I will try to help.
First, I am not sure what the cafe dream is. Is your only exposure to anything labeled "cafe" internet articles written by hipsters for hipsters that always start with "since such and such was a child, he had a dream to build something that personified his existence as an individual?"
Is it your current plan to build a cafe?
If you want to play, we have to start with the term racer. A "cafe racer" is a bike that has been modified to drive better, often by mimicking race bikes. A lot of the guys on here race. They are not here for looks.
If you are here for help fitting a mojave tank, "brat" seat, and clubmans to the first bike that fell into your lap, and then riding it to the bar with a scarf, leather jacket, and goggles you probably should try dotheton.com
If you are here because you are interested in bikes for what they are and want to make your bike perform better and learn more about how to do that, then we are on the right track.
Now I am new to bikes as well, especially compared to most of these guys, but here is the general advice I can give:
If you have never worked on anything mechanical before, avoid taking on a large project at once. Start with basic maintance items like learning how the points work and how to adjust them. Maybe they could use replacing.
Check your tires, if they need replacing then do so. Do the same with your chain. If your forks are leaking, try replacing the seals.
If your first problem is rust in your tank, then try to remedy that. I have used muriatic acid, and even though its smelly, it works pretty well.
By the time you have checked over the whole bike and made sure it is in tip top shape, you will have probably learned about other bikes while trolling the internet.
If there are fundamental things that you do not like about this bike that you are unable to change, you should probably not spend a ton of time and money modifying it to overcompensate.
Maybe try to sell your well maintained machine and use the money to fund a bike that you like better, and is easy to modify.
If you just got a nice running dirt bike, and have no idea what you are doing with a wrench, I do not recommend hacking different gas tanks onto it without some research and practice first at least.
First, I am not sure what the cafe dream is. Is your only exposure to anything labeled "cafe" internet articles written by hipsters for hipsters that always start with "since such and such was a child, he had a dream to build something that personified his existence as an individual?"
Is it your current plan to build a cafe?
If you want to play, we have to start with the term racer. A "cafe racer" is a bike that has been modified to drive better, often by mimicking race bikes. A lot of the guys on here race. They are not here for looks.
If you are here for help fitting a mojave tank, "brat" seat, and clubmans to the first bike that fell into your lap, and then riding it to the bar with a scarf, leather jacket, and goggles you probably should try dotheton.com
If you are here because you are interested in bikes for what they are and want to make your bike perform better and learn more about how to do that, then we are on the right track.
Now I am new to bikes as well, especially compared to most of these guys, but here is the general advice I can give:
If you have never worked on anything mechanical before, avoid taking on a large project at once. Start with basic maintance items like learning how the points work and how to adjust them. Maybe they could use replacing.
Check your tires, if they need replacing then do so. Do the same with your chain. If your forks are leaking, try replacing the seals.
If your first problem is rust in your tank, then try to remedy that. I have used muriatic acid, and even though its smelly, it works pretty well.
By the time you have checked over the whole bike and made sure it is in tip top shape, you will have probably learned about other bikes while trolling the internet.
If there are fundamental things that you do not like about this bike that you are unable to change, you should probably not spend a ton of time and money modifying it to overcompensate.
Maybe try to sell your well maintained machine and use the money to fund a bike that you like better, and is easy to modify.
If you just got a nice running dirt bike, and have no idea what you are doing with a wrench, I do not recommend hacking different gas tanks onto it without some research and practice first at least.
