A Scottish XJ550 Cafe/streetfighter'ish racer...

Hi,
new to the forum & would like to say hello to everyone & what a great site you have here.
I only picked up a XJ550 the other week & already started modifying it hopefully into a cafe 1982 model & was found as a basket case that had literally been left in baskets with only the rolling chassis been intact. Once checked out it seemed all was in order & everything present for a standard bike with the added bonus of having a complete & good condiiton 4-1 chrome exhaust.. I was chuffed with my purchase.

So far I have removed the rear subframe & the various brackets that are attached to it as I am planning on a monoshock conversion for a kick off probably using the original swingarm with the appropriate part welded on top & using either a R6 or LC shock. A FZR400 seat pad has been chosen to park my backside onto which wil be modded a tad as its a bit short.
17" spoke wheels are planned laced to a XT550 rear hub & a Honda CB750 front as I had this one lying around in the garage so I may aswell use it.
Here's the progress so far , sorry no photos of before I started cutting it up into pieces.
Before & after with the frame

then some seat options
or
I like the idea of reusing the original tailunit but the new one I made up in sheet metal kinda works to although it has still to be completed. Opinions are grateful on that one.
Here is my XT550 hub already drilled ot look the cafe racer bit & fitted to the swingarm & Im only needing to make up a small spacer to have it centred. 8)

Excuse the mess in the garage, too many projects & not enough room.
Cheers
Col.

 

Halo colxj66-you are certainly at the right place! Very interesting project there. Keep posting the pics of your progress, cant wait to see the end result. Good luck!

 

Here's some inspiration.....

 

I was thinking about using an XT500 hub to convert a 550 Seca to wire spoke wheels. However, the XJ has a cush drive in the rear hub; the XT/TT does not (although the sprockets are the same size.)

Then another member said he was going to use a rear hub assembly from an XV250 Virago, which has the same size sprocket as well, and guess what? The 250 Virago rear hub has a cush drive in it.

If I were to lace up a different rear hub for an XJ550, it would have to have a cush drive in it, like the bike did to begin with.

Just a thought.

 

Thanks guys.
I'll keep you all posted on how I progress with it.

Bigfitz. The XT550 rear hub has a proper cush drive aswell, that was one of the reasons for choosing it. Mine hasn't any rubber at the moment but on the look out for some.

Cheers
Col.

 

I may be a little out there but I was just thinking. At first, I liked the look you got going with the brake hub. I even considered the effect if I were to duplicate the look on my own bike. I then though, what if some water gets trapped in there. You know, didn't cover it or got caught out in the rain? Surely, it couldn't be to good. Ha, then my mind went right to bees and hornets! How angry will they be if they make the pore decision of bedding down in your hub! OUCH! Anyway, I still like the look, just a few thoughts...

 

I'm with Prince on the drilled hub, I know the early pre-unit Triumphs had a scoop vent on the front hub, but your idea is novel.

 

Rain?? When does it ever rain in Scotland?? :lol: :lol:
You both are correct & to be honest I'm not that concerned really due to the holes letting water in it will also let it out.
I used to race a Suzuki T20 & both hubs front & rear were drilled more extreme than the XT hub & it didm't effect the braking when racing. I forgot to mention that I'm fitting a 300mm Aprilia front disc with an EXUP 4 pot caliper to the front so that will take up any issues that I may have with the rear drum being drilled......................I hope. :wink: The bike will be lighter than standard so the one disc/4 pot set up will match if not better the standard set up.

Had a wee run round to my local breakers today & picked up a few things for the XJ.. The XT550 rear swinger, GPX600 rearsets & a rear shock for an LC.
So once home out came the grinder & of came the top of the XT swinger, clamped it to the XJ swinger & cable tied the LC shock to it all to see what it's gonna look like...
What do you think??


Need to tidy both swingers up a bit then it will be all welded together which will then let me get the shock mounted to the frame. 8)

Cheers
Col.

 

Hey colxj66
If you want to take a look at a really good Cafe' forum go to http://caferacer.net/index.html
Now, just be forewarned that the guys on that forum do not hold anything back when it comes to new people signing on.
So, go hang out there for a while without posting any questions and see what you think. Then use their search function for any questions you may think of asking. Next, and this is a big next, when you do register fill out your 'Bio" as much as possible, then give yourself a proper introduction. Don't go on there with a first post that goes, "Hi, I want to build a Cafe bike out of this, what should I do"?
They will verbally tear you to shreds!
But if you go on there and say who you are, where you're from, what kind of building experience you have, IE mechanical skills, fabrication skills, previous builds etc, they may, MAY be a bit nicer to you.
These guys are racers, builders, collectors etc. and to them, Cafe is a way to get the most out of a bike be it speed, handling etc.
Don't go on there and say you've got a bike that you are putting clubmans, loud pipes, painting it flat black and putting checkerboard decals on.
I know this may sound a bit daunting, but if you get in good and get on well, these guys are to Cafe' what this site is to XJ's.
Another site is http://www.dotheton.com/ Now some of these guys build nice bikes, but a lot do the above, throw on a set of clubmans, paint the whole bike flat "rattle can" black, put on some stickers and call their bikes Cafe' racers, a lot of them are "posers" to some, which is frowned heavily upon by the other forum. (Cafe' Racer.net)
So, check them out, do a lot of reading of there various posts, then when you're ready, register and have a go with your questions.
Regardless, of how it goes with the other guys, welcome to the forum and keep us posted on the progress of the build (as in lots of pictures) I'm a visual learner. :roll: :wink: :wink:

 

Hi Maxim-X
thanks for the advice..I've had a bit of a skulk around the cafe racer site previously like you have suggested..
So if I say that I have raced a bit myself & built a few race winning bikes in my time do you think I may qualify to be on "their site"??
Maybe I could show them a few photos like this..
Would that help??
Scottish Classic 250 championship winning bike I built that with me riding it ..
Cheers
Col.

