my 1 hour cafe racer, nothing fancy......

[lostsoul74]

Been a while since i've been back here gents, got a few more gs750's i picked up over the winter cheap to make bobbers and cafe's out of for spring flip.
Decided while i had the sawsaw out i'd snap a few photos and show how easy it is to update and style older bikes. I have no grand delusions obviously, this is just a cheap 1 hour update for a quick flip, figured some of you on a budget looking to purchase a bike but not happy with the styles you were finding may find it interesting. Just keep in mind, a bike is a bike, it's got a frame, engine, and wheels, everything else is cosmetic. throw a different tank on, a different seat, change the bars, and usually for under 150 bucks you can make something that perhaps may be more your style.
I'm no mechanic, i know the basics, anything else i learn on the net, other then perhaps a complete rebuild, most things are pretty simple like clutches and stators even carbs. You can always find a beater sittin on the side of someones garage that hasnt ran in years for a couple hundred bucks, updating it is easy.
I picked this bike up off CL for 300 bucks last weekend, had carb problems and a faulty petcock. spent maybe an hour 1/2 doing both and now she runs. Had a junky cafe seat i grabbed off ebay for 60 bucks, so i figured it would make for a quick cafe.
I didnt think of posting or grabbing the camera till i already swapped out the bars, sorry about that, but you get the point. Took 15 minutes to swap bars, bars are about 20 bucks on ebay, maybe 25-40 at your local shop.

[lostsoul74]

Regaurdless weather i'm making a bobber or cafe, i reach underneath and cut the blinker wires and tape and label them, then cut the break light, no need to label that. After i've moved hte wires out of hte way, i just grab a sawsaw and chop the frame about 4 inches past the shock mount. I usually leave them that long if i'm making a bobber, gives me an area to mount my turn signals and feed wire through. But reguardless what I'm making, with any bike i pick up, i pull the seat and chop the rear then pull up a chair and look at the lines and flow and decide what i'm going to make. Usually with a cafe, I end recutting the frame within 1 1/2 inches of the shocks, it all varies, i dryfit a cafe seat shell (100 bucks ebay, or closer to 200 if covered, on the cheap some people just go with the shell and use peel and stick foam for the seat in nicely designed cutouts, if done right they look good, in this case i already had one i got a while ago for 60 bucks just to have for the future... price was right..., not top quality but good enough). I dry fit the shell and see where the frame is going to meet the inside curves of the frame and mark and cut, that way the seat lays over the frame and helps to hide it. Most of the seats i pickup are fiberglass with 1 - 1 1/4 lips on them, for those I usually trace the design over some 3/8 plywood and silicone it to the bottom of the base, that way when i put the base of the seat on the rails, all i have to do is drill up through the frame and attach with a few screws. This one was hand built from still and wrapped in polished alluminum, so it has the strength to be mounted alone and no need to use plywood as a filler (oh yea, i forgot to mention, with the fiberglass seats, before siliconing the plywood under the base, i take a can of blow foam to the rear shell of it to increase it's strength then lay the plywood over it, that way i dont have a hollow rear shell which could easily shatter if something fell on it, sat on it, or the bike itself fell and hit a corner of something). With this seat, i'll just put a nice bead of silicone down the frame rails and set it right in. the only use I have for removing the seat is maybe once every 3 years to change the battery, everything else i can get to from the sides. Heres what the bike looks like once the rear frame is chopped, i keep the existing plastic inner fender to prevent electronics from getting wet. but you can also tell by looking at the pics of the shape and style, if i dropped/lowered it, you could see how a ducktail fender/ bobbed fender would look, kind of like the plastic already does after i've cut it with tin snips to shape. You can see in the last pic if i wanted to go bobber, all i'd have to do is chop about 4-5 links (so far 5 links exact has been MY magic number) off the rear springs to make her a hardtail bobber. You can go with Harley lowering springs for about 75 bucks, but on most of my builds, i go for the smallest wheel gap in the rear end and I would bottom out with lowering shocks, cutting the springs stiffins the springs so i dont bottom out, but i still have about 1/2 of give compared to just using straight fender struts to hold her, the springs give her a better mechanical look anyways by doing that and still has a "little" give over a true hardtail. The last image is an example of a bobbed fender on chopped springs and a 30 dollar solo seat off ebay. Just an example, not trying to get off the subject, just showing ideas. (sorry, it came up 3rd pic)

[lostsoul74]

