Absolutely priceless best laugh i've had for a while.

I am going to the pound first thing to rescue an old english ride.....saw a bantam down there that had such sad eyes...or eye as it was.

I like it.  Butchering a perfectly good bike and then portraying it as a "cafe racer" to pretend that it's somehow unique because you couldn't afford to do it right is just plain wrong.

Great clip,

can see a lot of work and possible disappointment for some.  



Personally I like looking at what some people do to these older bikes, better for someone to have a go at doing things themselves and learning a lot along the way. Saving something from slowly rotting away.

Admittedly there are disasters, but when you get a good one that works 'bravo'.

It is a shame to pull down a perfect example I agree, these are rare anyway or too damn expensive, as for the cheap ''do up'' or ''parts bikes" go for it and see what you can come up with.
Doesn't have to be 'perfect' just enjoy the experience.



Bushy.

duck, you are way out of line using that comment of yours.

Read the Forum Rules.

I like to think that we, as a Forum, are a bit more tolerant than that.

If an owner of a bike wants to chop it to pieces, who are we to say that it looks like rubbish?

We are all motorcyclists.




Thanks duck.

It is not cheap to do a good modification / rebuild. So "cant afford" is invalid opinion. For example I have about 6000 euros invested on my modified/rebuild K100. + the bike itself.

Liked to video though. Some nice bikes on it, and some well... not that nice.  

What I feel is so disapointing with doing a cafe racer is that the people are often very enthuastic but to do a good one you need an eye for it they are just as much a work of art as a bike.
I am not a fan of the cafe racer nor was I a fan of the Choppers that were around in the 70s and 80s and there are some around now.
A chopper or cafe racer or street fighter is AFAIAC a piece of your own work but sooner rather than later a place like Orange County Choppers springs up and all that has to be done to individualize your bike with the same gear as the guy down the street is go shopping.

Firstly, I must admit that I am not a huge fan of cafe racer/streetfighter style conversions of regular bikes.  However, there have been some really gorgeous examples of such work posted on this forum, and I have to agree that their builders surely have some sort of eye for art.

Another deciding factor is that very few decent cafe racers are ever built on a shoestring budget.  I suppose that some have been produced without significant financial investment, but they are few and far between.  On the other hand, spending plenty of money is no guarantee of success, as there are bikes around that are composed of an assembly of ill-matched, expensive components; that eye for art is essential.

One thing I wonder about is the comfort of some of these cafe racers; seats are tricky things to make, and can easily visually mar an otherwise reasonable machine.  Some of the seats I see are like planks of wood with a bit of vinyl stretched over the top, and they must be so uncomfortable.  It seems a shame to take a bike that will transport you in comfort over hundreds of miles in a single day (such as a K) and transform it into an useless nightmare.

I think a cafe should be a twin. And why try and improve on perfection.



But that's just my opinion ...... everyone has one ....

That was shocking to me. I always prefer 100% OEM spares and leave my motorbike like the day it was born, but here in Argentina we see a lot of transformations that looks as a crashed motorcycles....... 

If you haven't viewed Ichiban videos on Youtube, you're missing out. His pseudo cafe builds are hilarious.

Ok, I will look for them on YouTube, thank you for let me know. Regards.

xpc316e wrote:Some of the seats I see are like planks of wood with a bit of vinyl stretched over the top, and they must be so uncomfortable.  It seems a shame to take a bike that will transport you in comfort over hundreds of miles in a single day (such as a K) and transform it into an useless nightmare.

Must say that I have a seat that looks like it cant be comfy, but it is. I have done more than 500km / day trips with my bike and the seat is far better than many original ones I have had on my bikes. So looks can sometimes fool.

Seats that are good for some are bad news for others. my wife has a K75 with a low seat conversion (factory) and has no problems with it but if I ride the bike for more than 100k then my bum goes numb and I have to stop for a break it has to be one of the worst seats I have ever used.

RicK G wrote:Seats that are good for some are bad news for others. my wife has a K75 with a low seat conversion (factory) and has no problems with it but if I ride the bike for more than 100k then my bum goes numb and I have to stop for a break it has to be one of the worst seats I have ever used.

Like you say good for some, bad for others. I've used a factory low seat for years on 3 bikes and found it one of the best I've ever encountered, I've done 1000kms days with no ill effects at all.

The worst for me was the R1100GS, couldn't ride for an hour without standing/stretching etc to get out of the seat.  Sold the bike after 6 months, it was a POS anyway.

Al

AL-58 wrote:
Like you say good for some, bad for others. I've used a factory low seat for years on 3 bikes and found it one of the best I've ever encountered, I've done 1000kms days with no ill effects at all.
Al

Not sure how to de-rail such a de-railed thread, but I love my low seat. I find the most comfortable is with my feet on the pillion pegs.
So much so I have sent Rjtrucker a message asking if he still has the sport set of pegs or a K1 set.
I admit it can be a bit uncomfy round town, but over 80kph and definately over 100kph it is soo much better.
And I am never going to use panniers with a passanger.