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1985 Honda VF700S Sabre Cafe project

240K views 514 replies 59 participants last post by  pwalo 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all. I just joined the forum and thought I'd share this project.
First, a bit about who I am. My real name is Dino and I work as a European Auto Tech here in North Carolina. I've been wrenching on cars and bikes since 1975. I rebuilt my first motorcycle back then.. a Yamaha 80cc 2-stroke. I've owned several bikes over the years, two of which I really miss. A 1975 Yamaha RD350 that I turned into a cafe racer with fiberglass seat, tank, full race fairing, rear set controls and clubman bars. It ran about 95 in the quarter mile and I "did the ton" on that bike! Another fave was a 1976 Honda CB750F Super Sport. I put straight bars and a sport seat on that one and drove it as my only transpo for a few years in Phoenix AZ.

Fast forward to now. I just picked up a 1985 Honda VF700S Sabre for $500, not running. It had been stored and picked of a few parts at a bike shop but it only has 2700 miles on it!! I decided to turn in into a cafe racer because I've not seen a V45 cafe yet.

I have a website where I post weekly DIY projects called hackaweek.com. Last week I posted the first video of this project.
Hope you enjoy following along and I look forward to joining the community here and getting back on a bike for the first time in 30 years!!!

 
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#59 · (Edited)
Uploaded part 14 today. It was mostly about the LED panel that I fabricated and mounted on the old handle bar bosses below the gauges that I installed last week. The panel also holds the new key switch that I rewired to suit my bike. It's new switch for a Suzuki four wheeler.

Speedometer Gauge Tachometer Auto part Motor vehicle



I also added a little more to the rear bottom of the seat cowl. It just looks better and hides the subframe a bit more.

Land vehicle Vehicle Motor vehicle Motorcycle Car


This week's Hack A Week blog post has some good info and links to help out anyone interested in wiring up LEDs in the place of bulbs on a 12 volt system.

The video:

 
#63 ·
I like your panel design, I might have added a connector socket between the panel and the wiring harness for the Led. Minor for sure. I like your video sequence and I'm picking up some really great tips - keep them coming.
 
#64 ·
I must say, I just registered after I found this post! I have recently found your video's on you-tube, Brilliant!! I have a 84' VF700F and have been wanting to do a full cafe to it. I have already semi-streetfighter'd it. I plan on stealing many idea's from you!

Impatiently waiting for more.

BTW, any haters of someone using a vf bike for a cafe, is because a vf will simply blow away all the other CB Cafe's out there! ;)
 
#68 · (Edited)
saber, keep at it. I like where this is going.

I think you need a small fairing to balance the bike out a bit. something 1970's ducati supersport-ish, BMW R90s, or maybe zrx/lawson/emgo square style. The bulk of your tail section just makes the whole thing visually tail heavy. It would bring it back more to the race bike end of the spectrum rather than making it look like someone's crashed sportbike. Also maybe blend the seat better into the tank - it could cover up that ugly frame joint as well right underneath the rear of the tank. Right now the panels look ill fitting and disjointed (and yes I know it is a buck) but if you had the sides wrap around the tank a little it might smooth things out.

p.s. you still need to do suspension upgrades. That giant old honda airshock has to be worn out by now.
 
#71 · (Edited)
What happened to the 3rd position on the Lucas light switch, "flicker". We all know Lucas invented the 3 position switch, off/on/flicker. ;)

When using the 2" pink foam insulation for molding the seat does it have the plastic membrane on it like the 1/2" stuff does? And if so do you remove it to work with?

I like the look of that particular bike, good work.
Love the bloopers at the end, were there others.:)

Were the replacement 12v. bulbs the same great deal the useless 6v ones were?
 
#72 ·
Thanks. :)

Lucas...Did you know they make vacuum cleaners now. Yeah, they finally make something that doesn't suck!! :)


I did indeed remove that plastic film layer on the blue foam before laminating it up.
I usually put a blooper at the end of my videos just to show that I'm still human and make mistakes. :)
12 volt bulb was from a different source and cost about 5 bucks shipped so I bought two.
 
