The GS Cafe

[Olefart64]

Martyn, Very sharp looking zook. Seat looks WAY more comfortable than mine!!!

[GSXR7ED]

It's been a while...some nice Cafe Racers!

Ed

[pattiwack]

I guess i'll post mine on here too.
IMG_20190726_213730_694.jpg

[Longitudinal]

I haven't started yet, but I am seriously considering it. I am not deluded into thinking that I could build a legit cafe bike out of my 1100GL, but I might want to build a tribute to the era with my own non-cafe touches.

Here is my GL as it sits.

[CafeRookie]

I know this thread has been dead for a while, but I'm building a 1981 GS550 Cafe Racer. I am looking to make some connections with others who have experience building cafe racers. I'm new to the motorcycle world and could use some help figuring things out! Please comment or direct message me if you're willing and able. Thanks!

Also, great bikes everyone! They look awesome!

[unfocused]

Bumping up - my build...

77 GS750 - frame - gas tank and side panels are just for looks, these will be replaced with custom parts
79 GS1000 8V - engine - for now... some many piston options, so little ebay money LOL
04 GSXR750 - front/rear suspension/brakes/wheels
93 ZX11 - gear sets w/custom shifter.
seat pan - custom test part for a Bonneville - 1 off unit
and other stuff :-)

Currently apart to finish frame mods and engine work...

I hate the term Cafe' Racer - we don't have "cafe's" and this is being built for speed runs and maybe a drag race or two...



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[dorkburger]

Cool. Agreed on the cafe racer term. It's pretty much a trope these days. I wouldn't consider your to be a Cafe racer anyway. It's far better.

[Rob S.]

Good on you for not butchering the frame. But did you remove a few inches in the rear? Stay unfocused.

[Chuck78]

Agreed on the cafe racer term. It's pretty much a trope these days. I wouldn't consider your to be a Cafe racer anyway. It's far better.

"Cafe racer" conversion aesthetics look best on bikes that pre-date the Suzuki GS for the most part, in my opinion. Old British bikes are where the aesthetic is the most appropriate. 1978 & earlier Honda CB's & Yamaha XS650's (which are basically copies of Triumph parallel twins) also fit the cafe racer aesthetic pretty well.

Base model and sporty model GS's & KZ's/GPz's & a few late 1970's Yamahas already have a racey & classic naked superbike look to them. It's the L model GS's, LTD model KZ's, & similar Yamahas in old man cruiser trim I don't necessarily mind seeing chopped up into Cafe Racer style bikes, HUGE improvement over stock! I fully endorse those conversions when done well.


I'm with Glen here, this bike on the other hand, although it has a "cafe tail," fits more with the high performance vintage superbike look that I always go after ☠️

[Chuck78]

I still have 2 or 3 more bikes to build up in even more sporty retro superbike form, 2 will have GS450S knee dent tanks... The 1977 GS550B (bare titled frame + $100 '78 GS550E as a donor for all parts) + GS750/1000 hubs & aftermarket 18" rims, my 2nd GS550> GS650 top end swap, GS450S tank (slight mounting mods to fit wider 550-four cyl frame), Guiliaru 550/750 77-79 seat that gives a real racer ish look, GS1100E swingarm, + fork upgrade - RF900R?. Same mods as above basically, to what was going to be my GS 425 project, that bike remains stock and in one piece as I got a free '77 GS400 frame titled to build up instead, + GS400 engine & 2 GS425 engines... 449cc or 489cc, head porting, cams, similar wire wheels as above, CBR600F4 forks, GS1100E or Zephyr ZR400 swingarm etc.

Sexy seats and tanks... I've got 2 or 3 of these tanks and a 400/425 model Guiliaru + 77-79 550/750 Guiliaru...stock GS base/E model tails will still follow the 2-up Guiliaru racer looking seats



The Guiliaru seats, '77-'78 GS (& non-L '79) tails, and GS450S knee dent tanks + my preference for low handlebars (even for touring), will definitely put mine into almost a cafe racer look... Full seats though, I never cut the frames unless for structural improvement reasons to add more to them. Where would my backpacking gear and saddlebags go then?!?

