Project Cheap Racer

Hi Everyone,
This is a couple of first for me. One, this is my very first post on this website and two, this is my very FIRST bike and third, this is my very first bike project.
After searching for months for a bike that my wife would let me get (had to be no more than 500 bucks) I finally found this 83 Seca 750r for $600. After some dealing I got my first bike for $500.
So the plan is to make this thing a cafe racer but on a very tight budget (aka less than 200 bucks).
Nuff blah blah here is the before pics:


First thing first gotta get rid of the front fairing

Then I took the handlebars and flipped and reversed them

Next I took the exhaust, seat, tank and shocks off and hacked off the rear subframe and sat the bike down on a tire (which is exactly where I the height)

This is exactly how I wanted the riding position to be (I'm 5'11")

Well after all that I cleaned it up and painted the wheels, frame and engine satin black

(I know I missed a spot on the back wheel but its dark out)
So thats where I am with it now (ran out of sunlight). Oh did I mention I just got it last night and started work on it this afternoon?
I've got to find some shorter shocks for the bike, a round headlight, tail light, and signals and put it all back together.
I'm using the stock seat and going to chop it up to make a cafe seat out of it.
Let me know what you guys think. As this is my first project I am happy in the direction its going so far but seeing that I'm new to this any C&C's are welcomed.

 

Hey, was it running when you got it? Did you cutt up the airbox? If not I am sure you could sell it to offset some of the money. Save parts you do ot need and sell them. I am pretty sure people are always looking for stock airboxes.

 

Yeah it runs. I took the battery to the shop to get it charged but other than that it runs.
I am saving all the parts if anyone is interested (i.e. front fairing, headlights, rear tail light and cowl, turn signal)
I have the airbox but it looks like someone before me started to cut it out but gave up on it (i guess).

 

alright I could wait. I rattled up the tank and mounted it

 

good luck man, i absolutely love the look of a seca cafe racer. i want this to be my next bike i will be tuning into this thread often.

 

looks like a great start to a project, and I LOVE your Motorcycle Lift you got there.

 

:lol: like i said this is a tight budget and I gotta use what I got. just got lucky that its just the right size

 

just a lil update.
got a new headlight and just waiting on the foam so I can shape up my rear cowl and lay down fiberglass and paint.
here's how it looks now



hope to get the seat done by this weekend (fingers crossed)

 

I think that you hold the record for fastest build so far! I am 6 months into mine and I think you are further than me.

Looks good so far, I think that the seat will really help finish off the look. Pretty extreme position for those bars, it would be interesting to see a side view with someone sitting on it.

 

Just a bit of a hijack. Does anyone know why I can't see photos posted directly on the site as opposed to via a service such as photobucket?

I wanna see the pictures too!

Loren

 

Yeah its going by pretty quick and smoothly. I think whats making this so quick is that I'm doing this cheap and reusing a lot on the bike and things that I have sitting around and small stuff I find cheap at the store. So far with paint and everything else that I have bought for this thing cost is bout 50 bucks.
I will try to hook you up with some side pics tomorrow when I get off work.

 

looks great keep up the work!

 

not worried about the decreased lean angles caused by lowering the bike?

looks like you're off to a good start. i forsee alot of peg dragging in your future if you like the twisty's though.

 

His pics are not on this site. They're too big and not in those little boxes. Maybe where ever he's hosted them is blocked to you.

Good looking build. Where abouts in AZ?

 

Im down in Yuma. Its perfect riding weather all winter long. Where in Maryland are you from? I lived in Columbia for like a year. Froze my a** off one winter and thats all it took lol

 

Looks good so far, but invest $25.00 on a set of clubmans, any length of time riding with those stck bars flipped and your back will be killing you. :cry: Also, on the shorter shocks have an eye on rear tire clearance. Low may look cool until you hit a pot hole, bottom out, and you get a new tire mark on you butt cheeks. 8O

 

update:
got a lil farther with the seat and cowl. still a lot more shaping to do but she's coming along.




its coming along. i like how its turning out. its a great thing when whats in your head actually turns out. what do you guys think?

 

Looks great ! You are gonna have a lot of fun tearing around on this.

 

Are you going to finalize it into a cafe racer type? Fun looking project!

 

billb:yeah i cant wait to fire her up and blast down the road. im dying to hear what shes going to sound like with my setup. probably going to have to do some tuning when i get to that point though.

compress: yeah this is my take on a cafe racer. im loving the look with the short rear cowl.

 

Like Maxim-x said. Get clubman. I had a pair they are ok. I still have them on my bike, but I have them flipped upside down. You can find a cheap clubman off ebay. Mine are good, If I could remember the seller I got it off of I would tell you.

