beautiful cafe on the 'bay

probably one of the most beautiful xj cafes, built by a local (denver) builder. just thought I'd share.


Svenmiester xj cafe

 

eh

 

In the eye of the beholder I guess.

 

^^ What he said ^^

 

I thought it was a nice looking Cafe,but a different color would be better in my opinion. Wouldn't pay that much for it tho.

 

No front brakes, th ones that do most of th stopping..form way too far above function..you too can have your name next to a photo.. in th funeral notices.

 

Well to be fair it is a show bike not a daily rider, not only does it not have front brakes, the seats not padded either, obviously the goal was form over function.

Beauty is always a eye of the beholder thing. Personally I like this bike because it looks custom the tank and seat were not pulled off a shelf some where and were not supposed to be replica of some other bike. That kind of custom work always scores more points with me. However it's not too far from the original maxim. Throw the brakes back on I'd probably do a different tail light and you could ride it just as well as any other cafe on the forums.

I also think it's overpriced. But then again I would never buy a bike that was finished. I'd rather customize it myself.

 

My thoughts exactly. The term is "Cafe Racer" and where I come from any "racer" needs BRAKES. Not necessarily a seat but brakes.

Although why he didn't have a PAD custom-made for the seat I dunno.

Poser, not prodigy. And certainly not worth that kind of cash.

 

XNoctemNacimur you need to go to thechopperunderground.com and check out some of the work the guys are doing over there. I think you will find your among more like minded people over there.

 

XNoctemNacimur you need to go to thechopperunderground.com and check out some of the work the guys are doing over there. I think you will find your among more like minded people over there.

 

while i agree that it looks nice, it's just a simple cafe, anyone on here could do that, and not worth 2500.

Fitz, how many dirt track racers do you see with front brakes? and drag racers are pretty minimal on brakes too

 

It's hard to tell, but did they shave the mounts for the calipers??
If so, they ruined it for the next guy (the "winner")

But - it's not overpriced- - it's what the market will bear today.

 

But it's not a "dirt tracker" replica, it's supposed to be a cafe racer.

Anyway, you're right and simple is the operative word. I took a closer look, it has pods but the stock exhaust; then I really read the list of "special" items--

It's all just a cosmetic bolt-on "special" no real work has been done at all. I don't see any high-performance mods beyond the pods, like suspension or... never mind about brakes. Not even some zooty shocks.

The guy will probably get his $2500.

 

but what has been bolted on is custom made which in my opinion is work, I'm not quite sure how you define work. maybe if it was molded on rather than bolted?

I think the tank seat and covers that were made look great, i'd love to build a more functional street bike and put those on there, probably do some spokes and the dual front calipers like the red one that pops up on here.

once again its not a functional cafe racer as originally stated its form over function, it is a cafe racer inspired show bike, the goal was to make it look as clean and stripped down as possible and striping the front brakes did clean up the front end.

either way, I'm not trying to change your mind, you dont like it, you dont like it. but to judge it because a show bike not a race bike is kinda silly.

 

This isn't being sold as a show bike, but a street legal, title-in-hand, ridable bike with a tune-up and new tires. And some of us are judging it to be unsafe, that's all.

 

+1 on that !! Gorgeous Cafe Racer style build...

 

I see a nice pub crawling city rocket !!!

 

City Rocket? Have you ever stopped your XJ from say, 45mph using only the rear brake?

What was the stopping distance compared to stopping with both brakes from the same speed?

Riding that thing in the city would be suicide.

Its pretext is "function over form" which is correct for a Cafe Racer. But then it lost a whole bunch of very important functionality. And its creds as a "Racer" in the process.

If it had a really cool set of lacy front rotors and some quad-piston calipers, along with a massive fork brace if it's to be run with no front fender, then I might be impressed.

 

I think it's a really good looking bike, but have to agree about the front brakes. They are pretty much a necessity if you wanna stop an xj in a reasonable distance. I put brand new shoes on my rear and hardly ever use them. I seriously brake with the front only about 75-85% of the time and virtually 100% in city/stop&go situations.

 

I guess it depends on how you read it, I read it as a show bike that comes with magazine articles that it's featured in. It also has a clean title so you could register and ride it if you want. How ever that is at your own risk. Besides that if you want the dual disks you'd have to swap out ther fork any way since this is a maxim.

 

What is it? Its not street legal, its not a show bike, its not a cafe racer, its not a salt flat racer. It is however neat looking bike but looks to me that someone listed a bike on Ebay and has his buddies bidding on it to run the price up and they went to far and are now stuck with it. Thats just my opinion

 

Not everyone drives balls out 24/7.
Im just saying that it looks clean. Putting safety concerns aside, this is a TRUE head turner.
Yes, the negative points have been covered. Lets enjoy it for what it really is. Bike ART !!! I think the guy put much thought and joy into his bike build and did a fine job. Id love to see other projects that he has done.
I LIKE IT !!

 

Bill the builder has a website
http://www.svenmeisterhardcorekustoms.com/

 

Thanks,
Looks like the guy has some imagination.

 

And as far as being art you know if some one takes a Pastrami sandwich and draws a smiley face on it and calls it art, I still want to eat it cause thats what I think a Pastrami sandwich is for

 

This is the new on the ebay post. So, if you are not too stupid... some assembly required or not required depending on your braking needs.

On Nov-26-10 at 07:13:54 PST, seller added the following information:
I did get several questions why SHK built a fast bike with rear brake only...some people don't have to call me names! Svenmeister built this with a retro lightweight Drag Racer/ Salt Flats Racer in mind. Most of SHK's bikes ended up somewhere on display and are rarely used. This bike handles and brakes just great as it is...I think if somebody isn't a expierienced, responsible rider they could kill themselves on a 30mph moped...

Anyways, I will include the winning bidder the complete stock disc front brake assembly incl. handlle,master and lines ready to bolt on (if requested) for no extra fee.



Please free to ask any questions, but please keep your thoughts to you if they come over in bad language!

 

You can not learn imagination.

You can learn how to make a stock bike stock.

hahahaha

 

Dont get mad Bill you can have half the sandwhich

 

as long as its a Reuben.

 

has to have mustard then

 

thousand Island...
.......dont knock it till you try it.

 

My $.02:
I'm the type of guy always trying to get into someone's head; what he thinks, who he is, what his thought process is. With that said, I am going to assume the guy built this bike to make a few bucks with his target audience being some RUB type fellow. Nobody who wrenches on bikes is going to buy an already modified bike, nor are they going to pay $2500 for that one. It's also a safe bet that nobody who races bikes will buy this, although you should never really underestimate the stupidity of the general population. So the builder is looking for the weekend warrior/bike night rider who just happens to be into "vintage" and "period correct" because the Wild Hogs/Harley thing is beat to death now. The new owner will say, "look what I bought" to his other RUB buddies, ride it to bike night once a week down at the local Hooters. Never will he be splitting lanes, redlining the tach or even riding alone. He will always have a pack of fellow RUBs with him. They will use the dealership sponsored safe rider course hand signals and group riding procedures and he will never even get close to needing a front brake. Nor would he know how to put the front brake on that the builder is offering to throw in if requested. Let him buy his bike in peace so he can be the coolest RUB on his block til the next "vintage" bike on EBAY is bought by his buddy. And let the builder cash his $2500 check in peace without feeling guilty. See, everybody is happy, at least until he lays the bike over and the missus makes him sell it...to one of his RUB friends of course.