Topic: CB750 Cafe Bastard Project

[NYChopshop]

I'm getting ready to move back to southern California, and I really want a bike when I do. No, I don't want a bike, I want a CB750F Cafe Bastard. I've never owned a purely road going motorcycle before, but I am an automotive collision repair technician by trade, so I'm not at a total loss working on a bike. I've been researching the ever-loving crap out of mods I want to do to the bike, and this forum has been epicly helpful already. I want a bike thats a total pleasure to ride with the mechanical simplicity (both technically and aesthetically speaking) of an old cafe bike. I want a great handling bike that stops like a modern bike. I realize that may mean the bike wont look as drop dead gorgeous as I would like, especially not at first. I will be doing this both myself and with paid for work by professionals as southern california is really overpopulated with quality bike mechanics. I will be doing this piecemeal, a project at a time, as time and fundage permit. What I plan on doing to my bike will make some drool and some cringe, but I'm more than open to suggestions. Here's where I'm at so far:

I want to mount up a GSXR front end, with all of its dual front disk brake awesomeness. I'd also like to keep the hydro system and convert the CB750 trans to a hydro clutch with that snazzy cyclexchange kit that they are developing. I would love to basically love to copy the sick setup that Industrial Cafe has put together for himself. I'm a great admirer of that bike. I'd relink a photo, but you all know who he is. I was wondering if anyone knew if the harley slimline front wheel and speed sensor could be adapted to work with the GSXR front end. I really like the autometer combination gauge that is designed to work with newer harleys (although I understand you can adapt them to work with the older harley speed sensors) and would love to ditch the whole gauge cluster in favor of one round analog gauge.


I'm probably just going to grab a decent looking tank on the cheap like a cb500t or Mojave, and whatever seat I can find that looks good and is fairly comfortable to ride on. I eventually would like to get an aluminum tank and seat made that fits me and the final stance of the bike, but thats going to be damn pricey and my way of rewarding myself for finishing the rest of the project to my satisfaction.

I normally hate fairings on bikes. Unfortunately, I have fallen in love with the front fairing from the 1970's R-bikes, like the r100 for instance. I don't care if they go for $200-$300 in decent shape... I need one. I'm pretty sure I can use the factory 7" Honda headlight in that fairing to further bastardize it. Gives me a great place to mount a pair of gauges.



I want to change out that gross oil tank and use the space to convert to a monoshock setup from a cbr900 like Sander. Another bike I really like. I just wonder if there is any way to drop the butt of that bike by about an inch. I'm not worried about the rear end so soon, and thats probably going to be the biggest project.

Many parts of this project will inevitably change as time and opportunity take their toll on my decisions. I just look forward to throwing an increasingly personalized old honda around when the weather is right. I'll post real pics when I get a damn CB750F!

[JAG]

Since I'm currently tossing around Gauges/GPS ideas, I'd like to hear how you are going to do this gauge idea you posted..

[NYChopshop]

I tried calling the 'tech person' from autometer, whos number I got after about five phone calls. Unfortunately hes on jury duty. I'm trying to figure out if the tach will work with the speed sensor mounted on the front wheel from a harley slimline. It says the tach is made as a drop in replacement for bikes that utilize a speed sensor mounted to the transmission and get its timing from parts internal to the transmission. The page also says that its possible to modify the tach to use earlier harley speed sensors, I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping that its possible to use the slimline front wheel one somehow. I'll post again when I find out more.

[NYChopshop]

Still no definite news on the autometer gauge, but apparently most of their speedometers have to be set by using a 2 mile stretch of road and the pressing of a couple of buttons. This could be good news for me and anyone looking to use one of these things if this proves to be the case with the pro-cycle line as well. It may require a module to adjust as it may just be pre-set in pulse per minute to the harley davidson transmission's output shaft based speed sensor, but that wouldnt be too hard. I found about a million of those things, some small enough to mount nearly anywhere. My only problem with that tach is that as it is designed for a harley, they max out at 8k RPM. I'm looking at also mounting somewhere inconspicuous something like the tiny-tach from briggs and stratton just to see whats really going on and possibly a programmable shift light on the tree if I can make it largely disappear somewhere behind the fairing. The 19,000 RPM maximum of the standard tiny should suffice. I got the idea looking on ebay and finding a r100 fairing that someone else had already chopped a small box out of the small 'dashboard' where the two round gauges mount. I thought 'what a moron, what the hell could you put there...' then I figured out that the stupid 8000rpm max on almost any harley based gauge may be a problem and.....

[Anti-Johnny]

id like one of them fancy speedo/tach combos. interested to see what you find out!