New member with a new to me 1150ef

[Charles]

Hey, I’m brand new here I’ve been lurking for a couple of days, signed up and pulled the trigger on a 85 1150. I’m looking for some input as I am going to do a complete re and re, which direction are you all liking? Muscle bike, stock concours, cafe or retro are the ideas floating around in my little brain. I have been building bikes my whole life and I’m a little older now so I sold the r1m and 765rs to go the vintage air cooled route, kind of back to my roots if you will. I’m looking forward to all of the knowledgeable input that I have seen in the last couple of days and I will start tearing it down after thanksgiving for it’s reincarnation of sorts.

[dorkburger]

Welcome. Your bike, your build, but since you’re asking... NOT cafe.
1150s are way to big for cafe treatments anyway. Restomods are my personal favorite.

[Charles]

That’s my first pick also so, I have an sv650 front end (31”) with Suzuki racing brake kit and full traxxion dynamics internals (all balls makes the conversion bearings) and it looks like the swingarm with wheel, shock and brakes also will bolt right up (although I will have to fab an upper shock mount and maybe relocate the battery) I could also use the rear sets. I saw somewhere on here where someone shortened the seat and tail somewhat and the seat lock was still retained. I also like the idea of a Wes Cooley type fairing and paint job, white or gold wheels? Is there a good header available and maybe a set of cr smoothbores and bigger oil cooler? My mind is going like a squirrel on Ritalin I hope I can sleep tonight because I think I will be tearing into this tomorrow and have some mockup done this week.

[wyly]

Welcome. Your bike, your build, but since you’re asking... NOT cafe.
1150s are way to big for cafe treatments anyway. Restomods are my personal favorite.

our oem efe's nearly meet the parameters for cafe racer as big as they may be.
When I built a cafe back in the 70's the definition for a cafe was... stripped for minimal weight, clip-on bars, solo seat, forward leaning riding position, various performance enhancements, fairing was optional as were bar end mirrors. Fun for short spirited rides but hell on the back and wrists!

I see my efe as a "mature" cafe racer. We havean oem clip-on with a riser, moderate forward lean good for old backs and easy on the wrists. Easily stripped for weight and converted to a solo seat. And far more power than the cafe's back in the day. Some efe's have fairings and some do not

[wyly]

That’s my first pick also so, I have an sv650 front end (31”) with Suzuki racing brake kit and full traxxion dynamics internals (all balls makes the conversion bearings) and it looks like the swingarm with wheel, shock and brakes also will bolt right up (although I will have to fab an upper shock mount and maybe relocate the battery) I could also use the rear sets. I saw somewhere on here where someone shortened the seat and tail somewhat and the seat lock was still retained. I also like the idea of a Wes Cooley type fairing and paint job, white or gold wheels? Is there a good header available and maybe a set of cr smoothbores and bigger oil cooler? My mind is going like a squirrel on Ritalin I hope I can sleep tonight because I think I will be tearing into this tomorrow and have some mockup done this week.

shortened seat/tail cowl/seat lock? That may be my '84 you saw.

I used mukuni RS36, and Hindle 4-2-1 headers. 4-2-1 headers have better midrange for street riding vs a 4-1 but you''ll need to give up the centre stand.

[Charles]

The Hindle is on the list for sure (my friend taught him how to tig and make exhaust systems) I like the picture of your shortened seat but couldn’t find the write up. I’m all about the mid range torque of these big air cooled bikes and would like to get rid of as much weight as possible

[Rich82GS750TZ]

I see lots of mention of pictures but not seeing any

[Charles]

I’m picking it up in a couple of hours; leaving now, the previous owner painted it black but it’s all there and he sent me a video of it running last night. I hear a lot of people complain about loading pics on this site and I am not very tech savvy so we’ll see how that goes as I don’t see any attachment buttons in the toolbar

[Rich82GS750TZ]

there is an attachment toolbar, should be just above the field where you type in a post, which is handy. If you're not seeing it, go to settings, General setting, Miscellaneous Options, and check Enhanced Interface - Full WYSIWYG Editing. The movie strip icon near the far right is helpful to make a youtube video show up in the post, as opposed to just linking it. Otherwise, I rarely use this toolbar. Other than smilies


The best way to post pics in this forum is to upload your pics first to a image hosting site like Imgur. I have written instructions linked in my signature. It seems like a lot of work at first. After you do it a few times, it really isn't bad. It really only took me a few seconds to copy the image above, upload it to Imgur, get the BBCode, and paste it into this post.