 

Looks alot like the direction I'm heading with mine. got a SECA tank coming in January (hopefully) and mine is a Midnight Maxim. Just be careful with splinters in your ass with that seat! ; )

 

i'm not to worried bout splinters. i'm going to wrap the seat/ center section with trimmed up piece of the original seat wrap. once i get it sanded smooth i'm laying down another layer of fiberglass, sanding some more and then prime and paint the other parts to match the tank.

 

Just for the record, that was a joke.

 

its all good. no worries

 

I prefer clip ons to clubmans, but it's just my opinion. I got mine for about $80 through ebay.

 

Ahh good point. On this bike clipons would be fitting.

Clubman were for my build. They arn't upright. I have flipped them.

 

I was thinking about clip ons before I even got the bike home and will probably be something I do later down the road when I get more money. Honestly though I do love the way the bike looks and feels. oh well if it kills my back (lol)

 

it been a crazy few weeks for me, had a death in the family and some other personal issues (and right around christmas time, sux). Well all is well now and I got to get back to working on the bike. ditched the old fiberglass seat I was making and tried my hand at some metal work.







alot more work to do but I happy to be working on my bike again

 

bet everyone in the neighborhood hates you when you ride off with no canister on the exhaust .

 

haha unfortunately i havent fired here up yet but i'm pretty sure i wont be making too many friends when im done

 

*forgot to add that i have also redid the wiring and made a new harness to get rid of a lot of wiring that i no longer needed and wired in a new fuse box. will pst pics later. hopefully i can get outta work early and put some more work into finishing my rear seat.

 

I hope that rear end works out for you.. I like it. It looks sweet.

 

its coming along alot better than the first one did and i have a cool idea for the tail light. what is it you ask? got to wait and see

 

Are you going to integrate new side panels into your seat that cover/connect to the old gas tank grommet hole and cover the battery/electronics?

 

i'm not sure. i was thinking about remounting the battery box and hiding the electronics to have that open space becuz i think that would look cool but im not sure where to mount everything yet. i'm not to big on the side panel look so i gotta figure something out, but for now i might just leave it how it is with the electronics secured to the battery box and frame.

 

small update:
got my rear cowl pretty much finished and painted (going to the shop to get some material for the seat) and mounted. installed my tail lights



still gotta wire everything up and should be done soon with this build. the anticipation is killing me. i cant wait to rip around town on this thing.

 

here's some day shots

 

alright! i got the wiring done and wrapped up. lights are working. now i just need to get some material for the seat (got some foam for it) and to figure out what the heck is causing this thing from starting (its really hurting my head). going to tackle that problem tomorrow when i get off work.



went with some different lights cuz after i hooked them up they weren't as bright as i thought they would be so i went with some that i tucked up under the rear. you can kinda see them during the day peaking out from under and at night it makes the rear glow (pretty cool)
sorry for the crappy camera phone pics

 

UPDATE:
cleaned out the carbs, placed a piece of filter foam in each small opening in the intakes, got a new fuel filter and put it all back together again. Turn the key, pushed the start button and..... SHE STARTED!!! And on the first try. I'm so stoked. going for a test ride tomorrow. everything sounded good. idled good and revs smoothly but see how she runs on the road. I will keep you guys informed

 

How did you fastened those in? Won't those get sucked in carbs?

 

Well the foam is pretty thick. I cut it a lil bigger than the opening and stuffed them in them (took a lil work). Highly doubtful that it will get sucked in.

 

Well added a lil tidbits to kinda finish her off. still need a seat and some adjustments on the carbs.





Rode her to work today and she ran pretty good. went to show a co-worker how she sounded and lucky me the battery is dead, AGAIN. well, no suprise really. it had been sitting for a week and i used it to check my electrical and failed attempts to start before i cleaned and fixed the carbs are probably the culprits. oh well, out to go get a charger lol

 

Do you have a new battery? Check to see if any of the wires are shorted together or to the frame, you could have a slight short draining the battery while its parked.

 

how long will it be before you get pulled over for the tail light. If memory serves correctly your tail light has to be visible from behind in the daylight no one can see it when you hit the brakes. In the pic looks like a red led under there. Doesn't matter to me but i would hate to see you get run over. The position you sit in a smart car might go right up your orifice lol but looks good perfect for touring

 

Personally i like the build. The colors and the whole vision you had on the bike is pretty cool. Not sure I would like the feel of the bars but looks cool enough.

Keep it up. I have enjoyed your progress.

Rob

 

i see the update looks a lot safer now

 

O&B: yeah its a new battery and i just bought a charger to make sure its fresh everyday. i also went through everything and found that the bolt to the rear of the coils (the the grounds connect to) was pretty loose. so that was an easy fix. see how it goes tomorrow

Cutlass: thought about that and was hoping you'd be able to see the lights but nope. so bought some new ones

there's two of them. one tail/ one brake

 

i can see them just did not want some old lady talking on the cell getting all her blue haired friends together heading to the i hop not to see you

 

yeah and this is the time of year for them with all the crazy, blue=haired, rv driving winter visitors in town its safety first