I can't believe there's a cafe forum, and i managed to find it. My name is Aston and i'm in Colorado Springs. You don't ever really see cafe style bikes around here, which is probably one of the reasons i set out to build something that most people aren't going to see very often.
I've been riding motorcycles since high-school, starting with motocross and ending with cars. I drag race a Dodge Omni GLH down in Pueblo and i'm building a Lotus-7 replica called a "Locost" completely from scratch. It's slow-going, but really neat to see a car that you're building from nothing take shape in the garage. If i could keep myself from breaking the GLH so often, i'm sure the Seven would get built faster.
I've been wanting to get back into motorcycles and pick up a street bike for a while. A lot of my friends ride them, but i'm loathe to just go to the dealership and write a check for $8k just so i can pay out of my ass for insurance, eventually wrecking it because my ego was too big for my britches. That just won't do.
So i picked up an old CB350 and wondered what to do with it. Runs fine, looked OK. Then a CBR600F1 popped up in the local 'Nickel. Seized engine, no plastic, otherwise complete, come and get it for $100. I paid $75.
Now that i had two completely different bikes sitting in the garage, one running and one great parts bike - i started wondering what the hell i was going to do with the $400 worth of motorcycles i now had. Well, what else? I started seeing what i could swap from the CBR onto the CB. The pedestrist CB350 ended up on the receiving end of the CBR's wheels, brakes, rear-sets, forks and clip ons. I'm not sure if you would call it a cafe-racer, but it was certainly inspired by the look of the cafe-bikes. I can't stand the look of newer bikes, overpriced and with (IMHO) entirely too much plastic attached. However, i love the technology that goes into them. The trick bits. I tried my best to combine the aesthetic of the old bikes with the more modern performance and trick parts of the newer bikes.
Like i said before, i have a ton of projects, so i still haven't been able to take the CB out for a spin. It is nearing completion though. A little machining here, some welding there, order some steering head bearings and a chain and i'll be in business.
I can post a pic of the bike as it sits, if this sort of thing strikes anybody's fancy. If you've got questions, ask away.
-Aston
I've been riding motorcycles since high-school, starting with motocross and ending with cars. I drag race a Dodge Omni GLH down in Pueblo and i'm building a Lotus-7 replica called a "Locost" completely from scratch. It's slow-going, but really neat to see a car that you're building from nothing take shape in the garage. If i could keep myself from breaking the GLH so often, i'm sure the Seven would get built faster.
I've been wanting to get back into motorcycles and pick up a street bike for a while. A lot of my friends ride them, but i'm loathe to just go to the dealership and write a check for $8k just so i can pay out of my ass for insurance, eventually wrecking it because my ego was too big for my britches. That just won't do.
So i picked up an old CB350 and wondered what to do with it. Runs fine, looked OK. Then a CBR600F1 popped up in the local 'Nickel. Seized engine, no plastic, otherwise complete, come and get it for $100. I paid $75.
Now that i had two completely different bikes sitting in the garage, one running and one great parts bike - i started wondering what the hell i was going to do with the $400 worth of motorcycles i now had. Well, what else? I started seeing what i could swap from the CBR onto the CB. The pedestrist CB350 ended up on the receiving end of the CBR's wheels, brakes, rear-sets, forks and clip ons. I'm not sure if you would call it a cafe-racer, but it was certainly inspired by the look of the cafe-bikes. I can't stand the look of newer bikes, overpriced and with (IMHO) entirely too much plastic attached. However, i love the technology that goes into them. The trick bits. I tried my best to combine the aesthetic of the old bikes with the more modern performance and trick parts of the newer bikes.
Like i said before, i have a ton of projects, so i still haven't been able to take the CB out for a spin. It is nearing completion though. A little machining here, some welding there, order some steering head bearings and a chain and i'll be in business.
I can post a pic of the bike as it sits, if this sort of thing strikes anybody's fancy. If you've got questions, ask away.
-Aston
