81 Cafe racer "rebuild"

[Big_Al]

Early I also shaved down ugly mount tabs on frame. When I get engine off of frame, I also need to shave down mounts for central stand. I got rid of that heavy thing long ago.

 

[Big_Al]

Here is a good point to talk about my vision for the bike. I really fell in love with Kott's cafe racers, specifically his Exec 550 (http://www.kottmotorcycles.com/builds/2014/6/10/exec-550). I wanted to use that as a base for mine. Unfortunately, as a poor student living off of loans and credit cards, that dream soon faded. With fake money and time running short, I have to settle for polished steel look. I was looking for a 77 750xs gas tank without dents, but no luck. So, I bought a steel tank from mikesxs. When I get it, I will strip paint, and give it brushed steel look. Sadly, I will have to keep cafe racer seat already on bike and leave it unpainted. I have black clip on bars. As we will see shortly, I will chop stock fender and give it brushed steel look as best I can. New headlight will be flat black with chrome rim. My bike won't be eye grabber, but it will have an industrial look, and that is ok with this poor student... for now at least.

 

[Big_Al]

I wanted to sand blast frame, brake caliper, chain guard and stock brake rotor, but ran out of money. I had to compromise and try to sand off black powder coat from brake rotor. Considering my previous experience with sanding, I resorted to mechanical sander, a small detail sander actually. It worked ok, but there was still a lot of pitting with powdercoat still on rotor. I then busted out angle grinder with 80 grit. I wanted to use higher grit, but store was out of it, so I just used what I had. I had to be really careful with 80 grit, because it would cut alot of metal if I was not careful! I messed up a few spots as I got the hang of it. It turned out pretty good. To get the corners and pits, I used a fine plastic abrasive spinning wheel on electric drill. It did the job

 

[Big_Al]

all done on one side

 

[Big_Al]

Here is the other side after using detail sander only. Then after going over with angle grinder and then abrasive sanding wheel.

 

[Big_Al]

Now to yesterdays and today's work- chopping the fender. First I had to strip flat black paint off of fender using paint stripper. That stuff burns like an SOB if it gets on your skin.

 

[Big_Al]

then I needed to make a reference line for center. Used some twine tied very tightly around fender, then centered it as best I could by just looking at it from different angles. I'm starting not to be so anal with this stuff because I need to get moving. I traced the twine on both sides with sharpie to make sure my reference line doesnt move during process.

 

[Big_Al]

I used a cereal box as base for my new template. How short or long my new fender would be was dictated by the hole in the back of the stock fender. I believe a clip that holds the stock brake line went there. I cut out a section of carboard from the center to the hole. Then I cut slits along the sides of the carboard in order to have it conform to the curve of the fender. Then I taped them together after it fit snuggly against the fender. Afterwards, I outlined the bottom of the fender on the carboard and cut those parts out.

 

[Big_Al]

Now, for the corners. I cut out a separate square piece of spare cardboard and lined up two sides the flat parts of fender, then traced the curve of fender on to it. Then cut it. I used that corner template to trace and cut corners on my fender template. I then used the template to trace each side of fender with sharpie

 

[Big_Al]

I used cutting wheel to cut fenders, leaving about 1/4th of material in front of template line. I will use flap disc and block sander for later stages.

One side came out pretty good just with cutting disc, but the other side was mangled, hence why i gave myself some cushion space.

 

[Big_Al]

Now, I wanted a nice flat end on each fender. First I used the flap disc to smooth out the ends, then I busted out my block sanders that I bought years ago for a DIY car paint project that never came to fruition. Finally a use for them. I used 60 grit and wet sanded. Of course, the sanding area is so small that wet sanding was over kill and not that important, but I did it anyway. It helped to wash off the sanding bits and keep my template line in clear sight. I turned out pretty well. I used the angle grinder to trim the inside lip so that it would not be so visible from the front. The other side ended being a bit shorter than the other side because of the hole in the fender, which meant I had to cut it to the line to clear most of the hole. No matter, I will use the longer side towards the rear to keep as much water from splashing the engine as possible. The second side's corners are more round than the first, so I spent some time rounding off the other corners as well.

Since I am going to have a polished steel gas tank, I need to make the fender match. Unfortunately, the fender has dings in it, but since I don't have the luxury of painting it like originally planned, I need to make do. I used that abrasive sanding wheel to give it a brushed look. Since the fender seems to be an alloy, there are some weird markings underneath the brushed surface. I experimented with orbital sander and angle grinder on spare parts to see if I could shave down to that level, but nothing came out right, so I left the fenders as is. It doesn't look bad, and I will eventually paint it anyway one day.... Oh yeah, I also used a scuff pad to smooth it over as well.

 

[Big_Al]

In regards to my tail light, I bought a smoked led light that has built in turn signals. That will save me from fabricating mounts on shock absorbers. I like the look.

 

[Big_Al]

For the front turn signals, I am going to use amber LED strips. Not sure exactly how or where I will put it, but since they attach with 3m tape, it won't be a problem. That saves me time from fabricating from turn signal mounts.

 

[Big_Al]

The bike already had an LED relay, so I didn't have to buy one. The previous brake light was an LED as well.

 

[Big_Al]

Well damn, this show n tell session took up all my garage time for the night. So much for practicing welding. That will have to wait for tomorrow after I pick up hubs and forks. I hope they turn out well.