T8's 750 Cafe Racer Project

[T8erbug]

Got the whole rear end tacked up today. Things look to be pretty straight and solid. Both shocks went on smooth without having to preload one to get the opposite one on. I decided not to finish weld it today because it seems I always get it home and find something that needs an adjustment. When things are finish welded a small adjustment becomes a BIG job so rather than deal with that again I thought I'd sleep on it. I'll roll it around a bit and eyeball it for the weekend and finish weld it next week sometime. Everything fit up really well and didn't give me too much of a problem. You can see that the bike still looks complete without the hoop once the seat is on. The plug needs to be adjusted a bit to look a bit better but you get the idea.

[T8erbug]

Got my Galfer brake lines the other day and forgot to post some pics. Everything was spot on and as ordered. The only problem was that I miscalculated one of the banjo angles so I had to send it back to be reworked . Other than that all I have done is mount up the front brake line and strip the rest of the paint off the tank.

I chose the smoke PCV coating because it is clear enough you can see that they are braided stainless lines if you're looking and dark enough they look stock from a short distance. Subtle are the details.

[T8erbug]

I removed most of the paint from the frame so I can do a final fit before I powder coat it. I also need to weld in some tabs here and there for body mounting and such. Got the motor installed again and for the first time in at least a year or more the engine is mounted and the bike is resting on the weight of its own suspension. I'd say I reached a milestone. Now I just need to rewire it and relocate the petcock. Once that's done I should be able to start her up and ride it around! After the shake-down I'll disassemble it again, make any necessary adjustments, sandblast/powdercoat, and then throw it back together. I'm hoping by next spring it will be 100% complete. But I should have it running in 2 weeks or so.

[psyguy]

I'd say I reached a milestone.

Looking good!

[Player B]

Looking good! Really like the path this is taking. Keep it up, can't wait to see it finished.

[Chuck78]

Great to hear the 2 years of planning & hard work are finally close to paying off! I've only been able to ride about 300 miles this year, & it's killing me! I can only imagine having your prized bike on the bench for as long as you have... Dealing with some problems on mine now, but the 920cc engine went on it's first (ring break-in) test ride last night!

[Gsgsxr]

Sent you a PM about those spacers

[kimjay]

Man, that is really looking good.

[T8erbug]

Just a quick shot from the garage today. I didn't actually work on it today but I was able to stare at it for a minute while I worked on my truck. Just a glimpse of how the exhaust fits up. I should get more time after next weekend to work on the bike. I've had a bunch of fishing tournaments this month so it's been tough because my weekends are spent out of town.

[Morrison]

Have you sat on it and actually been ableto put both feet on the pegs.?? They look up pretty high.

[T8erbug]

I have sat on it and they are definitely high but I'd rather start high and lower them as needed. That is also part of the reason I haven't painted the frame at all yet. For me the whole point of this bike was to build something that handled better so if those pegs aren't getting close to dragging (even as high as they are) I haven't done my job We'll see how it handles though and make adjustments from there. But yeah, I agree they are high. Not by accident though

[mmattockx]

For me the whole point of this bike was to build something that handled better so if those pegs aren't getting close to dragging (even as high as they are) I haven't done my job

Your pegs look significantly higher than the pegs on my GSXR1000 and I have never managed to touch those even on track days. If you are getting close to dragging your pegs on the street you are either Kenny Roberts or are going way, way too fast on the street.


Mark

[T8erbug]

Like I said, we'll see what happens. The bike at this point is very adjustable, hence the bare frame Also, I did not say I'd be riding on the street trying to drag peg ha. I do not condone unsafe or illegal street riding and am sorry if I ever said anything that would suggest that I do. The street is not the place to test a bike's limit or your own. Bottom line is that this bike is, for lack of better words, an experiment. I have taken my time on every detail. I have measured twice and cut once.. and there have been things that didn't work, so they got remeasured, rethought, and redone. My pegs are also about an inch longer than stock pegs, unfortunately. I'll probably be changing them out for a pair of stock GXSR pegs as soon as I can find some. The rearsets ended up where they are due to some lean tests as well as the long pegs. The last thing I want is to build a bike that handles how it should and the only hangup being that a peg or the exhaust scrapes midturn. I live relitively close to a good race track and intend to run the bike hard there before making anyadjustments. And for those of you thinking about my tires right now, yes the current ones are rains, BUT I'll put some drys on before track day

[T8erbug]

So, it's been a while and I have been extremely busy. I just got an internship with the same company my buddy Ben works for. This means I no longer have to go through him to make my parts. I can just do them all myself from start to finish! It also means all of my projects had to be moved about 30 miles away which is convenient in some regards but a pain in the butt in others. The bad news is the bike will not be done this riding season. She will undergo her last winter under the knife and I'll have a finished product ready to hit the road in the spring. Anyways, I have been able to make a couple of parts to fix my steering damper situation. It seems to be a good solution and I'm excited to road test it. The only problem with it now is the little protrusion on the right side of the bottom triple clamp because it hits the damper spacer. I planned on finishing the casting marks out of the lower triple clamp anyways so it will be an easy job to do before I do that. My goals at this point are to make some headlight brackets, wire up the engine, bleed the brakes, get a new throttle twist, and probably get a shorter clutch cable. Once it's all hooked up she should fire up. As far as welding goes I need to relocate the petcock and rearsets, make some brackets to hold the seat, and find a good muffler to finish the exhaust. Lots of updates to come!

[Josue_Rodz]

Hi,

do you know if the 79' 750 exhaust works on a 79' 850? i want to buy an aftermarket exhaust for my 850 but i don't like the ones that fit my bike. i've seen some 750 exhaust that i like but not sure if it fits.