Cafe build update

[rude]

Dunno about you blokes but I really like pictures, I get ideas from looking at your work and I hope it is reciprocal, attached is my resto/cafe to date.

I've been working through the first fit prior to pulling down and painting, polishing, fixing POs bodgey wiring and some chrome for the extra bling.

last night I got the seat base on and fitted with rubber mounts, sits well I think! I'll be fitting the cafe/brat tail light tonight that I scored from DCC ,as well as making up a number plate bracket

I'd like to paint the seat base so I'll be fibreglassing the sheet metal section I added.

The front end is all done with the ACEWELL gauge and the wiring re adjustments to suit including a headlight on off switch, that was fun!

Front fender is a Mikesxs cafe fender, as he states it is a tight fit, I had to use builders clamps to push it in so as not to damage it while getting it into position, drag bars with an inch cut off either side, fabricated ignition switch mount and chromed switch gear, I'm just waiting on a new chromed master cylinder from usamotorcycles to finish. I've also replaced the steering head bearings with tapered bearings, rebuilt calipers, new pads and braided S/S brake lines

Now the big question(some say the fun part) what colour? I'm after that trad Brit cafe look and am inclined to go for silver with black stripes through the front fender, tank and tail section, I'm open to ideas.........

Some pics below, apologies for the poor quality and background

On a side note do you guys from the USofA realise how lucky you are with easy access to good products over there, the $ exchange rate must get some credit for this rebuild.

cheers

 

[Crab_Cake]

looks great

 

[jackstraw650]

Nice bike, Rude! I'm starting my 79 cafe build soon and, like you, have struggled with the color choice for the bike. I want something a little different but that maintains that classic look. I'm planning on using an XS750 gas tank on mine and right now I'm leaning towards a combination of Mist Green[an old Triumph color and cream with gold striping to set off the two colors. I'm also planning on having the frame powder coated in a color called anthracite that makes the frame look like its kind of like bare chromoly steel.....kind of like the old Metisse frames........good luck with your bike and keep us posted with pics, OK?

 

[MN_TX650]

Good to see another cafe...the bobs and chops seem to be taking over LOL

 

[jackstraw650]

Hey MN....have agree with you about the chops and bobs! Far be it by me to criticize anyone's choice of build....there's room for all styles and mods. I have to admit that I pick up some interesting ideas from the chop/bob builds. But there is something about the classic cafe style.....maybe I'm just getting old! LOL
Phil

 

[MN_TX650]

I like all the builds...but wouldn't miss an opportunity to razz the chopper guys a bit Here's my cafe build:

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28

 

[rude]

Choppers Bobbers Trackers and Cafes, the good old xs650 is a versatile beast, "if" I can find an appropriate donor bike I'd like to do a bobber next time..................
Some quick pics of progress so far below,
Some comments on fitting Omars rear sets
If fitting Omars rearsets be aware of the optimal lever angles that you can attain with the standard headers and mufflers, I needed to remove the old exhaust to mount the plate, the only way was to cut the balance tube leaving headers and mufflers connected to each other (neither castle nuts were budging), then upon refit found that the lever angles required for comfort resulted in the gear and brake levers hitting the mufflers, what to do? opted for Mikesxs stainless 1 3/4" headers which do give good clearance, to be mated to shorty reverse cone upswept mufflers, also purchased the torque inserts
Another point to consider is that the horizontal rods from the lever to actuating arms on both sides foul on the peg mounts, Omar advises shimming required, approx 15-->20mm is required, pic of gear side shows trial set up using nuts and long 6mm bolt, remove round head nut on top peg mount stud and replace with nylock for an extra spoofteenth of clearance. Gear lever angle is as good as it gets without bending the head pipe.
Brake side, same issue with the actuating rod fouling on peg mount, shimmed out, another thing to be aware of is the possibility of the brake actuating lever arm hitting on the kick start shaft, Omar recommends pre ride inspect and adjust to ensure this is not something that "could kill you certainly dead" if not maintained. I do have more adjustment and fiddling to go but there is the trade off being a comfortable gear lever angle Vs lever arm angle to minimise the risk of hitting the kicker shaft, something to consider.
I have good electrics so I'll run without a kick starter, although I will miss showing the kids how we used to start them before buttons were invented

Since last time the seat pad made and fitted, DCC tail light and (Omars)adjustable clubman bars fitted, yet to ride it with the clubmans, as I'm an old fart I may end up putting the drag bars back on. Also fitted a Motolanna chain gaurd and front cafe fender in stainless plus some trick Motolanna billet mirrors (nice stuff and good prompt service from Motolanna)
Waiting on the Tarozzi fork brace and just ordered yesterday is the Keihin carb kit from Mikes.
Still haven't decided on the colour MN TX650 that chrome look is fantastic (as with the rest of the bike ) how good would that look with some black GT stripes......?? or red stripes as per the vodafone scheme.........? bugga, another colour combo to consider

pics are from the Blackberry, apologies for the low quality
cheers

 

[MN_TX650]

Love the rear sets! I bought a set of tarozzi's for mine, but never got around to mounting them. The omars plates were the wrong size for the older 73 frame, so I need to make up my own plates.

