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GS1000G shaftie cafe racer????

  • Thread starter Thread starter bothebrave
  • Start date Start date
Obviously the looks of a shaft drive are open for debate. I have ot say though, that if you ant to redo this bike, you will be limited by two things.

1. Your imagination.
2. The extent to which you believe people when they tell you it won't work/look good, etc.

Being that I am also a dyed in the wool BMW rider, I have a soft spot for shafties and I can say that they don't have to be heavy, even if they look a little clunky.

Here are some examples.

First up, we have the Honda. Nort for everyone but a supreme effort for what is widely considered to be a very ugly bike.

2464410895_daf92eb683_o.jpg


Next We have the Germans:

Oh Behave!!!
thebox2s.gif


Work it Baby!!!
DSC00553.jpg



You're a naughty naughty Girl!!
BMWBLKYEL.jpg
 
So, for some trivia, does anyone remember why they refer to the style as cafe racer? And by the way, it was originally pronounced kaff, not kafay.
 
emjay said:
So, for some trivia, does anyone remember why they refer to the style as cafe racer? And by the way, it was originally pronounced kaff, not kafay.
Click to expand...


They used to race to the coffee shops in the country I believe.
 
drhach said:
They used to race to the coffee shops in the country I believe.
Click to expand...

Close. When they built the highway around London they added cafes (pronounced kaff by the brits) at regular intervals, kind of like our rest stops. They'd race from one to another.

From Wikipedia:

"A classic example of this was to race from the Ace Cafe on The North Circular road in NW London to the Hanger Lane junction ... and back again. The aim was to get back to the Ace Cafe before the record you'd put onto the jukebox had finished."

I lived over there awhile back and had friends still into that scene. Called themselves Rockers. At first they just used whatever bike they had, but to get better performance and handling they began to modify the bikes.

A common goal was to try to break 100 mph, or "do the ton" as they called it, in the race. This was quite a feat considering the short races with traffic and often including a U-turn.
 
emjay said:
So, for some trivia, does anyone remember why they refer to the style as cafe racer? And by the way, it was originally pronounced kaff, not kafay.
Click to expand...

The name comes from the 1960s set where lads would meet up at their local cafe and then go out and race each other down the street. The style stems really from the old British 500 - 750 twins (a few others in there as well but the Brit twins were most popular).

Bolt on tuning parts weren't even thought of then so all the lads had to tune their own bikes and the easiest / cheapest way to make the things faster was to lose weight and get a more streamlined riding position through ace bars or clip-ons.
 
Personally I would work with what you have or if you really want non leading forks get a different bike to work from or get a set of forks & try it! No harm in trying, you can always put it back!
I still think the frame is slightly different from the G (such as the headstock angle) but I may be wrong.

Dan :)
 
Your answer to your question is partially correct. Yes thats what they were used for, and thats where they originated from, but the term "cafe" was actually a bit of a slap to the style. The term was coined because they were only considered good for one thing "riding from cafe (truckstop) to cafe (truckstop) and not much else" Most of the "true" motorcycling communtiy considered them dangerous and worthless machines.
 
you might take a look at groundshock's old ride....the one he just sold. not a cafe, but a beautiful example of what you can do with an "l', imo. i LOVE the look of that bike.

btw, all those shaft cafe's are hot. slurp.
 
Yesterday's Cafe, Today's Street Fighter.

Yesterday's Cafe, Today's Street Fighter.

TheCafeKid said:
Your answer to your question is partially correct. Yes thats what they were used for, and thats where they originated from, but the term "cafe" was actually a bit of a slap to the style. The term was coined because they were only considered good for one thing "riding from cafe (truckstop) to cafe (truckstop) and not much else" Most of the "true" motorcycling communtiy considered them dangerous and worthless machines.
Click to expand...
Sounds like what people say about the "Street Fighter" look of today. However, when I see somebody on eBay describe their bike as a "Street Fighter", I know it's an ugly, messed up POS, with a rattle can flat black spray job.
 
Terms, definitions, symantics. PPPFFFFTTTTT!!!!


Who cares? Just build the bike as you think it should be.

Don't worry what others say - Enjoy the ride.
 
It has been a great while since visiting the sight, but now have a 16 month old boy, the apple of my eye! Wanted to say thanks for posting all the pics of the shaft driven cafes!

I am once again ready to create a master piece and will be posting pics of my progress. Thanks again for everyone's input!
 
bothebrave said:
It has been a great while since visiting the sight, but now have a 16 month old boy, the apple of my eye! Wanted to say thanks for posting all the pics of the shaft driven cafes!

I am once again ready to create a master piece and will be posting pics of my progress. Thanks again for everyone's input!
Click to expand...

Congrats on the little'un, nothing like a family eh?

Jump in with that project, i was hesitant about my own cafe build being a shaftie but i think it turned out pretty neat.
Using a shaft gives you the opportunity to create very clean lines at the back. Embrace that hub and work with it, it'll turn out just fine.......

Pics please! :D
 
yaddy said:
Congrats on the little'un, nothing like a family eh?

Jump in with that project, i was hesitant about my own cafe build being a shaftie but i think it turned out pretty neat.
Using a shaft gives you the opportunity to create very clean lines at the back. Embrace that hub and work with it, it'll turn out just fine.......

Pics please! :D
Click to expand...

I tell yeah...having a family sure changes a man, especially becoming a dad! I am looking forward to the days of tooling in the garage with my son where i hope to have a few father/son projects that I missed out with my dad.

I must say that I read your entire post on your project, i appreciate the time you have taken to post every detail of the project as I have been much inspired! I hope to start my project back up with some pics soon....thanks
 
Absolutly bothbrave!!! My daughter is about to turn 9 months! She is everything to me. It changes everything...

I have a GS 1000g that im building in a cafe style... Yaddys build was a damn sexy bike with a shaft drive. Build it the way u want.
 
Zooks said:
Terms, definitions, symantics. PPPFFFFTTTTT!!!!


Who cares? Just build the bike as you think it should be.

Don't worry what others say - Enjoy the ride.
Click to expand...

Agree.

Like the OP said, he wants to build a cafe because he likes the look, not to race.

One of my favorites:
Photo0023-1.jpg



 
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