Once i've chopped the rear frame to fit the seat, it's just a matter of laying it in and making sure it sits right. This ones just a little tight on the frame rails, but since it's steel i can bang her down and flex her on, something i wouldnt try with fiberglass, thats why when ordering fiberglass parts i verify measurements with my project. but again, this was just a cheap seat i got figuring it would fit something. It's laying in silicone now and will be permanent within a couple hours. So there you go, total time spent from time i unwrapped my bars from my ebay package to time the silicone was layed was just under 1 hour (57 minutes). Theres still a few things i've got to wrap up, still got to drill a 3/8 whole in the side of the rear frame and mount some signals on, might take maybe 20 minutes if that. and still undecided what i'm going to use for a rear light for this, i've got a mint one that would look great mounted on the rear of hte seat, a vintage light from an old ford, but that one will go on the 74 cb750 project i'm keeping for myself, a bit more time will be spent on that one... lol. in this case, i would probably go with a 50 dollar side mount tail light and plate holder, but i'd like to flip it this weekend so i'll see what i've got laying around. I'll be using the same bullet signals as seen in the black bobber above, theyre 20 bucks ebay, but i've got some laying around..... somehwere.....
Anyways, thanks for your time, i warned you this was nothng special, just a quick overview for noobs who want to update on the cheap that wont hurt their pockets. While a good paintjob looks great, even on the cheap, you just got a tank and side covers, a 6 dollar can of truck paint looks ok.... when buffed out. I still need side covers for this one, i see that the side covers from my 81 L will also fit good enough, the tabs are reversed, meaning they go down instead of up, but a quick torch and a bend up will take care of that if anyone was curious. but i need those covers for the other one so i'll glance around the garage and see if i can make something out of sheet metal and just spray paint it. Again, this is just a quick flip bike, nothing special, just figured i'd post for ideas for others. the blue bike below is the 78 gs750 i did last year, thats not can spray paint, thats single stage "FUL Thane" urathane enamal, i highly recommend it for the hobbiest, i used a cheap compressor and cheap harbour freight gun and got great deep professional results with it, i've tried the ebay auto paints and was not impressed (trinity, eastwood). The black one is also another build i did, just an example of how to make a cheap bobber. I've never spent more then 600 dollars on any bike including purchase and everything, i usually spend 300 bucks on the bike, and around 200 in cosmetics. The last pic is just being stupid lol. just to give you an idea of fitment for a 6'0 175 lb guy. If your near Rochester NY, your always welcome stop by as I love helping others save a few bucks.... get er done!!!

[lostsoul74]

oh.. only 4 images at a time... heres the rest and my other gs750 projects in the garage, the junk one already chopped i got for 50 bucks, figured a parts bike for anything i needed, but looks like it may be a decent bobber once springs chopped and a 30 solo seat slapped on. figured i'll just hit all the rust with muatic acid then high heat black paint it, good enough....

[lostsoul74]

Below 78 gs750 with 60 dollar 4 to 1 and 180 dollar cafe seat (back before i found where to get better ones cheaper, sorry, cant give all my secrets away then they'll be out of stock when i need them lol) Thats Ful Thane single stage Urathane enamal paint, thick flowing depth and color, highly recommend to others ask your automotive supplier about that, thats just some left over paint from a 92 tercel i crashed and had to fix for a friend, never painted before and you can see the results (well, almost, i painted that car with it but almost came out as nice). Still had to put fork boots and cafe bars on it but buyer wanted it as is.


78 xs1100 standard that use to be a huge ugly full dresser, i was laughed at trailering it home, but a simple chop and came out nice. still got to put regular guages on and a white wall tire, paint the rear rim polished lip red and put red cherry bombs on to complete the look i want. but you see the direction.


My first build attempt: 81 xs400 i got for a hundred bucks for my roomate, but it was too gay looking and he wouldnt ride it, so this was my first mod, 12 bikes ago. total cost plus purchase: 240 dollars. 100 bike, 140 for stater (12 bucks ebay) and cosmetics, you like that 7 dollar suicide shifter dont you ... lol and if you dont think i can top that, how you like my 5 dollar white wall tire paint! lol...... (it wasnt meant to be perm, but wanted to see what a whitewall would look like before i spent the hundred bucks on one, held up good though and sold it like that, guy on street offered me 1400 bucks for it)

[lostsoul74]

If i dont flip this this weekend like i figure, then i'll pull the guages and headlight off the parts bike to complete this, and then go ahead and paint tank and fender black since the motor is already painted. Might make a neat midnight racer with the polished seat. Hard to tell what seat looks like cause of rain, but you got an idea. a bike is a bike.... make it yours.

[atb1998]

cafe bike

flip your headlight ears and drop your guages while your at it. give a lower, more race look. cool, cheap project, the kind i like

[lostsoul74]

I hear ya, but if i'm gona pull it apart to flip the ears, then i my as well pull the light and gauges off the regular one. And i guess if i'm gona go that far, then i my as well ebay the front cafe faring to fit over the headlight for 40, well, i guess if i have to wait on ebay stuff, my as well paint it... guess if i'm gona paint it my as well get the 90 dollar side light and do it right, and fork boots while i'm thinking about it... but where do i stop lol. Listen, iknow it aint much, believe me, i know, i got it for 300, used a 60 dollar seat i had laying around, and plan to put it on this weekend for 900. Figure a 600 dollar profit for a couple hours work is good enough. just decided to take pics and time myself just to give others an idea who may not think they have the skill to mod, god knows i dont lol, and i aint done too bad so far, well, at least on my other ones. not bad for a carpenter who dont know **** about bikes... well, at least last year i didnt.
I havnt looked, but i'm assuming i've got ot pull everything off to flip the ears on that one right, if not, maybe i will drop it, hate that front end look, but hey.. it's tax return season and spring in a couple weeks, market is now.

[Billy Ricks]

I like what you're doing there. +1 on the headlight and gauges needing to be dropped and pulling the forks up in the triple clamps a bit to drop the front end. If it's an air fork though you would need to pull the plumbing off for that and plug up the holes left behind. maybe a set of PVC spacers above the springs after that to get the preload right. If you go with the spacers be sure to use a fender washer between the PVC and the springs.

Thumbs up for rescuing bikes that might otherwise end up being parted out.

[jwhelan65]

Another classic chopped up....what a shame

[lostsoul74]

it would be a classic if it was in mint condition, anything other then mint and it's just outdated. to each their own I guess, as is it was "maybe" it was worth 5-600 bucks to some young kid who just wanted it for a cheap bike, but as soon as he could afford it would be gone and hed have something more updated. Older people who would appreciate this for it's day, wouldnt want it either unless it was in "prestine" condition, they'd rather ride a harley or newer bike. This one may be a cheap chop, but normally what i buy for 2-300 bucks and spend maybe 8-10 hours and maybe 200 bucks in mods on I get 2 grand in spring for. In it's current body style, all i'd get are some young kids with little money who just want to learn on it then toss it, then it would be passed to the next guy who would also toss it. Updating and going with a more unique style such as a cafe or bobber with these older bikes is one of the few ways that they remain around, and the selling price alone shows proof of interest.
I prefer the older bikes, better built more reliable motors, easy to work on, and easy to get parts for affordable. I'll take an old beater like this or the yamaha XS line anyday over say a Harley that needs to be rebuilt every 10k, or the newer crotchrockets that blow themselves up after 15-18k. These bikes on average last 2-3 times longer over current models. If i wanted a newer bike because of styling, then i'd hit ebay and buy the tins for a couple hundred bucks and slap it on and have the same look.
Updating these bikes is the only way they dont find their demise in the scrap yard. So say what you will, but if a bike is done right, it will sell more then if it was Mint. To most people, it wasnt even worth getting running and was worth more in parts as is. So theres no Shame about it, it's been giving a second life instead of a compactor.
Like i said, to each their own. I took the time to post for a couple that might find it interesting and prevent theirs from being handed down to someone else or parted out.
Sorry for any tone in this reply, craigslist flaggers have been iritating me today.
I'll take a look and see whats involved with dropping that light, if i got to pull it to flip anything, then i'll probably just swap it with the ones off the parts bike, make a better cafe anyways. got a visor around somewhere... yea, the more i think about it i probably will, it's pretty ugly... i'll probably paint the tank black and switch the fender with the chrome one off the parts bike. I'll probably throw 12 on it then instead of 9.

[Billy Ricks]

There are people that feel like I've bastardized my bike, but motorcycling has always been about making a bike your own. I can appreciate those that want to keep their bikes totally stock, but I like to make them fit my needs and riding style.

[lostsoul74]

well said.


Again i'm hardly here to start any arguments, you guys have helped me in the past and i look forward to more input as i have several more gs750s waiting their turn, they'll be done better then this one. was tight on cash last week but couldnt pass up the deal and knew i could flip fast and make a few bucks, normally I take a bit more pride in my work. But it is tax season, and right now up here, Any running road bike is worth a grand, no matter how ugly, and since i had the seat laying around anyways, wanted to see how it would come out. looked decent sitting on the parts bike, the light/guage setup on this one ruins it. but in the morn i'll swap things around. Hopefully if buddies garage is free, i'll give a paint job and list her, but if not then looks like spray cans a buffer it is. I'm sure it would break your heart to find out what i'm doing to a mint condition 74 cb750k, i could bank on ebay with it, but that one will be my personal. Got a great spot for the nice 300 dollar cafe seats blems for 100 bucks, fine by me as i have to paint anyways.

[atb1998]

hour cafe

i meant as long as your changing headlights, not use that square lite, it is pretty F&^#*ng ugly. I don't see you chopping up a classic. I see you saving a bike that woild have been relegated to a scrap heap by a less knowledgable person. I've seen a lot nicer bikes chopped, cafed and otherwise modified. Like what you did on the blue cafe

[Hammered]

Nice bike Lost. Keep chopping. Its what keeps you from forgetting which one is yours in the parking lot.