 

[jackstraw650]

Very nice work, Rude! I really like the headlight/instrument blend......is the speedo mounted in the headlight nacelle or is it just way the picture looks? Either way, it looks nice. What kind and size tires do you have mounted on the bike. The rear looks like it would be a good handling, almost modern compound tire....my major thing is making a bike corner as well as possible and I haven't really seen much in the way of sticky rubber for the XS......mainly, I guess, because of the vintage wheel diameter. How do those handle?
Thanks.............

 

[rude]

Jack, The speedo/tach is an ACEWELL and the headlight is a standard chrome unit, the way it worked out is that the speedo/tach unit sits over the headlight top wiring entry hole
that's a new 130/80 pirelli "sport demon" fitted to the standard rim on the rear, fits with clearance (just)http://www.pirelli.com/tyre/ww/en/motorcycle/sheet/sport_demon.html
the front is a "no name" brand that will be changed for a matching front
As for how it handles? I'll get back to when the old girl is up and running.
cheers

 

[oz650]

Hey Rude, I am looking to buy that omar tarozzi kit soon as well, glad you listed those issues. Don't know if this helps you, but have you tried mounting the linkages upside down? Here's a link that might be helpful:

http://www.motorcyclemojo.com/2009/01/xs650-cafe-racer/

Check out the close-ups of the rearsets.
He's not running standard headers though...

 

[pumps]

All very good work. I love the cafe look. Lots of bling is good. You blokes down under know how to turn a spanner!

 

[rude]

Oz650,
I did try the upside down config but had problems with linkages interfering with the header pipes, would have mean't bending the headers to allow the fitting of the mufflers and a comfortable foot angle.
Bit hard to describe, but as you rotate the headers out to give clearance for the linkages you reduce the possible gear and brake lever angles, cause' the header pipe ends up under the levers.
No point in fitting up rearsets with the levers at horizontal, the levers need to point down past the horizontal as in the pic in the link, if that makes sense??

 

[rude]

Just to press the point so others don't get caught out here is a pic of the linkages placed below the pegs that I found on the intraweb, you can see he put the linkages underneath and had to move the header pipe out from the frame so the brake actuating lever doesn't foul on the header pipe, this creates a very uncomfortable foot lever angle, my ankles need those levers at 5 o'clock not 3 o'clock, especially with the clubmans.
The Omars kit is a great base, prepare to fiddle to get them right
When I'm happy with mine I'll post some more pics
cheers

 

[oz650]

Thanks for the detailed reply regarding the rearset positioning, really appreciate those pics. I understood what you meant in the first post regarding the header making either the linkage or pedal foul with the linkage in the upside-down position, that's pretty disappointing as I really was looking forward to a straight bolt-on swap. Your headers seem to sweep up a lot earlier than mine - I'm running the 1.5" headers not the 1.75" ones - so I thought that maybe I would be ok. Until you posted that last pic - those look like the 1.5" pipes to me and that brake lever angle is all wrong like you say.

Here's another guy's setup. It's a special, like mine, but those headers sit a lot lower. Perhaps another option here?

Look forward to seeing your progress mate. To bad I don't live closer - I'd harass ya to see if they fit my bike before ordering! (Would bring beer of course!) Thanks again for the pics.

 

[gggGary]

Correct me if I am wrong about this:
It has always bothered me to see rear sets and all kinds of convoluted linkage back to the stock brake arm pivot. I went and looked today to confirm and the arm on the rear brake plate can be flipped to an "up" position. The cams that actuate the shoes work the same way, i.e. a pull on the rod still forces the shoes out. so with the rod high couldn't the rear set brake lever directly pull the rod and forget about all the other mish mash to hook up to the stock pivot. I have NOT tried this (yet) but it sure looks possible and fairly low tech to do. How about it, has anyone done this or what am I missing?

 

[rude]

Oz, Yeh both bikes have low pipes, the silver special has longer shocks than mine, see the gap between gaurd and rear wheel, my tyre sits an inch off the ground when on the centre stand..
TC Bros also do a kit that could be what you are after
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yama...4594529QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

gGary, interesting thought, but, this "rod" would need to go from the "outside"of the frame to the "inside" negotiating the shock, swing arm and frame, I also suspect swingarm travel could also pull the brake on (and off) as the rear wheel travels up and down............maybe?

 

[oz650]

Thanks rude, have seen those TC ones before, but they look to be set in a more aggressive position than the Tarozzi kit, more so than necessary in my eyes. I think the my pipes would scrape before them! Perhaps the universals might be the go. Anyway sorry for the

Re: the "rod", if I understand what you guys are talking about, the bike in the second link of my last post seems to have this kind of setup, but swingarm travel point is a good one. I have a rear disc, so can't really comment. Might try and get down to that shop and ask them about it next week.

 

[rude]

I fitted up the pipes and mufflers last night, just wondering if I've overcooked the "upsweep" and created rain gauges, the rearsets seem to fit well in this config.
I'll fire the beast up tonight and see how much fibreglass packing I need to keep it within legal db's for rego (then out it will come!)
I'm still unsure of final colour and graphics/stripes.................I keep on going back to that chrome finish like MN's (also see pic of norton attached....nice eh?)

 

[oz650]

Mate, looking good! Really like the upsweep on the pipes and as a bonus you can remove the rear wheel easily Will you need to put on a rear mudguard and reflector for a RWC in the ACT?

ps - how's the riding position now?