Old school bikes - redone & awesome - cafe racers

[zukracer]

So I caught a glimpse of a bike while writing some blogs and followed it back to the guy's main page. Followed it back up from that to a new group on Facebook dedicated to old school bikes being redone in various ways, mostly cafe racer style but others as well. Well they have finally gone live with a site dedicated to bikes, old school etc. I know we have all followed various builds here people have done, most recently Doyle's cafe racer hayabusa It was his bike that sorta sparked the thoughts to do something similar but perhaps with a different base bike.

I thought I'd share the link, its not a competitor to the Org in anyway but since we are all gear heads and many of us have a fondness for old school bikes, I thought you all might enjoy this one

Here's the bike I saw that sorta started me down the path of thinking "wow that could be nice to do something like that...."

The guy that did this bike did a pretty good job of blogging along the build and perhaps if anyone was looking for a cafe racer or what goes into the conversion this is a good read

Moto-Mucci

The new site is Iron & Air | Two wheels move the soul They have a number of write ups on old school bikes and cafe racer redo's. Seems like a pretty good place and like I said its pretty new so not a ton of content but still pretty cool stuff

 

[StromBusa]

luv it

 

[frisbee]

Saw this one a couple months ago . A kid was riding it , probly messed up by now

 

[zukracer]

Saw this one a couple months ago . A kid was riding it , probly messed up by now

One of my all time favorite bikes, the early 90s red, white and blue CBRs both the 600 and 900. If I found myself with the money and a good one came up for sale I'd have one

 

[BusaBret]

Love that Honda, Zukracer

From my dunce stool :cookoo:

 

[zukracer]

Love that Honda, Zukracer

From my dunce stool :cookoo:

did you go check out the other pix of it? I found a few of them online but folks want entirely too much for them to justify doing something similar to that...though I'm tempted

 

[BusaBret]

did you go check out the other pix of it? I found a few of them online but folks want entirely too much for them to justify doing something similar to that...though I'm tempted

No Sir I did not....not yet. I would love to have a project like it though.

From my dunce stool :cookoo:

 

[smac]

Very cool old school.

 

[AJAY]

Here's the bike I saw that sorta started me down the path of thinking "wow that could be nice to do something like that...."

The guy that did this bike did a pretty good job of blogging along the build and perhaps if anyone was looking for a cafe racer or what goes into the conversion this is a good read

Moto-Mucci

The new site is Iron & Air | Two wheels move the soul They have a number of write ups on old school bikes and cafe racer redo's. Seems like a pretty good place and like I said its pretty new so not a ton of content but still pretty cool stuff

While technically innovative, that CX500 never was a thing of beauty.... until the modded version above was born. Really nice job on a really challenging motorcycle.

 

[karnage]

I am looking for an RZ350 or 500 to restore and wouldnt mind finding the rotary engine suzuki RE-5 for fun.

 

[AJAY]

I don't want to get too trick with my '82 1100E, but I really like the mods on this one, especially the wire wheels. I'd put those on mine if I could figure out how to do it without them costing more than I have in my bike now!

 

[zukracer]

I don't want to get too trick with my '82 1100E, but I really like the mods on this one, especially the wire wheels. I'd put those on mine if I could figure out how to do it without them costing more than I have in my bike now!

guess thats the trick to doing this kinda thing, relative value vs net worth to you to have it just the way you want

 

[Jacobs]

Some pretty cool looking bikes. Over the summer, we get a lot of guys that stop in with some cool little retro projects like these

 

[raydog]

Great topic Brian! Every so often I scan my own old Kodak pics of my previous bikes for inspiration. Actually, they all influence me in my project Busa BUT the singlemost motorcycle I've owned that blazes the path is a 1980 Yamaha XS 1100 I bought new in 1980 and modified it over 25 years! It ended up being 1230cc's with NOS, 36mm flatslides, frame and suspension redesign, on and on....never could have produced it in one summer but over two decades I did! Quite the sad day when it and associated boxes of parts left my garage for an owner in Sacramento.
Anyways, the whole American Cafe craze RIGHT NOW is gaining steam and, by nature, is a bike one keeps and develops...a trend that is profoundly contrary to the "I need a new model with all the new technology so I can reign supreme in my social group" mentality espoused by the motorcycle press and manufacturers.
Admittedly, a guy as old as me has an easier path to this corner of motorcycling because I owned and lived with all that earlier excitment in motorcycle high performance culture, BUT, that doesn't mean I'm able to enjoy it today at a higher level than young folk currently getting into it! For example, I know a college student that works at the bicycle shop I train at that just inherited a 1970 Honda 750cc k-1 with 7k miles on it(stored for 30 years) and he can't sleep at night he's so enjoying "bringing it down and transforming it into a full cafe". It's so fun for me to kind of "be an advisor" to him.
I think it's a wonderful social/cultural "new" movement in our sport.
Anyways, that Yamaha XS 1100 of mine, driveshaft and all, went by many much lighter scooters in it's day, just like the Busa does in 2012, that's the DNA connection that's so strong for me. Doyle

 

[Lucid]

Damn, that XS looks awesome! I'd ride that every single day!

Here's a KZ650 I was working on until this girl fell in love with it and convinced me to sell it to her.

May do a Honda or Moto Guzzi next, who knows.

 

[ky busa]

nice bikes!

 

[Tony Nitrous]

One of mine:

Shortened seat and subframe, high bars, rear-set pegs,
loud pipe, big bore motor, 18" wire wheels (in early GSXR size)
braided lines, Busa brake master cylinder, cut down seat, etc etc etc....

ImageShack Links Do Not Work

 

[raydog]

One of mine:

Shortened seat and subframe, high bars, rear-set pegs,
loud pipe, big bore motor, 18" wire wheels (in early GSXR size)
braided lines, Busa brake master cylinder, cut down seat, etc etc etc....

ImageShack Links Do Not Work

That is beautiful! Here's a couple I had, why I sold em, stupidity! They both had shocks, s/s lines, needle bearing swingarms, Gerex ignitions (remember those?) etc.
I really couldn't say weather I enjoyed the Suzuk or Kawi more, I think they both ran in the low 11's.

 

[zukracer]

Hey Doyle, I had reached out to the guys at iron and air to get permission to share the links here (they had not officially launched the site yet) and mentioned your build to them, just to say someone had made a cafe bike from a busa, I did not share specifics. They suggested that I have you contact them That probably holds true for all you hooligans that have done some of these builds, they are starting out the site and I'm sure would love to hear from folks

 

[raydog]

Hey Doyle, I had reached out to the guys at iron and air to get permission to share the links here (they had not officially launched the site yet) and mentioned your build to them, just to say someone had made a cafe bike from a busa, I did not share specifics. They suggested that I have you contact them That probably holds true for all you hooligans that have done some of these builds, they are starting out the site and I'm sure would love to hear from folks

OK, I'm 10 days away from completion! I'll email them. Thanks, Doyle