RobbieRobot Cafe Racer Project in pictures

Setting the spare head valve clearances on the bench.

 

I was looking at that exhaust stud repair - i caught myself wondering if you shouldn't hit that steel insert you made with a punch in a few places (peen) to force some thread interference to allow easier stud removal down the road? Just a thought.. If it comes out and you torque it down to a different spec, the threads might not line up properly with the aluminum threads.. at least enough to cut into them a bit..

 

Good thinking Pr0zac. I'll definitely do that. Thanks.

 

That is the most beautyful well designed XJ café, I have ever seen!
Fantastic work and energy!

 

Thank you jrutgers. Your comment is very encouraging.

 

Been fascinated reading/following this thread. I do have a spare XJ 750 in the shed that I would like to mod something very similar to your bike, but I need to first complete another restoration XJ 750 project that I have in progress at the moment. What year Darmah tank is that? I read in he thread tha it has been modified by the previous owner. Did this increase the fuel capacity by much?
Cheers
Phil

 

Thanks Phil. I'm afraid I don't know much detail about the tank other than it's originally from a Darmah but was modified to increase capacity to. 4.5 UK gallons. PO originally posted it on eBay but withdrew it when he realized it was modified. I persuaded him to let me buy it. When he saw what it was for he told me he had always loved XJ's and so only asked for £20. I couldn't believe my luck. Just chilling in the Algarve for a few days at the moment. Cheers. Rob.

 

Chilling in the Algarve, that's an oxymoron, surely.

 

Well I'm back from a refreshing break in Portugal and straight back in the garage.

Spare head prepared for painting.

 

Spare head in etch primer.

 

Old head coming off whilst paint dries.

 

Spare head finish painted in silver.

 

Cylinder block being prepared to receive refurbished head.

 

Refurbished head in position.

 

The fitting of the refurbished head didn't go entirely problem free. I fitted new gaskets (both cylinder head and cam chain tunnel) but on initial torque-down it became apparent that there was a gap around the cam chain tunnel area. I removed the head again and realized that there was a significant difference in thickness between the head gasket and the tunnel seal gasket despite both being supplied in the same sealed kit. The tunnel gasket was about twice the thickness and was not compressing anywhere near enough. On close inspection I decided to discard the new tunnel seal gasket and refit the original one due to them being the same thickness and the fact that the original tunnel gasket was in excellent condition. New oil gallery seals and copper washes were used and everything was torqued up successfully. A compression test was next giving the following results. 1-135psi 2-115psi 3-115psi and 4-110psi. A re-check of the valve clearances proved a wise move as both no 3 and no 4 exhaust and inlet required re-shimming to bring them into spec despite having already done it on the bench. The exhaust and carbs were then fitted and by yesterday evening she fired up with minimum choke and sounded sweet. Next step is to vacuum sync the carbs and colortune. This should be far easier now because the spark plug threads are in perfect condition as opposed to the badly damaged threads in the head that has just been removed.
I have to say I am disappointed in the compression test results (mainly the variation) and adding a little oil to no 4 did significantly improve it, however as the engine ran ok before, I decided to carry on and finish the job and hopefully get it running reliably for the summer then I will be able to concentrate on performing a very extensive overhaul of the complete spare engine for future use. I guess that will be a project in itself but based on the inspection I've carried out so far it looks very promising.

 

Bravo!

CN

 

Still at it ! Keep up the good work. Love the fact you're not slowing down

 

Can't slow down when totally addicted.

 

Last Wednesday evening I rode my XJ 650 Café Racer over to a local pub to meet my friend and other members of the Tees, Wear and Tyne Triples club. A rather large gentleman on a lovely BSA rocket 3 powered Norton, known as a Nocket 3, (very similar to the one pictured below) also attended and parked very close to my bike. After a very enjoyable evening the Nocket 3 owner went to leave and began attempting to kick start his bike with his right foot whilst standing on the foot peg with his left foot. I wouldn't like to hazard a guess as to the combined force being transmitted through the side stand suffice to say that it snapped like a carrot resulting in said large gentleman and aforementioned Nocket 3 crashing against my bike and knocking it over so breaking their fall. Due to the fact that it was dark by the time the incident occurred I wasn't able to assess the damage until I arrived home. On close inspection I got away fairly lightly with a ripped seat, gouged right side engine cover, bent right side clip-on and cracked bar-end mirror. I contacted the large gentleman the following day and he apologised and offered to pay for the damage.

 

Nice day for a ride today. About 100 miles covered and she is running beautifully. The bike's 100% record is still intact for attracting total strangers during refueling. Each time the different guys have enquired about the bike and congratulated me on her looks. It's a nice feeling.

 

Just dug this photo out. It's me on my trusty Honda CB750K2 back in 1976.

 

f*** YEAH ^

 

My parents have engagement party photos printed on that exact same kind of paper, with the rounded edges. I'm not meaning to point out an age gap, but rather let you know that I was guessing 1975 before I read "1976" just by the texture on the photo. Pretty cool! Hopefully no one will ever guess the year of a picture of me by the quality of jpeg compression or the pixel sampling rate.

