[hugo151]

hi' whats the best sort of bike to convert to a cafe racer? ? ? my personal thoughts are preferably air cooled, twin cylinder, under 50hp because there'l be no fairing, cheap; because i'd be hacking loads of kg' s off it & it wouldn't ever be able to go back to standard, twin shock. any other ideas?

[kezzr]

You need to decide how much you have got to spend on the project to start with,also will you be doing all the mods yourself or having to pay to get bits done,can be expensive. When you have this sorted you can then start looking around to see whats available and what takes your fancy.I've done a few over the years and really enjoyed the challenge.

[hugo151]

You need to decide how much you have got to spend on the project to start with,also will you be doing all the mods yourself or having to pay to get bits done,can be expensive. When you have this sorted you can then start looking around to see whats available and what takes your fancy.I've done a few over the years and really enjoyed the challenge.

hi, i've got a 29hp gsx250e & have started the project already, mainly on the front end ie; nsr125 clip ons, cutting off handlebar mounts off top yolk, separating instrument pod to individual taco & speedo, race front mudguard,all looks really tidy. am about to start on rear sets & bum stop seat, these will be a bit more tricky to do, but ive already hacked off the original brackets now ,so theres no going back.got a pair of dunstalls & am having some stainless headers made. just was wondering what other bikes could be cafe'd. thought about z500S but its water cooled, 60hp though & the engine actually looks air cooled, also gs500's are cheap but alloy frame & mono shock might look wrong.gsx 400e probably the ideal candidate with 44hp on tap, not as common as 250 though.

[Stafford Bob]

How about Yam SR 500? I've seen a couple about that have been cafe racered and they do look 'right'
Staffy Bob

[hugo151]

How about Yam SR 500? I've seen a couple about that have been cafe racered and they do look 'right'
Staffy Bob

hi bob, they have alot of good credentials,ie wire wheels ,twin shocks, steel frame , air cooled, simple etc not particularly cheap though. i personally am not a big fan of singles' ive had an xt500 & an szr 660 , & didn't like the lumpiness. twins have the narrowness & lightness of singles with almost the same power & smoothness of a 4 cyl, especially when weight of engine comes into the equation,ps i'm talking about 80/90's bikes here, not the latest superbikes. pps i meant gpz 500S in previous post, not z500.also just realized the gpz is a mono shock as well. damn! ! ! back to the drawing board.

[kezzr]

Hi Again,So your cafe racer is based on a GSX250,small world sometimes,I've also got 1 on the go,I'm also part way through a GSX250 based sidecar outfit,but will probably upgrade this to a bigger engine later on. Are you using the standard tank on yours,I've got an alloy tank on mine,its got to be modded to fit properly.1 of my mates is doing this for me he's a really good fabby/welder,I usually do some machining bits for him so,it keeps the cost down.I'm going for the brit twin look of thr 60'S on mine,spoke wheels with ally rims an drum brakes front an rear.It's gonna be a single seat with 2 into 2 exhaust with reverse cone meggas.I've decided on yellow an black for the paint,engine will be standard except for K&N filters an slightly bigger jets,hope to be on the road for next year,wots your plans.

[hugo151]

Hi Again,So your cafe racer is based on a GSX250,small world sometimes,I've also got 1 on the go,I'm also part way through a GSX250 based sidecar outfit,but will probably upgrade this to a bigger engine later on. Are you using the standard tank on yours,I've got an alloy tank on mine,its got to be modded to fit properly.1 of my mates is doing this for me he's a really good fabby/welder,I usually do some machining bits for him so,it keeps the cost down.I'm going for the brit twin look of thr 60'S on mine,spoke wheels with ally rims an drum brakes front an rear.It's gonna be a single seat with 2 into 2 exhaust with reverse cone meggas.I've decided on yellow an black for the paint,engine will be standard except for K&N filters an slightly bigger jets,hope to be on the road for next year,wots your plans.

hi, yes i'm keeping standard tank, i quite like the shape of it. at the end of the day its a£25 gsx250 in poor condition with34k on the clock , i'm not spending mega £'s on it, if it were a 400 i'd feel i could spend more on it. i also want the 60's look but not at any price.might go for gsx250t custom wheels as they are spoked already, trouble is the rear is a 17" & the front is a disc brake, what about older gs 250's? where are you getting your front drum from.? my main thing is getting the weight down so anything which has little function is getting junked ie side panels, seat & tail unit ,helmet locks,etc & big heavy cast foot rests are being replaced. have you got the headers already,? are they the originals?do you know what jets to go with k&n's? was wondering if a modern gs500 engine would fit in the frame, not as high tech as a gsx250 but about 15 more hp.