[wyly]

The Hindle is on the list for sure (my friend taught him how to tig and make exhaust systems) I like the picture of your shortened seat but couldn’t find the write up. I’m all about the mid range torque of these big air cooled bikes and would like to get rid of as much weight as possible

I have posted a bit on the seat/cowl I can add more pics and info on the process in my thread. I'm pleased with my first attempt building one and already I'm considering another version improving it and possibly in aluminum or steel. You could probably take some of what I learned and build a better cowl than I did.

Weight loss, Hindle system just over 9lbs, the oem 33-35lbs. That change alone will bring the efe dry weight to under 500lb.
Battery change to Li-on will save 10lbs, I haven't swapped mine as yet as the old battery still has life in it.
Centre stand, reducing the tail light and license plate clutter, eliminating pillion pegs/hangers if I recall was closing in on 10lbs.
If I were to stop there(with Li-on batt) I'd been at about 480lb dry weight.
Removal of the fairing would reduce good amount of weight which was in my initial plans but getting out of the wind on an extended ride is nice, I have my CBX for the naked experience.

Gsxr wheels I've been told reduce weight by another 8lbs, not sure if that was 8lbs per wheel or for both.
GSXR or Bandit forks would further reduce the weight. Both were in my build plans but I've discarded the fork swap idea and the GSXR wheels are looking less likely. A wheel swap would seem to be more of an appearance improvement rather than a performance enhancement.

Just a guess on my part but I think a final weight in the 460lb range is very possible, combined with swapping carbs/headers a 100cc overbore should put the efe in the 160hp range at the crank, an enormous improvement in power to weight ratio. That's a goodly amount for a fun reliable commuter. And that's without any significant headwork, a cam change will mean giving up power somewhere in the rpm range for more elsewhere, the factory cam still is the best choice for everyday street friendly use IMO. Add a turbo or nitrous and you'll have 200+hp but then you should be strengthening the internals. For myself 140hp, 90ish ft lb torque at the rear wheel is more than enough, I'd like to keep my license.

[dorkburger]

our oem efe's nearly meet the parameters for cafe racer as big as they may be.
When I built a cafe back in the 70's the definition for a cafe was... stripped for minimal weight, clip-on bars, solo seat, forward leaning riding position, various performance enhancements, fairing was optional as were bar end mirrors. Fun for short spirited rides but hell on the back and wrists!

I see my efe as a "mature" cafe racer. We havean oem clip-on with a riser, moderate forward lean good for old backs and easy on the wrists. Easily stripped for weight and converted to a solo seat. And far more power than the cafe's back in the day. Some efe's have fairings and some do not

I certainly don't disagree with the intent of the original cafe bikes which were modified for increased performance. Its the modern interpretation and styling exercise types that are built to only look cool while parked, not leaned into a corner, that I dislike.

[wyly]

there is an attachment toolbar, should be just above the field where you type in a post, which is handy. If you're not seeing it, go to settings, General setting, Miscellaneous Options, and check Enhanced Interface - Full WYSIWYG Editing. The movie strip icon near the far right is helpful to make a youtube video show up in the post, as opposed to just linking it. Otherwise, I rarely use this toolbar. Other than smilies


The best way to post pics in this forum is to upload your pics first to a image hosting site like Imgur. I have written instructions linked in my signature. It seems like a lot of work at first. After you do it a few times, it really isn't bad. It really only took me a few seconds to copy the image above, upload it to Imgur, get the BBCode, and paste it into this post.

But you're an IT genius Rich for many of us oldskool types it's far too complex, far too many hoops to jump through, I've given up.

[Rich82GS750TZ]

Oh, well, guess we'll never get to see the pics.

[wyly]

I certainly don't disagree with the intent of the original cafe bikes which were modified for increased performance. Its the modern interpretation and styling exercise types that are built to only look cool while parked, not leaned into a corner, that I dislike.

I can't disagree with that.

[wyly]

well yeah but they'll limited to one per post and all are thumbnails that you'll need to click to enlarge. I tried but that's the best I could manage.