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The BOSS - Cafe racer build

  • Thread starter Thread starter JvZ
  • Start date Start date
J

JvZ

Guest
Hi All, after being a casual reader on the forum for some time now I have decided to start a thread documenting my own build, the BOSS (Bike On a Shoe String).

Basically, the theme here is that I want to build a bike that won't break the bank (hence the name). Therefore, as far as possible I will do as much of the work myself and do my best not to outsource anything. That means no blasting or powder coating etc.

Also, I live in a London flat with no garage space! I rent a small garage a little way down the road, with no electricity, heat or water. Therefore this bike build will basically by hand and any use of power tools will happen in my kitchen!, This project will involve a lot of running and down the road and 2 flights of stairs to get this done!

Here is the photo from the eBay listing

Wish me luck!
 
Good luck buddy, you should be able to do a few quick and dirty jobs over a few weekends to get the cafe look. Ace bars are quick win, ?25 off eBay - you can also re-profile the front mudguard, fit pod filters, megaphone exhaust... all on the cheap. You'll need to do a bit of fabrication if you're gonna go with a cafe seat hump, basically chop the rear short and weld some brackets in place - try a company like Vonzeti, I'm sure they offer a fitting service where you could potentially ride down there and have it 'transformed' on the day.

Dec
 
Thanks Dec, your project is amazing! I have started the tear down already, and lopped the back of the bike off! I'll get a few pics up as soon as I can figure out how to use the forum to post pics etc!
 
Nice one, I look forward to the updates. Try www.photobucket.com - they provide a direct URL link which you can cut and paste into the forum, simple!

JvZ said:
Thanks Dec, your project is amazing! I have started the tear down already, and lopped the back of the bike off! I'll get a few pics up as soon as I can figure out how to use the forum to post pics etc!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks guys, I'll crack on with it tonight. And thanks for the ideas Dec79
 
Good luck with your project. You'll find lots of help & support on the site
 
Here she is, as she was after i got stuck in with the the WD-40 and some spanners (wrenches)!

2013-01-28211045_zpsc78d70ac.jpg
 
Last edited:
I have done a bit of chopping, cut the tabs off etc. I am going to retain the old tail as the cafe 'hump'. I just flipped the stock bars but some clubmans will end up on there.

2013-01-06152814_zpscb00aa40.jpg


I also tried to retain the stock seat (with the middle cut out). The idea was to retain the key release.

2012-12-09110446_zpsfed3b29e.jpg




I realised though that the shorted seat pan meant that the seat would snag on the plastic cowl, but most importantly it just didn't look right. That was 2 weekends worth of work wasted (I did a lot more than what you see in the pics)

I have a new idea for the seat, but that is on the back-burner for now while i carry on with the frame. In the pic you can also see the direction I am going with the rearsets, they are from a Z1 apparently. They are pretty rough but I reckon they should clean up pretty nicely. As I said in the intro this is a shoestring build so at ?25 for both sides, delivered, they are perfect!
 
Last edited:
Nice work mate, you don't hang around! :cool:

I like the idea you came up with for the seat hump, looks great. What are you plans for the engine?

Dec
 
Thanks Dec

I got the bike in November so it really hasn't been that quick, but it is just me in my man-cave, that now has a 900w generator for power so at least I have swapped the hack saw and file for a wire brush.

As far as performance goes I am not really going to do much to the engine, I will just make sure that the inlet and exhaust flow are nice and polished, it definitely has to have pods and I think I am going to drill out the baffle on the motad exhaust. Eventually I think I will go for a custom pipe, but for now the Motad stays.

I have something special planned for the cosmetics on the engine, but I will keep that a surprise for now. All I know for sure is that the motor needs a complete strip down. The PO stopped using it a few years ago because he said that it constantly jumped out of second gear. So that will need some exploring.
 
I need to get a new battery, I am going to ho for a lithium one, anyone have any suggestions on how many Ah to go for?
 
Nice idea with the seat hump. Looks good. Can't wait to see progress. Been working on my own cafe build, so it's nice to step away for a while and admire someone else's handywork.
 
I have a few more pics to upload so here they are.
I have done both wheels now, but only have a pic of the rear at the moment. I still need to assemble the front one

2013-01-28211700_zps010f6dc0.jpg


I have to do my painting out on a gravel patch so, the snow made for some great natural dust suppression, but everything was warmed up in my flat first. so it really wasn't too bad.

Before and after (almost) of the carbs.
2013-01-28211505_zps0b2b75e5.jpg


2013-01-28211837_zps2b28f240.jpg


I couldn't get hold of the jet kit I wanted so I used D-Mac's thread as a guide and bought some 155 jets and drilled the slides, I plan to make any adjustments as necessary down the line. but thought that would be a good starting point. Since taking the 'after' pic I separated the carbs and did some more cleaning, replaced o-rings etc.
 
New Toy

New Toy

So I hacked the back of the frame off, and then removed the footpeg mounts rear master cylinder mount and all the excess tabs.

So I bought myself one of these.
2012-12-31102418_zps4db48baf.jpg


I spent last weekend practising and used it to remove the steering bearing races. All I can say is that at first my welding has a lot in common with a duck with diarrhea! but I am using a flux cored wire so that at least makes me feel a little better. However, I managed to get a few good beads out. Now to fabricate the tail section and some brackets to attach my rearsets from a ZZR1100.

i see a lot of welding, grinding and re-welding and grinding and re-welding in my immediate future. I did tackel this as a learning experience.
 
amxsteve said:
A 4-8 cell ballistic will do the trick
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve, I did a bit of research on these and the seem fantastic, My GS is an electric starter only, so to be on the safe side I ordered an 8 cell. Ordered from the US so it will take a while. I have made a mock-up battery out of cardboard so that I can fab the battery box this weekend.

Thanks again for the advice I had no idea that they existed. so far it is the most expensive part on the bike!
 
JvZ said:
Thanks Steve, I did a bit of research on these and the seem fantastic, My GS is an electric starter only, so to be on the safe side I ordered an 8 cell. Ordered from the US so it will take a while. I have made a mock-up battery out of cardboard so that I can fab the battery box this weekend.

Thanks again for the advice I had no idea that they existed. so far it is the most expensive part on the bike!
Click to expand...

i use an 8 cell ballistic battery, it works great and is so small and light
 
Progress

Progress

Thanks D-Mac and others, welding on the bearing races was brilliant, so simple!

I had to grind one bearing out the front wheel, I wasn't keen to try the welding trick on a wheel bearing but that sucker was really stuck in there. it had loads of play in it so I suspect it got really hot in the past.

20130203_090143_zps6aa95960.jpg
 
Frame job

Frame job

I made some progress on the frame, got all the old tabs, foot peg and master cylinder mounts and made some brackets for the rearsets to mount on.
20130202_164501_zps23ba9c10.jpg
.

I was getting really tired of flash rust, oil and general gunk on the frame so I decided to skip ahead a little and get the frame in a coat of primer. I will grind the work areas as I need, and then redo the painting.

20130209_154345_zps61ac8c83.jpg
.

The colour looks a little brighter in the pic, but i am liking it.

You have to love my spray booth/workshop/man-cave. Needless to say I wont be painting the tank and tail here!
 
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