[busrocker71]

whats up everyone. new to the scene and looking around for a new bike. just sold my bus and im riding my newly restored vespa right now. just got an itch for a cafe racer. so...any good deals out there im definately interested in! anyway...
take it easy...keep it greazy.

-cheers

hely

 

[joe c]

man, this place is crawling with new people! hey, welcome everyone.


jc

 

[FR]

Hey hely. Don't know why, but I'm picturing Ralph Kramden on a caferacer...with Ed Norton giving him advice..
Anyway, you found the right place, good luck.

FR

 

[busrocker71]

right on. i was wondering if anyone here is located in orange county,ca. i heard of a club that rides thumpers and races cafes here in oc. anyway...take it easy and im sure i'll be asking way too many questions.

-hely

 

[busrocker71]

right on. i was wondering if anyone here is located in orange county,ca. i heard of a club that rides thumpers and races cafes here in oc. anyway...take it easy and im sure i'll be asking way too many questions.

cheers-
-hely

 

[texmawby]

nah! oc would be the smart place to live if you wanted to ride motorcycles year round. the majority here live in new england/mid atlantic east coast. so we ride tractors in the winter and bitch about the snow.

tex "obviously not as smart as you" mawby

 

[Trefmawr]

Indeed. If only I wasn't born in a country where it's winter 8 months of the year. Oh well, more time to tinker.

Road Trip!

 

[Eddie_E]

I'm in the same situation as busrocker71. I have finally come to realize that vintage scooters are getting a bit long in the tooth for me. although if I put another $700 into it it would either be fast enough or it would seize.
I had a big bike too (Vstar 1100 classic) a couple years ago that my wife convinced me would be better for "US" to ride. The Vstar handled like a school bus and I just didn't love it.
I had a Maxim 650 that was half converted to cafe style that I liked until I loaned it out and it came back in pieces. Sometimes I think back about KZ400 I rode 18 years ago in high school and remember how nice a british style twin engine sounds.
I'm riding a new vintage scooter , a stella 150cc and it's ok but not really. Boston soccer moms regularly get nasty with thier SUV's when they can't handle the mental image of being behind a "moped" even if i'm going 60MPH. This may be the year to build that cafe style bike I always wanted.
There is another friend who rode vintage scooters in Pa. who is also thinking hard about a cafe racer.

 

[A.D.]

I too am a "Vintage Scooter" geek turned motorcycle racer.. Maybe we should start a club.. Nah, that would take effort..

Cheers, A.D.

 

[Geeto67]

The Brit Iron Rebels are a "Cafe racer" club mostly in cali. They are birt bikes only though although it might not hurt to see if any of them know about the OC scene.

http://www.britironrebels.com/about.htm

The problem I always found with scooters is that...well as much fun as they are and as stylish as they are they are limited in their practicality. They are urban only bikes. My buddy Tim used to ride his Vespa cross country and he always told me it was a pain in the arse riding a bike that you could only maintain 50 mph on because it would seize after a while (his GS was a 1962 outfitted with a later P200 engine). MY cb750 I could ride to california right now, carry what I need, get decent mileage out of it and will run 70mph to 80mph all day long.

Hey A.D. Are you still working at vespa and are they hiring right now? e-mail me with the details.

 

[busrocker71]

yeah southern california has got to be the best place in the world if you live on two wheels. it was 80 degrees on christmas eve today for christ's sake! i've always had a thing for cafe's, just never knew what they are called. now that i know...i've got my eyes opened for a gb 500. saw one at a scooter shop and haven't been able to get them off my mind since. just have to talk the gf into it. that's the hard part. i just dropped a good amount of cash into rebuilding my vespas engine. a bunch of go-fast goodies that should have my little scooter hitting 75-80mph no problem. the only problem is getting up the cajones to do that speed on a 10" wheel. anyway...take it easy and have a happy holiday season.

-cheers
hely

 

[bcr]

Good a time as any to jump in. Been hanging about just a little while, so cheers to ya. I'm looking to build a Yamaha 500 single to flog around Loudon this summer. Forks, wheels and brakes are on my wish list as the old set up used to roost around some New Engand short tracks a couple times a year. Front brakes and right hand turns what a concept.

PS. was that stocking stuffer in the other forum a Loudon umbrella girl in the off season? I'm wonder'n

Cheers, BC