Cafe Racer?

[waxdass]

Decided I want to start another low budget project (staying away from cars).
Something that won't take up too much room in the shed (already completed project Scott Bonnar lawn mower lol).

cheapy/easy/parts/help available - old Honda CB500/CB400 ? (R-E license).
Would probably only be used for short trips to work (or coffee lol)
I should mention I have only ever ridden mopeds & im 6'3.

Thoughts? Experiences? Do's & Don'ts ???

cheers

[Riggs]

To do it properly, and unless you do a LOT of work yourself don't expect much change from $20K, all depends on how far you go of course.

More and more people I know are doing it, many that were never into bikes before. As for parts cheap & easily available, not always the case. You will need to source out of the US a bit.

As for LAMS (RE Licence):

All motorcycles :
- built before December 1960 , with an engine capacity less than 660
are approved
- with electric powered engines, with a power output not in excess of 25 Kw,
are approved
- with an engine capacity under 260 cc
are approved with the exception of the 2 strokes:

RGV250
KR250
NSR250
TZR250
RS250


I say go for it.

[waxdass]

Yeah never into bikes really. I would prefer to take of an incomplete/rideable project to save.
with that LAMS list of approved bikes, it has a CB500 on there. I'd be looking for a mid/late 70's model.

[shifted]

Keen to follow, as this too has crossed my mind - basically the same height also.

[Satan]

As for LAMS (RE Licence):

All motorcycles :
- built before December 1960 , with an engine capacity less than 660
are approved
- with electric powered engines, with a power output not in excess of 25 Kw,
are approved
- with an engine capacity under 260 cc
are approved with the exception of the 2 strokes:

RGV250
KR250
NSR250
TZR250
RS250



Restricted to under 260cc??

[Satan]

PS Do it!

[strubaru]

if you decide to swing away from low budget, there's some awesome custom kits for old honda's, kwaka's and yammy's

http://www.bikeexif.com/building-a-cafe-racer

[S133LTR]

Cheapest way to do a half decent job imo is a triumph bonny or thruxton. Heaps of aftermarket bits to cafe style them. Bonny's can be had for 5-6k and I've seen thruxtons for 8-9. Both suit a rider of your size.

[Bram]

I did a full re-wire on my uncles Cafe racer. Its an old bmw twin cylinder thing. Put a 'm-wire' or something unit. A basic power distribution module (pdm)

[Mr Xxxxx]

I did a full re-wire on my uncles Cafe racer. Its an old bmw twin cylinder thing. Put a 'm-wire' or something unit. A basic power distribution module (pdm)

One of these?
https://motogadget.com/shop/en/m-unit-digit-tastersteuerung-u-sicherung.html

Had one to fit and they looked pretty decent especially for the price. New one is going to have Bluetooth

[Bram]

One of these?
https://motogadget.com/shop/en/m-unit-digit-tastersteuerung-u-sicherung.html

Had one to fit and they looked pretty decent especially for the price. New one is going to have Bluetooth

Yeah. Simplified the wiring massively. And had a quite few sweet features built in. Was very impressed with the unit.

[waxdass]

One of these?
https://motogadget.com/shop/en/m-unit-digit-tastersteuerung-u-sicherung.html

Had one to fit and they looked pretty decent especially for the price. New one is going to have Bluetooth

Some very cool gear on that site! Are they generic to most old bikes ?

[crabman]

Plenty of bits available for XS650's too. Can find rough ones every now and then pretty cheap perfect for cafe conversions.

Once my pos skyline is gone I will be getting a bike hoist and will start having parts trickle in. Need to find an engineer to chat too about the hard-tail conversion I want to do though, keen to build over a few years no rush and have it all legal at the end.

[Mr Xxxxx]

Some very cool gear on that site! Are they generic to most old bikes ?
Not too many circuits on an old bike and most of the wiring on old bikes as pretty bad so I would look at ripping the loom out and starting again with better lighting etc

I didn't end up using the module as the bike was injected and all the other circuits turned off whilst cranking so was a not right product.

[Steve]

Some very cool gear on that site! Are they generic to most old bikes ?
Not really generic at all, I'm sorta in the middle of doing a new wiring harness to put one on my XS850

[crabman]

Someone posted a link to sick bagged beetle in the cool cars for sale thread. Turns out that dude selling a tidy SR400.

https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/melville/motorcycles/yamaha-sr400-cafe-racer/1141584097

https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/mGgAAOSwol5YwoI4/$_20.JPG