Cafe racer inspired build - First timer!

[Stevenjr93]

Hey folks, so this will be my official build thread. I'm brand new to motorcycles, this being my first bike I've ever owned and recently this year learnt how to ride. I have zero mechanical knowledge besides basic car maintenance; I'm learning as I go so bear with me when I ask lots of questions.

I bought an 83' xs650 from a fellow in Coquitlam, B.C. It had the tank removed, drag bars, and hadn't run in 5 years but was stored well in a dry garage. Picked it up for $1100; but unfortunately didn't take pictures. As soon as I got it I started to tear into it and started to plan my build. My inspiration:

So I immediately starting buying parts and lurking these forums on what to do to get it running. Luckily I've got a friend who's had 3 xs650's in the past and knows his stuff. I sent my carbs out to Carbsonics on here ( http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24570&highlight=carbsonics ) and no he didn't pay me to say this haha. He did a great job, they came back clean and shiny. Popped them on the bike, along with new spark plugs and it fired right up. Lucky for me, I could continue spending my money on parts!

Next I bought my Cafe seat, some random accessories and a rear seat loop. I started off by cutting off the rear end:

No going back now! Side note; I'm 19 years old building this in a 10x15ft space in my garage... parents weren't too thrilled when they saw parts of my bike being chopped off! For the greater good though...

All parts so far have been ordered from Dime City Cycles; apart from my exhaust(to come) from GordonScott on here. Next I ordered some clip-ons, speedometer, and some other small bits. I'll be taking alot more photos from now on to document progress.

From here, I left the bike alone for a month or so after running into car issues( bikes are alot simpler... so far.) After that month I ordered a straight pipe exhaust from GordonScott and my Cafe racer tank. I now regret the straight pipes, as they won't fit my final image of the bike so if your interested (preferable local) PM me. They are great quality though; shout out to xs650exhaust.com! Heres the bike mocked up:

And here we are today more or less. I've ditched the pipes, and will be figuring something out more cafe racer style ( and alot more quiet ). Just yesterday I borrowed a friends bike jack; and am stripping it down to the frame to figure out tank mounting, seat mounting, license plate, signals, lights, etc. Also contemplating a R6 fork swap to get a closer rendition of the first inspiration picture.

I'll be pulling the engine today and further cleaning up the rear end, mounts I wont be using etc, then getting a buddy to weld the rear hoop on once I figure out my seat.


I'll be adding to this thread as I progress and make changes; feel free to ask questions.. I know I'll be asking lots when I run into problems, start to rewire everything, etc.

Let me know what you think!

 

[jriehl08]

Good luck with the build and learning your bike. I like the pipes that came on your bike. You going to cut them up to make your café pipes or just order new ones?

 

[Stevenjr93]

I'm not a fan of the big cone mufflers; but the original ones on the bike were broken. So I'm thinking of getting some straight pipes that are baffled and shaped like this or something like this with a muffler...

 

[jriehl08]

theres a mac 2 -1 in the for sale area that would make a nice piece for your bike that you could fab up the tail part after the connect might be worth a look. sell off the muffler parts of it.

 

[Stevenjr93]

Hmm I'll take a look! I like many different styles of exhausts so it might be left till last to see what matches with the bike when it's mostly done.

 

[rusty rocket]

I like it!! keep up the good work young squire.

 

[Stevenjr93]

Thanks

It's going to look much more aggressive, I'll take a picture of what I mean when I get the engine out today. The seat pictured before (sagging in the picture) will be modified to be shorter, which will pull the back end closer to the tank and have a shorter tail. I don't think this changes anything frame-wise besides cutting part of the rear hoop on, but makes it look more sport-bike ish (see first picture again haha).

I'll make sure I get a picture this weekend with what I mean.

 

[angus67]

you might like the pipes if you got them ceramic coated black. as they are right now, they stick out like a sore thumb. cram some baffles, or put in a couple lollipops, see if you can quiet it down. I like the upswept pipes in the third bike. You sure like cb's. Why dont you get one?, other than price.

 

[jefft]

Those CB's do make good looking café bikes.
jefft

 

[Stevenjr93]

Haha honestly I don't have a preference, they all look pretty close when their done. Those just happen to be CB's I as well like the upswept pipes, perhaps I'll sell the pair I have, and re-order some upswept straight pipes, but with baffles this time?

Last hour or so... Any tips for getting the triple tree off? I don't have a socket big enough for the top bolt assuming that needs to be undone.

 

[angus67]

undo the pinch bolt first, that should release the bigger bolt enuf to use a crescent wrench carefully. Use the crescent correctly. its angled for a reason.

 

[Stevenjr93]

Awesome, thanks Angus67.

EDIT: Triple trees off now, frame is fully stripped! Time to clean it up and order my rear lights and anything else I'll need to make mounts for... now the hard part begins.

 

[jdizon]

Really diggin the Inspiration bikes! Keep up the momentum

 

[Stevenjr93]

Thanks jdizon. I love your builds! I'll have this done by next summer for sure... so I've got roughly a year. Everythings going to get powder coated, sand blasted, painted, what have you. This thing will be minty fresh by next year!

 

[Stevenjr93]

So I did a little playing around today, and decided to put the stock tank on there to see how it sits. I'm strangely liking it... I'm almost scared to say but maybe more than the Manx TT tank?

Now I'm second guessing everything and it's all apart so I can't get a proper look at everything... oh boy!

 

[Stevenjr93]

Decided to stick with the Manx TT tank after remembering I was halfway through grinding all the mounts off

These three mounts, what are they? I believe two are the rear fender mounts, but what it the one closest to the center of the frame?

Also I've ground off most of the tabs/mounts save for these three that I don't need. Do I need to sand them or anything if Im getting them powdercoated later; or do they do all the prep work?

 

[shotgunjoe]

You're correct, mud guard mount tabs, the other looks like the side cover mount tab.

 

[Stevenjr93]

Awesome, thanks. I'll take care of those tonight.

NEWS: I've completely switched directions on this project... again. This should be it's final design, I've already posted up some of my parts locally here(PM me in you live near Vancouver and are interested, Id rather not ship.(tank, pipes, side covers, bars, small stuff).

Design I will be replicating:

I'll be swapping out the tank for something similar to this, as well as swapping the forks to some R6 forks or something similar. I won't need much seat/frame wise so I'll spend the extra money and get some new rims(Are warp 9 any good?)

I want to do make my dream bike... if that means changing the design 6 times so be it!

 

[Sonnylynnvick75]

Warp 9 are great. My buddy races a supermoto bike with those on it

 

[Haalo]

Hey. I live just a ferry ride away from you. (and my brother's in Coquitlam). What kind of parts are you getting rid of?