bensalf's 4 year caferacer build

This makes me want to take my bike apart ten times over and scrub with a nylon toothbrush until everything is spotless>.< I wish I had these tools! Awesome work mate

 

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thanks for your comments

having some problems with photobucket at the mo, I may have used up my allotted space,
although it says I have only used 28 %? be back soon!!
stu

 

onto the airbox now.
I wanted to keep the area at the back of the engine , under the seat, as clear as possible ,to create that open look, that is recognised as a café racer.
but at the same time didn't want to go down the "pod" route.
so I made provisions to house all the electrics in a shallow underseat tray, and to move the battery back into the seat "hump".
so next to modify the airbox, to make it smaller and much shorter.
so I cut the air filter housing ,away from the airbox.

enlarged the hole to take a circular filter

this filter is for a Honda 90------oh well ---nothing ventured.

enlarged the hole in the filter to allow more air

 

made a plate to mount the filter to the airbox

here's the filter mounted inside the airbox

plate cut out and mesh and venturi fitted

stu

 

here's the modified airbox sprayed up and fitted in frame
with filter about to be screwed in


here's the airbox all finished with venture fitted

incase you're wondering where I got the venturi,
its -----er-------- a cooling fan venturi ,from inside an old computer tower system
stu

 

next the under seat tray to house the electrics, these will be .......
battery, tci unit, reg/rectifier unit, battery isolator, card reader ignition , fuse box, ignition relay, voltage regulator for card reader. and starter solenoid
also rear reservoir for rear brake ,and tool space.
obtained some 1.5mm alloy plate


here's the tray polished and bent to shape with corners welded up, cut outs for frame tubes done

 

here it is in the early stages, test fitted to frame, also added the small alloy angle, for the seat rails.

researched the sizes of batteries and amp/hour ratings on the "yuasa" website, and made a block of wood ,the same size as the battery will be, as a test fit for the seat to fit over

stu

 

You are making the winter easier to bear.

 

ha,ha, yes I'm already well into my # 2 xj600.

stu

 

back to the tray, here it is with the seat hinged back over, the battery-- er---block of wood, and concealing the tray.

and here it is on its final fit

here's the tray , later , filled with the gummings.


stu

 

now , onto the exhaust and footrest hangers.
this is the original pig-iron hanger, so I decided to move the footrests back, and up ,to make the caferacer position easier with the
new clipon and lowered handlebars, to give the laid down look.
so the hangers had to go.

I mocked up some hangers out of white conti-board. to try the position.
also I bought 4 shorty silencers, so I could have 4 stainless steel exhaust pipes custom made, into a 4 into 4 system




at this , I loaded up the bike, and took it 80 miles to a firm of stainless steel fabricators to have the 4 pipes made.
they had the bike over a month, as they are normally out on site ,making stainless steel pipes for the food industry.
bikes are their spare time work.
eventually collected the bike with the pipes fitted, all pipework was tucked underneath the bike as instructed.




stu

 

Hey now...those hangers are made from the highest quality pig-ALUMINUM.

 

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Hey now...those hangers are made from the highest quality pig-ALUMINUM.
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quite right!!----- but they're piiiiiiiiiiiig ugly
stu

 

I obtained some 10mm alloy plate from a local scrap metal dealer," quite cheap".
after reshaping the wooden hangers I made, and working out where the pivot point should go for the gear linkage and brake pedal, I marked the shape out onto the plate.


first test fit on r.h. side

extra holes drilled and started to polish up

here it is fitted ,with brake pedal and master cylinder fitted and footrest bracket and exhaust bolted on.

l.h. side, with pivot hole for gear linkage ,footrest bracket and exhaust hanger

stu

 

now for the gear linkage, as I moved the footrests backward and upward, then the original lever would not reach my foot.
heres the original set up

note the lever moves on a dummy shaft and is not fitted directly on the splines.
so I needed a longer linkage, and also to keep the linkage away from my foot I needed a lever with the pivot on top.
I managed to find one on ebay , from a Kawasaki gp500, that was the correct orientation, and length, also it meant the gears were still in the original place.
i.e. 1 down and 5 up

cleaned up the lever and had the linkage rechromed

result.
stu

 

onto the chain guard, which is a bland plastic one.

 

Stunning work!

 

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thank you for your comments, apologies for some of the blurry pictures.

decided to make a new chainguard form ally plate.

marked out the shape of the plastic one ,onto the plate ,and cut it out.


drilled some holes along the length, and bent it to shape.

wired the bent bit at the end, and had it ally welded up

 

polished up and fitted.


stu

 

next onto the oil cooler. matrix was pretty well mashed up

split a clothes-peg in half ,and shaved the ends down, and began the painstaking task of straightening each fin out,


nearly there


done what I could, and sprayed up

also found out the oil cooler pipe ends are brass!!, polished these up

made a mesh guard for the front of the cooler


stu