77 GS400 to Cafe Project

[pete]

Pete,
Just posted a note to the Englishman. We would love to have you join us on an East Texas ride but you're to far away and I'm probably too old to try to teach one of you blokes to ride right side up.
Niels

Hahahahaha yeah it's just a small journey from here... I'd need some floaties I reckon

See if you came down here to visit I'd have to teach you to ride upside down...

Pete,
Just posted a note to the Englishman. We would love to have you join us on an East Texas ride but you're to far away and I'm probably too old to try to teach one of you blokes to ride right side up.
Niels

Englishman,
Been following your posts. Just noticed your location. I'm in Seabrook on Galveston Bay. Like you, I'm building a 450 cafe. When all is done I'll try to get up there so we can straighten out some of those back roads in your area. By the way, your build is really coming together; Looks great.
Niels
Niels

[pete]

Pete, I'll do some pics over the weekend with a better camera. I was not going to do the 1/4 fairing thing initially but what the heck......... What's another couple of hundred

Mark

Hahaha yeah I know what you mean... get some shots first though before forking out the hard earned... could be just fine the way it is

Nice one Mark! Good score on the fork brace and that front guard is gonna work just nicely by the looks.

Have you got a full on side shot to see the difference it's made? I still think you'll need the bikini fairing to fully balance the tail out but that should help a lot as is.

Pete, I'll do some pics over the weekend with a better camera. I was not going to do the 1/4 fairing thing initially but what the heck......... What's another couple of hundred

Mark

[pete]

Nice one Mark! Good score on the fork brace and that front guard is gonna work just nicely by the looks.

Have you got a full on side shot to see the difference it's made? I still think you'll need the bikini fairing to fully balance the tail out but that should help a lot as is.

I'm glad that you didn't do anything drastic! It's wise not to change plans until you see the whole thing together. As Pete suggested, proportions can look out if you don't have all the parts in place. With my bike I had a minor panic attack when I chopped the rear fram and put the seat on. Until I put the rear fender on as well it looked very odd. On your bike I really don't think the tyres are wrong at all. They look great!

FWIW Dime City Cycles have some inexpensive rearsets - might need some fabbing of mounting brackets but they are well made and have mounting bolts come with them:

http://www.dimecitycycles.com/vintage-cafe-racer-caferacer-custom-motorcycle-chassis-transmission-universal-aluminum-loaded-gun-rearsets-lgc-rearsets.html

Unfortunatly I have not been able to get to work on the bike these last few weeks as much as would have liked, but I have been active on the parts sourcing. Several of you suggested that it was the lack of parts on the front end that made her look a little out of proportion. So I put the headlight on and thanks to ebay, scored a couple of geat deals on a fender and a hard to find fork brace.....






I think this helped restore the balance and look that was missing. Thanks to those who helped me through the mid-build crisis.

Mark

[pete]

No worries, I'm with Spyug, persevere for now with what you've got and make a decision once you've at least got it mocked up where you want it to be.

E-man it is looking very good. I think Pete is right, it will come together once you get a fairing in place so don't go off on any tangents just yet.........

......I think you should continue with the original game plan to as close to completion as you can or you might come to regret it someday. Change it if you must but give it a fighting chance to fulfill your dream. I'm sure it will all fall into place and you'll throughly enjoy the finish product.
I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

Spyug, thanks for the encouragement. In the last couple of weeks I have been considering some big diversions not to mention some serious money. However, this weekend I did not get to work on the bike but I did spend quite sometime just looking at her. I started to like the looks again. You and Pete are right about getting the fairing on and looking at the overall picture before and major deviations. Thanks for the help guys......

Mark

E-man it is looking very good. I think Pete is right, it will come together once you get a fairing in place so don't go off on any tangents just yet.

Having said that, mind you, in my experience these kind of builds almost always end up going off in some other direction as we stumble across unthought of issues or someone else's design ideas. On my first project, I was hot to trot on building an XS 650 Cafe (also with a Dunstall type fairing). Hot to trot that is until fitting some clubman bars and mocking up some rear sets. Sitting on it and I immediately realized that it would not work for me. The lean and stretch put such a cramp in my lower back it damn near went into spasm. At that point a switch was made to the more upright seating of a tracker and that's the direction she took from then on.

I think you should continue with the original game plan to as close to completion as you can or you might come to regret it someday. Change it if you must but give it a fighting chance to fulfill your dream. I'm sure it will all fall into place and you'll throughly enjoy the finish product.

I look forward to seeing how it turns out.

cheers,
Spyug

Englishman,
Thanks. That's the one I want. I found an aluminum copy for $39.95 and it didn't look like a bargain at that price; pretty cheesy! Once more chorus,: "You get what you pay for".
Niels

1. Love the tail.
2. Love the suzy tank!

It's gonna be a nice little tracker/racer when you're done!

Thanks man. I'm still not sure myself

Englishman,
Lookin' good. I'm about 30 days behind you on my 450 cafe project. I'm curious about the gas cap. I found one on the net that looked just like it but the vendors pic looked a bit rough and not well finished. Yours looks like a diamond in a billy goats butt! Where did you find it? Dime City Cycle has a really nice one but it would require some work on the tank and brazing the mounting ring to the tank. I'm trying to make a decision.
ndaugbjerg

ndaugberg, I found the gas cap at the cb750cafe, see below. It's not cheap but it looked good and a non wielding solution. Fitting was very simple as shown in my pics. I just have 4 screws to drill and fit.

http://www.cb750cafe.com/parts.php?id=67

Mark

Englishman,
Lookin' good. I'm about 30 days behind you on my 450 cafe project. I'm curious about the gas cap. I found one on the net that looked just like it but the vendors pic looked a bit rough and not well finished. Yours looks like a diamond in a billy goats butt! Where did you find it? Dime City Cycle has a really nice one but it would require some work on the tank and brazing the mounting ring to the tank. I'm trying to make a decision.
ndaugbjerg

1. Love the tail.
2. Love the suzy tank!

It's gonna be a nice little tracker/racer when you're done!