The Beginnings of a Little Cafe Racer ..... GS250 Twin ...Cafenated

$1 suspension upgrade, eh?







High res here: http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/1538/58124

I wrote a big list of what needs to be done and what nees to be ordered. Mainly I need shorter throttle and clutch cables to get the shorter bars on.

~Adam

How much did you get that for? That is SWEET!! is it a 71 or 72? I love SOHC Hondas!!! :shock: I just cant seem to find one out here that is less than $2000....and it needs work!

Since I mentioned the 1100...it's worth showing how the superbike bars and Napoleon bar end mirrors came out.







I'm gonna try the clubmans first on the CB500...

~Adam

$1 suspension upgrade, eh?

A few of us have had some other lessons-learned with the front suspension. You can use PVC pipe cut 0.5" to 1.0" for a spacer. The quarter trick does just the same!

Other things you can do besides flushing the fluid is using something like "motor honey" to thicken the fork oil. I personally didn't do this on my 1100E...but I may in the future.

Lets see a pic of your CB!

Don't laugh at the ape hangers...I haven't pulled them off yet because I'm working on oil, fuel, and carbs right now. I'm on hiatus for a week though...as I'm heading to the West Virginia GS Rally on Thursday, so I spent most of my time on the GS this week.

1971 Honda CB500:






High res here: http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/1538/58124

I wrote a big list of what needs to be done and what nees to be ordered. Mainly I need shorter throttle and clutch cables to get the shorter bars on.

~Adam

I changed the fork oil and performed a little trick that I've done in the past to give the tired front springs a little more stiffness.

I added 2 quarters under each fork cap to put more pressure on the springs....almost like shims. I've done this a billion times with better than expected results!

Took her out for a spin and WOW! What a differece in handling!! I also stiffened up the rear to the max position...I didnt even bother to look before...but it was set on the softest setting.

BEST $1 I've ever spent fixing up forks! :-D

I did a little more polishing to the rear wheel drum hub.....Mounted a brake light.....and mounted some mini stalk signals to the front and rear.

I'm almost legal!! I just need some mirrors and I'm good to go!

After my run in with the law...lol.....I thought that it might be a good idea to make a tail light/License plate bracket and also weld on some tabs to mount my short stalk mini turn signals.

I welded them together and painted the bare metal with some rustoleum.

http://www.raskcycle.com/cgi-bin/cart.pl?db=british.dat&category=Fork+Boots

This place has a ton of parts for Triumph, Norton, BSA, etc. and some parts for Japanese and Harleys. They specialize in 60's era stuff I think. You can contact them and see if any of the gaiters will fit your GS. They also carry some "chopper" parts, but since it's "era chopper" parts that could include chopper, cafe, bobber, etc. Worth a look and their gaiters are between $30-40.

Ha ha! Little do you know that when he brings over his Honda he's going to bring over all of the tickets he has waiting!

Actually, he probably got to thinking "I want this guy to build me a bike, but if I bend him over with tickets he'll either refuse or find some way to screw up my bike. I'll find some rich kid in a Mercedes to fill my quota.":-D

Love the way the bike turned out. In a way it looks like an old BSA or Enfield. I'm almost expecting knobbies and a round racing number plate on the side. You know, a "faux" Royal Enfield paint scheme on that bike would probably turn a lot of heads......

I was just reading an article in Roadbike about how a guy fell in love with small bikes all over again. And how we all catch the "bigger is better" fever and end up with litre-plus bikes and forget how quick and nimble the smaller bikes are. The smallest bike I've ever owned was a Shadow 500, but that article and your bike have me keeping an eye out for a little twin-cylinder to play with. But at 6'3", some modifications would definitely be in order!

Keep the bikes and the pics coming. If I ever make it out to California, I'll definitely have to stop by and see what you're cooking up. I'd still love to see what you'd do with an Intruder 1400.....

Wish I could get a hold of one of these Royal GT250's




I'm polishing the forks and rear drum brake right now...I'll post some pics in the morning.

I need to find some gators for my forks!!

Ha ha! Little do you know that when he brings over his Honda he's going to bring over all of the tickets he has waiting!

Actually, he probably got to thinking "I want this guy to build me a bike, but if I bend him over with tickets he'll either refuse or find some way to screw up my bike. I'll find some rich kid in a Mercedes to fill my quota.":-D

Love the way the bike turned out. In a way it looks like an old BSA or Enfield. I'm almost expecting knobbies and a round racing number plate on the side. You know, a "faux" Royal Enfield paint scheme on that bike would probably turn a lot of heads......

