Topic: Cafe Racer or Keep Original?

[BakonBittz]

First thing, thank you for the wealth of knowledge on this forum. One sleepless night and I've already budgeted out and planned a whole project!

Sooooo this bike was free to me    and my first real, all out, motorcycle project. I've done countless car restorations and have no problem working on bikes too. Of course I have cafe racer dreams but also feel like they are only original once. Unfortunately in the car world (as I'm sure in the bike world) there are very few nice examples left. It seems that somebody has got their hands on and added their own touch to anything affordable. (read that as hacked up and kinda ruined)

My question for the experts: Do have anything special here or can I get out the angle grinder and get to it? The bike obviously had some....uhh stuff    done to it in the past,but seems solid and runs (reliably but terribly on gummed up carbs)

Thank you in advance! Apologies about the terrible pictures, they were sent to me.

[seanbarney41]

That tank looks pretty sweet.  I would not paint over that.  There is a small market for all that chopper stuff.  I would be surprised if anything has been hacked to install those parts.  No worries to remove and replace with whatever you want.  May be able to sell or trade chopper stuff and get a small chunk of change for parts that you want.  Keep in mind that a proper cafe racer is about improving performance, not just another style of custom motorcycle.  You won't find many here or anywhere else on the internet.  Best opportunity for inspiration is your local ahrma race.  There is actually very little hacking involved in improving performance.

[iFart]

It'd probably look pretty sweet with a normal seat, standard grab bar, and some superbike or similar bars. I'm a fan of keeping it simple.

The tank is pretty wicked and retro but I'd have to see it with a normal seat to see if it's worth painting over. I'd probably also avoid painting cause it can be a PITA (my experience painting 2 tanks).

I think we have the same style of exhaust lol. My bike had a lot of flare pieces; high rise bars, sissy back bar, luggage rack, fork bridge bracket, windjammer, finned covers, etc. Guess it was the thing to do back then.

I like what Sean said and would say focus on performance, strip the flare you don't want/need

[BakonBittz]

I suppose I should have mentioned that I won't be painting over the fiberglass tank, but would source an original, or some similar design I like. Two  things about the tank:
1. Its ~30 year old fiberglass and I could see it delaminating when I washed it out. I think gas/ethanol would make quick work of what is left.
2. It was made and painted by the original owner, I was going to mount/mock it up on a nice board or carbon fiber along with the painted to match side pods/plastics at minimum and give them back. I know they want to see the bike ridden and not waste away, but no sense in just trashing their work.

I feel like maybe I got ahead of myself, thinking big and wanting to tear everything apart. Perhaps I'll start with a stock seat, bars, maybe forks and go from there. Plus it's cheaper! Mr. Fart, I really like the look of your orange bike, that would be a good starting point i think.

[Smudgemo]

It's yours and doesn't appear to be anything special that you should save.  You should do what you want with it.

[PeWe]

Caffé style OK as long as no cutting or chopping off parts from a good bike. As many did in the 70's- early 80's with CB750 here. Switch parts and make it look cool. Save the original parts that can be switched back to original when you like it that way.

That tank look cool and typical 70's. Save it as it is. Find another tank for your restore/rebuild.

CB500 look very nice in Honda Jade green.

[iFart]

Ask the folks you're getting the bike from if they have/can locate any of the original parts that were swapped.

I've attached a before and after picture of mine for inspiration. I'd consider myself a purist but agree that you should do what you want to the bike and have fun. I'll also share my experience so you can avoid doing what I did.

Mine sat in that spot pictured for 28 years. I thought big too and completely disassembled it, cleaned, painted, and had no idea what I was doing mechanically as it was the first bike I ever messed with. It then ended up sitting in pieces for almost 8 years because life happened.

Should I awaken my project thread I found from 2009?

Had I known what I later learned working on a CB350G and revitalizing a non-running CB750K2 I picked up I wish I could go back in time and just of got it running and then gone from there instead of jumping to a frame off restoration.

I would of much rather been riding around and enjoying it and working on bits at a time instead of working on piecing together a massive puzzle of parts.

Anyways, that's enough rambling; here we are now and I'm mostly done apart from tires, tubes, and new cables. Cant decide if I want to put the engine guards on though. Hmmm...

[pjlogue]

Ask the folks you're getting the bike from if they have/can locate any of the original parts that were swapped.

I've attached a before and after picture of mine for inspiration. I'd consider myself a purist but agree that you should do what you want to the bike and have fun. I'll also share my experience so you can avoid doing what I did.

Mine sat in that spot pictured for 28 years. I thought big too and completely disassembled it, cleaned, painted, and had no idea what I was doing mechanically as it was the first bike I ever messed with. It then ended up sitting in pieces for almost 8 years because life happened.

Should I awaken my project thread I found from 2009?

Had I known what I later learned working on a CB350G and revitalizing a non-running CB750K2 I picked up I wish I could go back in time and just of got it running and then gone from there instead of jumping to a frame off restoration.

I would of much rather been riding around and enjoying it and working on bits at a time instead of working on piecing together a massive puzzle of parts.

Anyways, that's enough rambling; here we are now and I'm mostly done apart from tires, tubes, and new cables. Cant decide if I want to put the engine guards on though. Hmmm...

Love the RR turn signal-coat hanger in the 1st photo!  Nice Bike BTW!

-P.

[przjohn]

There are about a hundred poor Cafe Bikes out there for every nice one. Just go on Ebay and see what folks are selling as "Cafe Racers". It sounds like you have experience so you're probably not the guy that just heads out to the garage with a Sawzall and a six pack. Personally I favor the OEM look but can appreciate a good custom bike and quality workmanship.

[Stev-o]

I'd take off all the aftermarket parts I dont like, get it running good and go from there.

The front end appears to have longer than stock fork tubes...

[ekpent]

 If it was all stock paint and original I would say save. Yours looks like a good candidate for a custom.

[BomberMann650]

Its got a pretty cool vibe already.

I second the notion to trade off the chopper parts to someone who would dig it.