Beergood's Cafe Build: Redux

[beergood]

Someone pointed out that the photos from my old threads have disappeared due to photobucket disuse.

I wrote up a much more detailed post on my blog.

Go here to read it:

http://www.buildsh*tdude.com/2011/07...s750-cafe.html

Replace the "*" with an "i", since my blog title has a dirty word in it. Also, the post has some dirty words in it (two of them to be exact), so be warned.

*edit: this is annoying, I can't unlink it, so it shows up shortened and more garbled.
here is the link minus the "http://www."
buildsh*tdude.com/2011/07/suzuki-gs750-cafe.html

It is the heartwarming tail of how this:



Became this:



Any questions and feedback are appreciated.

Thanks.

[Gonzo]

Nice work! I read it from start to finish and it looks like that is a serious labor of love. I like that it has evolved with time too. I think bikes should reflect their owners and I hope mine makes that transformation to say something about me eventually.

[jwhelan65]

Man I hate seeing the early classics chopped up.....

[beergood]

While I understand and respect your opinion, I would like to state that this was far from a jewel when I got it. It is hard to tell from that pic, but it was in really rough shape. Cosmetically it was banged up, and mechanically...well, it ran, sort of.

To be honest, had I known the litany of problems this bike had going for it, I probably wouldn't have bought it.

Also, I suspect if I hadn't bought it, it would have ended up abandoned, or parted out. At least this way it got a form of a second life. And any salvageable parts ended up in the hands of other people doing their own restorations. So, there are several other GS's out there in a better state for this one's sacrifice.

I think you should direct your disdain towards the person who abused/neglected it in the first place. That is the true shame.

[jwhelan65]

While I understand and respect your opinion, I would like to state that this was far from a jewel when I got it. It is hard to tell from that pic, but it was in really rough shape. Cosmetically it was banged up, and mechanically...well, it ran, sort of.

To be honest, had I known the litany of problems this bike had going for it, I probably wouldn't have bought it.

Also, I suspect if I hadn't bought it, it would have ended up abandoned, or parted out. At least this way it got a form of a second life. And any salvageable parts ended up in the hands of other people doing their own restorations. So, there are several other GS's out there in a better state for this one's sacrifice.

I think you should direct your disdain towards the person who abused/neglected it in the first place. That is the true shame.

I understand your logic but there can't be too many of the old spokies left. The same amount of time and work goes into restoring as does a cafe project.

NO harm NO foul just my opinion.

[beergood]

No offense taken. There is no way I would have chopped a bike like this if it was as high as a 6 out of 10.

Although, I think you are mistaken about your last point. It is much cheaper and easier to cut off stuff than it is to fix/replace/restore.

Rusty battery box - gone
Torn seat/rusty pan - gone
Cracked fender - gone
Broken Tach - gone
Broken turn signal - gone
Dented tank/damaged graphics - replace with rattle can finish
Roughed up side panels - gone
Bent/Chewed up pasenger pegs - gone

The list goes on.

Also, the spoked wheels didn't come with the bike, which was a bummer. I would have like to have had those.

And as a last point, you are correct in that there are a finite number of these out there, but I see one on Craigslist almost every week. I don't think they are that rare.

Like I said in the beginning, I am not offended or upset. To each his own.

[pete]

Mate, I'll say it again, love your work! My preference colour wise was either the red or blue with the dual stripes, that's also just my opinion and I don't suggest you change, just think they were the best of the various schemes

This is definitely one of my favourite cafes on the forums... along with coastiepete's and Yaddy's... I'm sure there was another I really thought was awesome but can't think of it currently...