I was just reading an article in Roadbike about how a guy fell in love with small bikes all over again. And how we all catch the "bigger is better" fever and end up with litre-plus bikes and forget how quick and nimble the smaller bikes are. The smallest bike I've ever owned was a Shadow 500, but that article and your bike have me keeping an eye out for a little twin-cylinder to play with. But at 6'3", some modifications would definitely be in order!

Keep the bikes and the pics coming. If I ever make it out to California, I'll definitely have to stop by and see what you're cooking up. I'd still love to see what you'd do with an Intruder 1400.....

*thrusting in the direction of my computer screen*

Man, that's a sweet looking deal! I was on the fence about installing clubmans on my CB500...I bought clubmans and superbars for it...but I think I'm gonna have to do the clubmans after seeing this.

Great story about the cops...that's hilarious! Lucky break for sure!

~Adam

Thanks again Adam.....Clubmans look great....but superbike and eurobars are usually way more comfy for longer trips.

Lets see a pic of your CB!

*thrusting in the direction of my computer screen*

Man, that's a sweet looking deal! I was on the fence about installing clubmans on my CB500...I bought clubmans and superbars for it...but I think I'm gonna have to do the clubmans after seeing this.

Great story about the cops...that's hilarious! Lucky break for sure!

~Adam

Heres what the whole thing looks like with the tapered end mufflers.

Tell me what you guys think!...

I was going to go with some tapered reverse cone mufflers...but they were about 4" longer and I thought it would be too much pipe.

I did the first stage of polishing to the engine cases....got my exhaust pipes (mini tapered ends)....I think the where perfect for this little bike!....I primered the front fender.

So now I am waiting for my mini speedo (not the kind to wear...lol) that should be here on tuesday... I have to polish the forks....add my signals and brakelight that I picked up today and think of a paint scheme and I think I will be done with her!

Heres some pics of the stage 1 of the polishing.....I used a buffing wheel with white compound....The second stage will be with red rouge compound.

OK....before I post any pics I gotta tell you guys a story .

I got some things done today... re-jetted and tuned the carbs so I thought I would take it out for a spin near to the beach....a short ride ....5 minutes away.... turned out to be over an hour trip! :-D

This little bike is a HOOT to ride!!!!!! I took it out to my local twistes next to my house and I was flicking this bike around like I was on the Tour De France on a bicycle!!! It was so manouverable and quick..I fell in love with it.. I definitely need to change the fork oil and stiffen up the front end...but it still handled smoothly!

Well...heres the funny part of the story... As I was comming back home and the unmentionable happened..... I GOT PULLED OVER BY THE Cops!

I had no plates on.....no turn signals.....no.....speedo....no brake light!! I was adding up the fines in my head as Mr. police man (Steve) was by his car calling something in. Luckily I had my drivers license and insurance card.

As he walked back over to me he started checking out my little cafe racer and was curious what it was.

After telling him that I build these and that it was a little Suzuki GS250 he about fell over and said that He didnt know that these 250's could go so quick!... My thoughts started spinning again and added speeding to my total. He said that he was following me through the canyon....little did I know because I HAD NO MIRRORS ON EITHER.....LOL... another addition to my ticket!

So after about 20 minutes of conversation...another patrol car pulls up and gets out of the car! I started sweating bullets.

To make my long story shorter...... Steve...the first cop....never called in to check out that everything was legit......He called his partner to come and check out my bike! I was laughing my @ss off.... they were so intrigued with a cafe style bike that he asked my for my # so that he can comission me to convert his Honda CBX 6 cyl classic!

He's swinging by on monday to let me check it out8-) ... So after the panic and tally of the fines that was going to cost me more than what I put into the bike....I ended up getting some business out of my stupidity of riding on a bike that wasnt street legal yet! Good thing I was wearing my helmet! LMAO!!

I bought some of those discs a long time ago and then realized that it took a special "screwback" adapter for the drill, and I could never find that adapter. Basically, the back of the disc had a plastic "screw" that threaded into the part that chucked into the drill. Is this the kind of setup you're using? Whether it is or not, where do you get the discs and adapter?

They make little Scotchbrite wheels for the Dremel (cheaper if you get the Sears brand, though) that work great for small parts but they wear out really fast. The discs would last much longer.

I get mine from Harbor Freight and Tool....Luckily I live about a mile from the main California wherehouse/shipping center :-D