#77 ·
I finally got around to rebuilding the front brake calipers last evening. The floating pin was totally seized on one side! I also bought an Emgo Viper fairing (as per Geeto's suggestion) on Ebay. Should be here before the weekend.
Cafe Racer Style 7" Emgo Viper Front Fairing Harley Honda Kawasaki Suzuki Bobber | eBay
It'll all be in part 16 this weekend. :)

I've owned plenty of Emgo fariings over the years and don't be surprised if when you get it it is an angry sea of fiberglass. You are going to want to sand/fill/sand that fairing twice over. I was kinda hoping you wouldn't take the easy way out and put in some leg work given the amount of work you already have in the bike and modd something off an 80's sport bike. take a look through airtech's catalog and see if something catches your fancy:

VINTAGE QUARTER FAIRINGS, CAFE, MANX, TRITON, DRESDA, TRIUMPH, NORTON, BSA, BMW, MOTO GUZZI, DUCATI, HONDA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, YAMAHA, BIKINI, VIPER

VINTAGE HALF FAIRINGS, CAFE, MANX, TRITON, DRESDA, TRIUMPH, NORTON, BSA, BMW, MOTO GUZZI, DUCATI, HONDA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, YAMAHA

VINTAGE FULL FAIRINGS, RACING, AHRMA, CAFE, MANX, TRITON, DRESDA, TRIUMPH, NORTON, BSA, BMW, MOTO GUZZI, DUCATI, HONDA, SUZUKI, KAWASAKI, YAMAHA
 
#76 ·
As a side-track, I heard on the radio today that you have to sign a form and produce ID to purchase nail polish remover because it has acid-tone in it and THAT could be used in the manufacture of meth... I understand it's sold in the gallons at any hardware store and has no restrictions on purchase.

I recently changed my front fairing (1/4 type) over to a smoked fly on my bike. It was cheap and I'm liking the looks of the fly better than the fairing I use to have on it. I know you have already ordered the fairing - I'll have to post a recent picture of my rebuild I just completed.. Other than that - I'm enjoying the video's...
 
#84 ·
I got some more fiberglass laid up this evening on both the seat and the tank. I also have the Emgo (POS) fairing mounted. What a bitch of a thing to get straight. Geeto67, you called it on that one... (as usual) The Emogo was the cheao and easy way out but it kind of sucks and I'm not so sure I'll keep it on the bike. Not so sure it goes well with the seat/tank. I may just go with no fairing.

I have the battery relocated behind my ass now. Any thoughts on this? Some folks say that weight up there is bad but I pulled nearly that much weight off the bike on the ass end. I understand centralizing weight and polar moments of inertia and all that, but I'm not really thinking it's going to "ruin" the handling.
Any feedback on this are most appreciated.

It's pretty much down to a few more layers of glass on the seat and tank and it'll be time to melt the foam out of the tank, clean all the crap out, give the inside a coat of resin, mount a petcock, sand fill and paint.
 
#85 ·
Your build is coming along nicely so I wasn't going to spoil it by telling you that I would have put the battery anywhere but there. Think of a pendulum. That's what that battery is on the furthest most corner of the bike. By pulling other weight off the back of the bike makes it even worse being out there. That being said I don't know how much effect the weight of it will be noticed, maybe not at all. Mine is in the tail of the seat also but will weigh much less than that one.
Pic of the Emgo on it?
 
#89 ·
I really like it. Didn't think I would but the overall shape is quite pleasing. Reminds me of an upscaled rz350. Those fairings are also era appropriate for that bike being more a product of the late 70's/early 80's.

Emgo's quality has become real shit in the last decade or so, not that it was that great to begin with. I have two square 1/4 fairings in my garage right now - one from the early 80's and one that is a couple years old. The 80's one has all metal fastners even for the windscreen - the new one has plastic windscreen screws. The mounting hardware is largely the same with the older stuff being normal zinc plated and the new one some sort of black electroplate (parkerizing?). The biggest difference is that the 80's one is far less wavy. It is still wavy as heck, but the newer one is much worse.

There is nearly 20 hours in sanding and filling in this newer one:



BobDog hooked me up for my birthday this year with an original kawasaki Z1R fairing that was lying around his work. I wanted him to grab the CB1100F fairings that were there as well before he left but I moved before that could happen. I am using it on the R80RT, and I have to say - you can't even tell it is a Z1R fairing because the BMW bodywork kinda matches it's boxy/curvy lines in a different way. It is ABS plastic, and the mounting has been super easy: just two slotted tabs that fit inbetween the headlight bucket and the fork ear. Now....if I could only find a windsheild.


of course there is always this option:


it is just an older full face helmet windsheild run backwards over the headlight.
 
#90 ·
That fairing definitely doesn't fit the bill Sabre cafe, makes it look much too high at the front, and it just looks to be from the wrong era. Maybe painting the fork legs black will make it look less leggy, and it'll certainly go with the rest of the bike, but I think you may as well accentuate the height with a tall thin screen.

On another note, can I ask you how many layers of fibreglass you've used (roughly) in making the tank and seat? I'm all ready to start playing with making a seat for my bike (heavily inspired by your vids), but the cost of materials in the UK mean that it's looking a lot cheaper just to buy a ready made one.
 
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