[lewiszman]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums so I thought I'd introduce myself.

My name is Lewis and I reside in Vancouver, BC.

I'm completely new to the motorcycle scene. My buddy has always egged me to get my license and bike - and I haven't really been into it until I discovered cafe racer-style bikes. I'm really digging their stripped down and utilitarian look.

The bike that first got me hooked? T Mobile CB750 Cafe Racer ~ Return of the Cafe Racers

By the way does anyone know what kind of fat-spoked wheels those are and where to get them?

One of the reasons I like cafe bikes is the cost to building/converting your own. Now I know it CAN be very expensive, but being a car enthusiast first, the cost for parts is relatively cheap.

Currently don't own a bike but I'm in the market for a nice cheap CB750 to convert to a cafe. I'm a shade tree mechanic and DIY guy so I'm looking forward to tearing this bike down and building it up to something I envision - however, I will NOT be doing engine building or suspension re/building work as those areas that I don't have enough experience in yet. My brother is a Honda mechanic, so I have a good fall-back... I think (he's got a background in cars not motorcycles).

So, nice to meet you all. Be kind to the newbie (both to the forum and to bikes and riding). And if anyone can send me some links for good places to start learning about cafe-ing bikes for beginners, that would be dandy.

Cheers!

Lewis

 

[Joep7]

it hurts my brain

 

[hillsy]

They're Harley wheels.

Horrible.

 

[jaguar]

Nothing like aspiring to a shit build.

 

[texmawby]

aim high.....hit low!

best of luck to you.

 

[lewiszman]

aim high.....hit low!

best of luck to you.

Nothing like aspiring to a shit build.

it hurts my brain

The ENTHUSIASM! I love it! Keep it coming, all you good news bears!

 

[Constantinos]

If you think that it costs less to PROPERLY fix or modify a motorcycle than a car you are sadly mistaken. I laughed at my friend when he suggested that it costs a lot more to maintain an old motorcycle than a car. I found out the hard way that he was right. You are in for a surprise my friend...

 

[Geeto67]

Hey Lewis,

here is the problem. Long before this was the latest trend, this hobby was the refuge of people who were tinkerers, racing fans, and general speed freaks. The bikes were built with an eye toward performance putting function over form. Life was good and all the trend jumping style monkeys wanted choppers. But then choppers got old, people got tired of them, but they still wanted a motorcycle "lifestyle". So they came here and they brought their chopper mentality of "above all else it must look cool" with them. So instead of a hobby made up of bikes that are enjoyable to ride and deliver tons of value in terms of functionality, we have shit like above - where its all style and no substance. I'm not saying you shouldn't like it, just saying that as you get deeper into the motorcycle hobby you will realize that it isn't something to aspire to. I think you would prefer this than to have a bunch of people atta boy you to death and never really help you find the sweet meat of the hobby that makes it really fun.

So let me ask you. What are your goals? Something inside you (hopefully not your friend) compelled you to get a mc license.....now what?

 

[lewiszman]

Hey Lewis,

here is the problem. Long before this was the latest trend, this hobby was the refuge of people who were tinkerers, racing fans, and general speed freaks. The bikes were built with an eye toward performance putting function over form. Life was good and all the trend jumping style monkeys wanted choppers. But then choppers got old, people got tired of them, but they still wanted a motorcycle "lifestyle". So they came here and they brought their chopper mentality of "above all else it must look cool" with them. So instead of a hobby made up of bikes that are enjoyable to ride and deliver tons of value in terms of functionality, we have shit like above - where its all style and no substance. I'm not saying you shouldn't like it, just saying that as you get deeper into the motorcycle hobby you will realize that it isn't something to aspire to. I think you would prefer this than to have a bunch of people atta boy you to death and never really help you find the sweet meat of the hobby that makes it really fun.

So let me ask you. What are your goals? Something inside you (hopefully not your friend) compelled you to get a mc license.....now what?

You know what? THANK YOU for a reply that promotes CONVERSATION rather than just a one-liner that leaves me scratching my head and thinking 'did I say something to offend someone?'. I appreciate your honesty and the insight. I completely get what you're saying about this hobby being a refuge for these people. All I was saying in my introduction was that that was the bike that first piqued my interest in cafe racers - not that I would actually model my bike after this. In fact I never even KNEW there was a 'trend' until they caught my eye and I started researching them.

I'm more curious as to why all the hate toward this bike? I mean, I think it looks cool. And as for performance - hell, I don't know, I haven't rode it nor are the specs mentioned... so why the hate?
I'm a car enthusiast first, and I totally understand function over form - in fact, I'm a huge miata guy - lightweight, nimble, and gives the driver a feeling of connection to the road and not often referred to as a 'good-looking' or 'manly' car but it makes it's driver WORK for the performance. But if an individual decides to invest equal amounts of time into making his bike visually appealing as well as a performer, why should he get shit for it?

My goal is customize a bike with my own two hands, learn the ins-and-outs and get a sense of ownership with my bike. I got my license because there was something awesome about going fast without feeling like in was 'inside' a vehicle. I joined this forum because I wanted to take advantage of the knowledge here and get insightful opinions - not to have everyone's 'acceptance' - you can all like what you like and I'll like what I like. Can't we all just get along?

 

[DesmoDog]

I'm more curious as to why all the hate toward this bike?

I'm not sure how old you are, but were you into cars when the "cool" thing was to buy wheels that were offset to stick the tires way out past the wheel wells? Trashed the bearings in no time, but it was "cool" so all the newbies wanted to do it to their econoboxes? Guys who knew about cars saw that and thought it looked wrong.