 

Your powers of observation are astounding. I wouldn't rule anything out regarding what may or may not be possible in the future. 'The times they are a changing'

 

Upon re-reading my post, I want to point out that the "Pretty cool!" was in reference to your picture itself. It was not me trying to sound like a blowhard looking for a pat on the back. That's what the rest of the post was for.

 

Heck ! I hope you kept those flares tucked to your socks/boots while riding..
Nice pic all the same 'satin finish' hmm..

Best

james

 

Cheers James. I used to wrap the flares around my shins (a couple of times) to get them into my boots as can be verified by the creases. We'd set up camp in Scarborough near Oliver's Mount for the road races. Barry Sheene v Mick Grant was always the highlight. Yes! Satin finish. Probably trueprint ha ha!

 

This is the result of not using petrol/gas resistant lacquer. Re-spray required. Lesson learned.

 

Aaargh ! They say 2 pack is teh only real solution for this problem and it seems that you can get it in an aerosol which has the catalyst in a can within a can..

Olivers Mount eh ? will make it up there some day. In the meantime off to the I-O-M next week for a few days. Me on a 79 A100 and my bro on a 78 CZ250. Maybe the XJ in a year or two. Just picked up an 80s vintage Alfa (Micron) exhaust for it - a replica of one I had in the 80s...
Cheers

James

 

Tank rubbed down ready for paint.

 

Tank in etch primer.

 

Tank painted and and lacquered in fuel resistant lacquer.

 

Pin stripes going on.

 

Pin stripes done.

 

Back on the road.

 

On the road again.

 

You make it look so easy! Looking good!

 

40 years ago today my dad bought me a Yamaha SS 50 identical to this. The SS stood for Sixteener Special. It was one year old and cost £120. I had to pay him back at £10 per month. Forty years ago tomorrow on 5th June 1974 I was legally entitled to ride it on the open road with no training whatsoever. I got up, did my paper round on it, then went to school on it and sat my maths O-level exam with thoughts only of riding out on the country roads. Happy days!

 

In that case, happy 56th tomorrow!

 

Thank you.

 

Last Wednesday I had a ride over to the Lake District via Alston to Pooley Bridge then on to Windermere via Kirkstone Pass. Return via Kendal, Sedbergh and then following the 2014 Tour de France (Yorkshire Grand Départ) cycling route through Hawes and Aysgarth before heading home via Leyburn and Richmond. It was warm and mostly sunny. My Café Racer and I covered 210 miles that day without missing a beat. With the weather being reasonably good over the last few weeks I've also been riding the 66 mile round trip to work. Surprisingly enough this now brings the total mileage, since engine 'B' was fitted, to over 2000 averaging around 40 miles per (uk) gallon. I have had to top the oil up 3 or 4 times using about a litre of oil. I'm happy to say that RobbieRobot Café Racer has proven to be a very usable classic.

 

Fantastic! The old photos made me smile, especially as I had an AP50 - which I had to pay my father back for.

Now I know where all the ebay XJs go - your garage!

I wonder how you cope with a technical job on 12 hour shifts? I am faced with that very prospect - and at almost 51 am not getting any younger!

 

Nice - mine was a purple FS1-E identical except faster :wink: - everyone knows the purple ones were the fastest.. Mine (a 75 model) cost 80 quid when I was 14 spent 18 months polishing it until I was on the road in December 1980.. Best ever - even with the nose fairing i put on it

Best

James

 

Hi Markie. I think the AP50 came a little after the original crop of sixteener specials. I moved rapidly on to larger capacity bikes so didn't have the pleasure of riding one. How did they compare to the 73 Fizzies?


I do keep an eye out for any XJs that come up on eBay but only within a 40 mile radius or so and obviously, the price has to be right.


Fortunately the environment I work in is reasonably easy going. Due to the nature of the work (civil airliner engines) it has been found that cracking the whip only results in more errors so we tend to be allowed to take our time and get things right. 12 hours is a long day but then I only do two then two 12 hour nights. It's not that bad when you get used to it and the time off is always welcome. I used to do 6 twelve hour shifts regularly when the kids were little. Now that's a grueller. What type of work will you be doing?

 

Hi James. I've heard that rumour, that the popsicle purple ones were half a mile an hour faster on a Tuesday evening. I can't confirm or deny it though.
Now that's dedication, getting one 18 months before you could legally ride it. My mate and I were given an NSU Quickly when we were 14. Were managed to get it running after several weeks of tinkering then rode it in a field. I have to say it's name wasn't an accurate description of it's performance. We also had a similar experience with a Raleigh Runabout. I think I could actually run faster. It all fed the hunger though. Until the long awaited day of FREEDOM. Brilliant. How do 14 going on 16 year olds get their kicks now? Actually, don't answer that, I'm not sure I'd like the answer.

 

Modified/improved tail light and license plate holder.

 

You sir have an attention for detail. Wonderful work! I don't know if I like the bike or scenery more. They both look amazing! The English countryside is definitely on my list of places to visit.

 

Very nice too.