[kezzr]

Hi,I'm not spending much on mine its gonna be a shoestring/budget cafe racer project,the front drums are under construction,there two single sided single leading shoe front brakes off some old brit bike,I've machined them to fit back to back so I'll end up with a double sided,twin leading shoe front brake,I've made a similar item for a friend with a Norton/Bsa special turned out to be a really good set up.Having said that I may drill the original front disc and use this untill the drum is finished.I'm going to drill out the original jets only by 0.002"and do some colour tuning on the plugs till I get the mixture right,this is not something I would recommend anyone to do at home with a black an decker,but when I get it right I'll be happy to do yours if you like as I have access to all the correct equipment an tools.For the downpipes my mate is making some sweptback brit stlyle pipes and I'll be fitting some reverse cone meggas on them.Have you looked on www.caferacerforum.co.uk you may it find it helpfull.Cheers

[hugo151]

Hi,I'm not spending much on mine its gonna be a shoestring/budget cafe racer project,the front drums are under construction,there two single sided single leading shoe front brakes off some old brit bike,I've machined them to fit back to back so I'll end up with a double sided,twin leading shoe front brake,I've made a similar item for a friend with a Norton/Bsa special turned out to be a really good set up.Having said that I may drill the original front disc and use this untill the drum is finished.I'm going to drill out the original jets only by 0.002"and do some colour tuning on the plugs till I get the mixture right,this is not something I would recommend anyone to do at home with a black an decker,but when I get it right I'll be happy to do yours if you like as I have access to all the correct equipment an tools.For the downpipes my mate is making some sweptback brit stlyle pipes and I'll be fitting some reverse cone meggas on them.Have you looked on www.caferacerforum.co.uk you may it find it helpfull.Cheers

that drum sounds interesting but a lot of effort for a cheap bike. ive looked to see which GS models had wire wheels & its only early gs400 or some of the later 250 & 400 custom models, the custom models having smaller back wheels for some reason,so you could use the rear hub but have to re rim & spoke it to get 18".the SS downpipes are quite expensive to have made for one pair but not a lot more for lets say 4 pairs, the subsequent cost being in price of the lengths of S/steel. whats your mate charging you for yours & whats the material ? iv'e had another look at the standard air box & i think i'll leave it in ,it wo,nt save much weight by using k&n's & to be honest it doesnt look that bad & it'll probably run better giving more power than k&n.s as well.i'm going to bore out the splined rear brake pivot & make the rear wheel spacer out of alloy as well as shortening the brake lever all to shed weight, i'd like to shift at least 30kg, if the starter & big battery have to go in order to achieve this ,then so be it !

[kezzr]

Your right it is maybe a lot of work but I've always enjoyed making bits an pieces for bikes,I could use it on something else if not on the GSX.The rear rim is off a Gilera Cougar,nice alloy rim on the hub as standard &17" so better tyre choice.My mates doin the pipes in mild steel,I'm going to spray them matt black,I'll be doing some machined bits for him so no cost to me or him

[hugo151]

Your right it is maybe a lot of work but I've always enjoyed making bits an pieces for bikes,I could use it on something else if not on the GSX.The rear rim is off a Gilera Cougar,nice alloy rim on the hub as standard &17" so better tyre choice.My mates doin the pipes in mild steel,I'm going to spray them matt black,I'll be doing some machined bits for him so no cost to me or him

hi kez, never thought about actually converting it to 17" all round, do you think it would look right? & what about front wheel?ive moved the igniter under the tank so i can get rid of that nasty pressed steel bracket behind the lh sidepanel. the solenoid & reg/rectifier can sit pigeback with the fins of the r/r on show on a new slimline bracket.