Well, the bike you pictured just looks wrong to people who grew up around race bikes. Lowered bikes do not handle well, they're not like cars. Cars are meant to stay flat when they corner, bikes HAVE to lean to go around turns fast. It's not an option, the faster you go through a turn, the more you have to lean. Lower them and you run out of ground clearance, things start to drag and that leads to rides that don't end well. Those wheels say "custom", not performance. Radial spokes on a performance bike? Not so much. Cast wheels might get away with it. Spoked wheels, no. I look at that front wheel and wonder how those spokes handle braking forces. That's probably why the spokes themselves are so massive. I wonder what those wheels weigh compared to a traditionally spoked wheel? If they need to be heavier to match the strengh, what have you gained?

Anywhos, point is, that bike is made to look fast to people who don't know what fast bikes look like.

 

[lewiszman]

I'm not sure how old you are, but were you into cars when the "cool" thing was to buy wheels that were offset to stick the tires way out past the wheel wells? Trashed the bearings in no time, but it was "cool" so all the newbies wanted to do it to their econoboxes? Guys who knew about cars saw that and thought it looked wrong.

Hi Desmo,

My first car was a '90 firs gen miata and I loved it because it was so simple - there weren't a ton of electronics so it was a great platform for me to tinker around with. There is a huge community of people who like to throw on wheels with ridiculous offsets and negative camber - I am not part of those circles. So to answer you're question, it may have been cool when I got into cars - but it certainly wasn't the reason.

Well, the bike you pictured just looks wrong to people who grew up around race bikes. Lowered bikes do not handle well, they're not like cars. Cars are meant to stay flat when they corner, bikes HAVE to lean to go around turns fast. It's not an option, the faster you go through a turn, the more you have to lean. Lower them and you run out of ground clearance, things start to drag and that leads to rides that don't end well. Those wheels say "custom", not performance. Radial spokes on a performance bike? Not so much. Cast wheels might get away with it. Spoked wheels, no. I look at that front wheel and wonder how those spokes handle braking forces. That's probably why the spokes themselves are so massive. I wonder what those wheels weigh compared to a traditionally spoked wheel? If they need to be heavier to match the strengh, what have you gained?

Anywhos, point is, that bike is made to look fast to people who don't know what fast bikes look like.

Well that makes sense. Keep in mind, I'm new to bikes and riding - so this might've been obvious to everyone, but I had no idea. Thanks.

 

[Geeto67]

So here is what I suggest. Start doing a little homework. Look at what guys were racing in the "big bike" and superbike era. Some names to google are : giacomo Agostini, Mike Hailwood, dick Mann, Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, Freddy spencer, Wes Cooley, Graeme Crosby, cal rayborn, Eddie Lawson, Gary Nixon, Reg pridmore, and jimmy adamo. That ought to give you a wide look at bikes, try to look outside the GP racing stuff - Mann gave Honda its only factory single cam win as well as a win on a bsa rocket 3 at Daytona. Freddy, Wes, Eddie, and Wayne all raced AMA superbike which were profuction based bikes (unlike GP which is one off). Pridmore raced nortons and bmws in superbike, adamo raced guzzi then Ducati in the same class.

also look up guzzi lemans 1 if you want to see a bike to aspire to.

 

[kerosene]

Well that makes sense. Keep in mind, I'm new to bikes and riding - so this might've been obvious to everyone, but I had no idea. Thanks.

You do not know how rare your reaction is. Actually listening is so rare. Stay - if you liked tinkering your miata and understand function - stick around. This forum can be prickly but its the best! ok enough cheesy shit from me. But seriously. Just read a bit more here and you can learn a lot. Old race bikes are a good inspiration as they are done "right", some stuff might not translate exactly to street use but you get the idea.

 

[WERA689]

I think the message being sent here is well summed up in this link: Dear Hipster | Cook's Corner

 

[lewiszman]

I think the message being sent here is well summed up in this link: Dear Hipster | Cook's Corner

Haha "Whoever your painter is, he’s got indifference nailed."

I can't tell if you're calling me a hipster because the article is written in a very confusing way... like 'Then it hit: You’re me. Just 25 years later.'

But if you are, my dog would be pissed at that:

Does this always happen when people introduce themselves in this forum?

 

[Geeto67]

Yeah, we haze a little to sort out the humorless dicks.

this is supposed to be fun, but people take being cool too seriously. They also take their noobness too seriously.

We are a bunch of bike nerds. We love riding. Even if it was the most uncool thing on the planet all of us would still do it.

This shouldn't be like the douchebag bar at last call. You don't fuck it because its there, you find a girl ( or bike) and build a relationship out of desire.


unfortunately because of its popularity now, we get a lot of guys who will stick their motorcycle dick anywhere, and a lot of it ain't pretty.

 

[Geeto67]

1977-1982 cb400t hawk? That's just motorcycle herpes.

 

[lewiszman]

1977-1982 cb400t hawk? That's just motorcycle herpes.

Lol, that shit never goes away. So are you suggesting that the CB400T is a good bike or a bad one?

BTW, I've been reading around this forum and some of the other ones. Where are some of these people finding bikes for under $1000?! The cheapest bike I can find on craigslist that runs is $2500...

I see a lot of Shadow VT500s for cheap... What are your opinions on this bike, overall and also in regards to being a platform for a cafe? Would I end up spending more on converting a Shadow than, say, a CB750?

 

[jaguar]

A shadow?
Are you simple slow or stupid?

what part of look at race bikes didnt translate from English?

eh?

 

[TCed]

Maybe because you live in Vancouver ?