 

In a word, yes. You've probably seen some of the stuff on their site then, and the characters that haunt it so you know what I say when they can be a bit "Harsh" on some of the new guys!
UKTony has done some incredible builds and shown his work, so with your building abilities and the pics to back you up.....I'd still say you'll get some (good natured ) bashing just because you're a Scot! J/K LOL!!

 

'Twarnt just the pre-unit Trumpies, my '72 500 had the scoop on the front drum too.

It had a SCREEN in it...

Just a thought, from a guy who had his weedwacker killed by mud-dauber wasps that built their nest in the muffler opening; coincidentally, just about the same size holes you've drilled there.

There're a lot of old farts here; and some of us have turned a wheel "in anger" in the past as well; my experience has been primarily with British twins.

Nobody here (ok, almost nobody) is critical just to be critical, and some of us speak from experience.

I think the holes are silly, too. Not well thought out. Sorry.

 

"I think the holes are silly, too. Not well thought out. Sorry."

Oh dear.. This may mean 90% of the Classic racing guys over here with drums should've thought about drilling their hubs before doing so.... Don't think I should be worrying about the hornets or wasps making camp in my hub either.. :lol: :lol:

Anyway, I've been working on the my wee 550 never the less & made up the rear tail unit, strengtened the subframe, sourcing a 17 front wire wheel so I can use the hub & welding up the swing arm.
Heres the photo's....


Still to finish the seat towards the tank but wanted to get the tail unit done first.

The above photos are with a clamp holding the swingarm together before doing this...

Welding the top half of the XT550 arm onto the XJ unit.. Still to finalise the position of the top shock mount as it's sitting a touch to high at the rear for my likeing.

Cheers
Col.

 

Hey Col. looks good so far. I noticed in pics 4 and 5 that with the position of the clip-ons will there be any clearance issues when turning the bars lock to lock?
Are the pics just for mock up, or do you intend to 1: adjust the position later, 2: reposition and weld the stops on the head, or 3: they work fine in situe and I'm just jangling on? :roll:
The rear set up, if that's the way you're leaving it looks like it will put a lot of weight transference forward, which should make the bike turn in really quick, any chance of dropping tha back end with (easy) a shorter mono, or (harder) repostioning the lower shock mount a bit further back so as to even out the geometry a bit.
I know you've already got it welded up, but the back does look a a bit extreme, in the pics anyway. Just thinking that if the upper pivot were moved forward a bit, and the lower moved down a bit it would settle the bike down and take some of the angle out of the rear swinger
as compared to the one in this pic where the angle is not as extreme
Just sayin'.

 

Hi Maxim,

this is just a bit of a mock up at the moment to see how it all sits withthe shock & bars.
The bars don't hit the tank on full lock at the moment but yes you are correct I will be altering the position as well as welding up the stops to limit the lock to lock as they are close even though not touching.

I haven't welded the topshock mount to the frame yet in those photos so I can/will lower the rear of the bike to make it more acceptable & similar to the blue XJ. Nice looking bike that one & the bike that started me on this project. The top mount is held on with cable ties at the moment so not nearly strong enough for any weight to be put on it :lol:
With it still wearing the 18" rear wheel the bike will sit a bit lower once I build & fit the new 3.00x17" rear to match the front.


Still a bit to go.
Thanks for the comments.

Col.

 

Yeh, that blue beastie is a nice bit of inspiration, To be sure!

 

A little bit more done to my cafe racer project tonight.
Lowered the rear slightly for the final position of the monoshock after getting info from Bigfitz regarding the frame rail height from the ground.
Cheers Fitz.
Here is the shock mount welded into the top frame rails. Only welded the top at the moment & may weld more bracketry when I strip the frame later.


Once I was happy with the shock mount I made up the rearset mounts & trial fitted the rearsets themselves being held on with some mole grips.. Position feels comfortable enough for now.

The rearsets are from a Kawasaki GPX600. The bolts holes will be drilled tomorrow for a more permanent fixing..

Cheers
Col

 

Morning,
rolled the 550 out into the sunshine 8) this morning to see how it looked from a distance rather than squeezed in my single garage.
The final seat height now I'm sure, shouldnt be as aggressive on the front as the previous posiotion.



Cheers
Col.

 

Hi there!

Really like the bike it looks to be going well, my dad had a 1980 Yamaha XJ550 between 1988-1992 great bikes. You have already posted a pic of that blue 550 café but didn’t know if any one had see the vid so her it is! Keep up the good work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6WDE4pZwWM

 

Sorry to dig up old posts...

But the XT500 rear wheel DOES have a cush drive.

Just so you all know :wink: