T8's 750 Cafe Racer Project

[Hone101]

It's that tank straight bolt on or does it require modification?

[slayer61]

That front tire sure looks like a road racing rain tire... Is it DOT approved?

[T8erbug]

It's that tank straight bolt on or does it require modification?

The front mounting locations are the same but the rear requires quite a bit of modification. For me it works out perfect because I was going to tilt the rear up to match some body lines anyways.

[T8erbug]

That front tire sure looks like a road racing rain tire... Is it DOT approved?

This tire was designed to be supermoto specific. It is a rain tire but I don't think it's race spec. It has a medium rubber compound. I couldn't tell you if it is DOT approved or not. K73 if you want to look it up.

[Triam]

Yeah I'm way fortunate to have a buddy willing to work for free ha. We're both in engineering courses at our respective colleges. He is in the course I want to be in so we're pretty like-minded. I design the parts because that's what I'm good at, then he machines them. Throughout the process of designing and building parts I have realized the real creativity is in Ben's job (programming the mill to cut like it's supposed to without screwing up the part). Plus we're limited to this 3 axis mill. I'm going to start saving for my own, then an automatic tool changer, and another axis. While most people strive for new cars, I strive for bigger better tools ha.

I'm a machinist here on the north end of Salt Lake and I'm studying mechanical engineering, and I can tell you that you're not just lucky to have a friend that's talented enough to cut parts like these without screwing up and requiring a ton of set-up pieces, but the real luck is the working-for-free. At my shop we charge $110/hr just for machining, not to mention the engineering. Any of those hubs you'd spend at least $800 to get made at any shop (if you're only making one).

This looks like it's going to be an innovative and impressive build. Hopefully we'll run into each other sometime while in the greater Salt Lake area so I can see the finished project in person.

[T8erbug]

I'm a machinist here on the north end of Salt Lake and I'm studying mechanical engineering, and I can tell you that you're not just lucky to have a friend that's talented enough to cut parts like these without screwing up and requiring a ton of set-up pieces, but the real luck is the working-for-free. At my shop we charge $110/hr just for machining, not to mention the engineering. Any of those hubs you'd spend at least $800 to get made at any shop (if you're only making one).

This looks like it's going to be an innovative and impressive build. Hopefully we'll run into each other sometime while in the greater Salt Lake area so I can see the finished project in person.

Yeah he is a smart guy and a good buddy. I think the reason he is so willing is because I engineer the parts and I do it within the limits of what he/the machine we have at our disposal is able to do. We communicate well so it makes my life easier and I can't speak for him and say my designs are the easiest to make but I sure try to stay within the limits while pushing them at the same time. Like I said he is a smart guy and enjoys a challenge and he did say once we finished this part that it is the most intricate part he has machined and he enjoyed doing it.

I just bought a pipe bender today for $40 so I'm going to start fabbing up my new tail. More updates to come on Tuesday folks

[mlymanz71]

The front mounting locations are the same but the rear requires quite a bit of modification. For me it works out perfect because I was going to tilt the rear up to match some body lines anyways.

Just checked back on this after a while good work so far man! Do you have any pics of what you are going for the back of the tank because the 1100 tank is quite a bit longer. That and are your handle bars going to hit the front of the tank while turning stop to stop?

[T8erbug]

Just checked back on this after a while good work so far man! Do you have any pics of what you are going for the back of the tank because the 1100 tank is quite a bit longer. That and are your handle bars going to hit the front of the tank while turning stop to stop?

I don't have any pics of that part yet because I'm still deciding what to do. I'm either going to cut the original bracket off and make a new one in the current location OR weld a small pipe in a section long enough to take up the gap space then thread the inside of it for a bolt. I'll likely do the latter because it's easier and I think I can make the end result look much better (even though it will all be hidden anyway). The tank also clears the bars/fork tubes beautifully and that's one of the main reasons I chose this tank besides that it has the right length and knee dents.

[T8erbug]

They finished my rear wheel on Thursday so I went and picked it up after work. I also got a frame hoop mandrel bent by a shop not too far from me so I went and mocked up some things this evening.



The new Pirelli's


I'm going to have to come up with a wider bracket than I thought for my brake-stay but I should be able to think of something.


Here is the gap in the mounting locations at the rear of the gas tank. Shouldn't be too bad to fab something up to make it fit like a charm

[Toasty]

Damn that's a meaty tire, it looks mean on there.

[JonnyC]

Pics from the side please? That is sexy!

[mlymanz71]

I fully agree it is a sweet looking tank



Where did you have the rear hoop bent?

[T8erbug]

where did you have the rear hoop bent?

A place in Mapleton did it for me. It's called Hjorth Brothers and you want to ask for Casey. Tell him that Tate sent you up and he should do it for $25. Pretty good considering prefabbed ones online go for about $50. He did a heck of a job on mine (mine was bent to 166° with a small radius instead of the standard 180° because of how I'm building my rear end) and nailed my dimensions perfectly. I just talked to him on the phone, in fact, and he'd be happy to help any of my buddies out.

[mlymanz71]

A place in Mapleton did it for me. It's called Hjorth Brothers and you want to ask for Casey. Tell him that Tate sent you up and he should do it for $25. Pretty good considering prefabbed ones online go for about $50. He did a heck of a job on mine (mine was bent to 166° with a small radius instead of the standard 180° because of how I'm building my rear end) and nailed my dimensions perfectly. I just talked to him on the phone, in fact, and he'd be happy to help any of my buddies out.

I will have to check them out and see if they can do an up swept loop for me to match the tail section. Thanks for the info!

[T8erbug]

I have been working like crazy on the bike (even though it looks like very little has been done). I welded the frame hoop in and got it true and straight which was a challenge but it turned out nice. Now I'm getting ready to weld in the shock mount metal. The rearset brackets are custom designed and machined by Ben and I. They are simple and do the job well. If anyone wants any I'll sell them a pair for $30. They work with 1994 gsxr rearsets.. In fact I can do them for whatever so just let me know. The sprocket was lathed down to 520 so I installed it and roughly started to line up the rear sprocket with it. Rearsets and new footpegs are on now and I'll get the front wheel tomorrow so we'll be able to make spacers on Saturday. THE END IS NEAR