GS550 cafe racer- bloody awesome!!!!!

[Guest]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMdVxyiEkdc&feature=player_embedded

*fapfapfapfapfap...

[rapidray]

Sounded to me like it carbureted like crap but it looked cool. Ray.

[Ranger]

Wonder where he got the rear fender... or how he made it.

Rapidray it could just be the quality of the camera as the picture didn't look that great either.

[atb1998]

camera sound quality not the bike. If it had been outside where it wasn't echoing all over the pace also you might be able to hear it better

[Ranger]

This one seems nice, really responsive throttle too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBuvK3Z-eMU&feature=fvwk

I would like to make mine into a cafe racer but I don't have a clue really where to start how much I'd be looking at.

[dansofield550]

it runs fine, i'd just knocked the choke off a little too quick, its was -6c outside and only +3 inside, if you want to see more pictures etc i've got it on http://oldskoolsuzuki.info/cgi-bin/Yabb/YaBB.pl under gs550 featherbed , the seat hump by the way is a modified seeley item

[Flaming Chainsaws]

Dansofield550, that is one mean looking bike! But with the number plate, do you plan on racing it? You do need a headlight for it to be legal, you know .

Here is the direct link.

http://forum.oldskoolsuzuki.info/cgi-bin/Yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1283801211/0

Keep up the good work!

[Octain]

The rear hump is too large. Sticks out like a sore thumb.
I think I like the pipes.

[atb1998]

Dansofield550.. That bike is freaking cool. Big hunp or no big hump. You did a nice job !! Have seen a ton of cafe racers(no pun intended) yours is nice. The under seat exhaust is trick.The featherbed frame is waay trick. I don't think most people appreciate the work to build a frame.

[dansofield550]

it was a lot of work, i built as much of it as i could the frame being the biggest part, the swing arm and forks are obviously not built by me , but ive had to make the rest , rear sets yokes for the forks wheel spindles swing arm pivot chain adjuster blocks lengthen the gearbox out put shaft ,spacers and caliper mounts ,exhaust, seat under tray, fuel tank too list does on and on, its taken me about 7 months from first idea to now.

the seat was a seeley g80 item, and was huge, i cut 2 1/2 inchesd of the bottom! you could have fitted the christmas turkey in there and had room for the over too!, under the seat is the battery and oil catch tank,

i've not got a generator on it, i'll run it from the battery only as it'll be for a track day bike,may even cut the end of the crankshaft off so i can just fit a flat plate on the generator side of the engine i could put it on the road even without a head light, over here we can get a daytime only mot, it would need rear lights etc though,

[Curly]

Holy shiit that's your own frame?! Impressive work. I want your triple trees. It's certainly an interesting double back bone design.

[dansofield550]

it was my first attempt at tube bending, i bought a hilmore tube bender that could bend 1 1/4 inch tubing then had a crack at it, its made from 1.250 cold drawn seamless mild steel , the bender only just done it, i had to put a 2 metre bar on the handle and jam the foot of the bender under a power press to do it but in the end it went, i copied a photo i found of a featherbed norton frame, i imported it into my autocad and knowing it was made from 1.250 dia tube i could scale the photo to measure correct then simply made a drawing over the top in the normal cad way and hey presto i have a drawing to work to, then i modified the rear of the frame to take the extra width of the cbr1000r swinging arm and beefed up the head stock area and made it 23 degrees , i chose the cbr swinging arm because it has no top mount for the shock ,thus letting me build a bolt on seat sub frame

[dansofield550]

made to brands hatch for a test , all went very well

[Buffalo Bill]

Looks Killer Good!

So you guys are on the track already over there?
I'm jealous, our first track day in my area will be mid April, and that'll be chilly. I'll have to camp overnight too, .
Bill
I like your trailer too!

[dansofield550]

it was 10 degrees max that day at noon, but i could only get a 20 min session at 5pm, so it'd drop a far bit by then hence my friend with coats on! the tyres were only slightly warm and still edgy as they're new , it was the first time i'd taken the bike around a corner! only tested in a straight line till then.the trailer belong to my good friend kev, wearing the black coat in the photos, he built it in 87 i think, i'll be finishing my own as soon as i've sourced some suitable wheels and axle , need to fit some sound deadening to the exhaust as it fail 2 times on niose testing , it was 120db, managed to bodge a fix and get it to 105db's