I've been totally immersed in 2-stroke dirt bikes and hard enduro woods riding the past few years though, haven't done much street bike work in that time. + wife's constant motorcycle projects /& keeping old vehicles on the road, rebuilding & TDI swapping an old Toyota 4x4 & Suzuki Samurai etc... Soon though I'll be back on the GS's...

[Suzukian]

Cool. Agreed on the cafe racer term. It's pretty much a trope these days. I wouldn't consider your to be a Cafe racer anyway. It's far better.

I have to agree with that statement. Anything with more than two cylinders really couldn't quality as a "Cafe Racer", but that term has been applied to four cylinder bikes for many decades.

Some people called my Yoshima CB400F (458 cc) a "Cafe Racer", and I could not agree with them. My bike has 4 cylinders. It's a Kazio Yoshima Race bike. I don't think there is a name for these bikes. I know they get good money if they are in good condition, but everyone calls the "Yoshima 400's".

A Yamaha XS650 could be turned into just about anything, and those engines are bullet proof. A Suzuki 450 would make a nice "Cafe Racer", the 450 Cafe Racer Suzuki made was a nice bike. It had some carb issues, but those could be ironed out easily. I haven't seen one in 25 years though. They were a really nice looking bike.

1980_suzuki_gs450.jpg

[KiwiAlfa156]

Cool. Agreed on the cafe racer term. It's pretty much a trope these days. I wouldn't consider your to be a Cafe racer anyway. It's far better.

I dunno.... To me this GS750 is the closest to the original concept of a Cafe Racer from the 1960s, unlike today's modern "Brat Bike"/chop everything to bits BS -which really IS a trope. The original "Caff" Racers was a its most basic a standard road bike fitted with clip-ons, rear sets and racing seat (sometimes performance tuned). So standard bikes modified for speed and handling over short distances (i.e. from "caff" to "caff" in the UK). Remembering these were the days before the repli-racers and track days, so you built your own sport bike and 'competed' on the street. Cafe racers, at least in my part of the world, were strong through the 1970s and early 80s. RD Yamahas, Kawasaki and Suzuki triples all got the 'clubman bar/clip-ons, rear-set pegs, sometimes a single seat, but almost always a set of expansion chambers. Back then they were as close as you could get to riding a road racer. Which explains why two-strokes were the bikes of choice. Our local exhaust specialist back in the day, was even called "Custom Chambers" because that's how they got their start.

[Suzukian]

You build the bike the way that appeals to you. In the U.K.., any bike with more than 2 cylinders is considered a "Cafe Racer", on a certain forum there, they would tear you to pieces if you called any bike with more than 2 cylinders a "Cafe Racer".

I see these guys bolt Superchargers on their bikes, make swing arms from scratch, do the most incredible modifications. In the end, does it really matter what you call your bike. I think as these minimized bikes more as "Rat Bikes', but not in a negative way. The style has become a trope too. I can't understand not having any kind of rear fender, even a high mounted one, all those rocks and sand ripping up the underside of your rear end. Whatever floats your boat.

[dorkburger]

[QUOTE=KiwiAlfa156;n1728678]

I dunno.... To me this GS750 is the closest to the original concept of a Cafe Racer from Cafe Racer from the 1960s, unlike today's modern "Brat Bike"/chop everything to bits BS -which really IS a trope.

fully agree.

[KiwiAlfa156]

The whole 'twins only' schtick, sounds like some folk trying to create exclusivity by prescription, and then claiming ownership of the turf. Which is BS to my mind.

The original ethos of cafe racers was that form was a product of function. The style was the child of DIY performance modification. Unlike the other child of the 1960s, choppers, in which functions like steering and braking were sacrificed to fill a particular silhouette.

The first generations of cafe racers where built as tools not primarily as rolling works of art. If you're building a bike which is style first, function lower down the list, then good for you. But if I was building something that sacrificed performance for cafe racer looks, I'd understand I was really building an imitation of a cafe racer, a lookalike, a facsimile, or possibly not a cafe racer at all.