all these people making "café" bikes out of old jap crap by slapping on a fiberglass tank and tail and maybe a set of clubmans, stripping the tank and claiming Voila! Maybe that's a "cafe inspired" bike or something but it sure ain't a racer. I could give a damn about a show bike but at least lets see it done right. How bout a bore job? Maybe some higher comp pistons, SS brakelines at least, some brembos at best. Find a good set of clipons, rearsets, an exhaust worth a fuck and a proper carb rejet. Modern tires, and electrics wouldn't hurt.

Any jackass and put a bullet tail on a CB and call it a "cafe racer". Don't be any jackass is my theory.

[JackCrank]

And if you wanna see the full range of cafe bikes, come to that show on the 21st in Brooklyn. There's gonna be a few unreal bikes there. Proper vincent, tritons, beesa, etc.

[will 1 am]

this may sound stupid, but I'm having trouble navigating soho4.net.

All I can find is pictures of peoples bikes :confused:

edit: found the forum thorugh google

[bruised]

Yeah, my beef is with all these people making "café" bikes out of old jap crap by slapping on a fiberglass tank and tail and maybe a set of clubmans, stripping the tank and claiming Voila! Maybe that's a "cafe inspired" bike or something but it sure ain't a racer. I could give a damn about a show bike but at least lets see it done right. How bout a bore job? Maybe some higher comp pistons, SS brakelines at least, some brembos at best. Find a good set of clipons, rearsets, an exhaust worth a fuck and a proper carb rejet. Modern tires, and electrics wouldn't hurt.

Any jackass and put a bullet tail on a CB and call it a "cafe racer". Don't be any jackass is my theory.

I hear ya. But you're talking about real racers or track bikes. Most cafe racers in the 60s never saw the track or had bored out blocks or too much crazy shit. It was more a life style and mind set of being bare bones. Racing from cafe to cafe and doing the ton. Much more props to those who actually do performance mods and not just style mods though. I see cafe racers as street racers with real deal race ideals trickled down to them.

[renski]

debating on doing a long distance trip on the wr250 from socal to norcal in oct... could take a nice trip up the 101 or the boring 5. for some reason taking a single that far seems scary but people do these rides all the time.

[Denim Phenom]

You'll be fine. Pack lite and bring tools.

[renski]

my bike has the tool kit mounted on the side. the only other thing i could think of bringing is patch repair kit, tube, co2 dispenser and cartridges. packing light is easy for me.

[Denim Phenom]

I think you just have to overcome the hesitation of leaving familiar territory. The hardest part is starting and having the confidence that you can fix what breaks and make it there and back.

[JackCrank]

That sounds like fucking fun, twisties on a light bike? Hells yes. Go for it man.