[Ease]

I just got back from a trip to London and obviously I had to check out the ace on sunday (I'll post some pics later).
I was inspired by a couple of crazy v-max streetfighters... My cafe is a shaft drive, as are v-max.
These things had up around 200+ tires... Which got me to thinking... The stock v-max has a 150 tire on the rear, my bike has a 120 with no room to spare - on account of the shaft drive housing being part of the swingarm itself...

Anyone ever heard of mating a v-max swingarm to an XJ650??

Hey By'

 

[chetriply]

The problem would be getting the shaft aligned. It might physically bolt up but alignment could be an issue.

 

[Geeto67]

I know on some of the v-max big tire conversions that they convert them to chain drive. I have heard of other bikes being converted to chain as well, i think it all depends on whether your motor has a chain drive variant or not (and even still that is not a gaurantee - look at the cb900F and cb900c).

Wide tires are an asthetic thing unless you are putting out tons of hp (at least 120rwhp). They don't improve handeling at all.

 

[ROSKO]

they are probably running a shim between the drive and the hub. The shaft drive BMW's can shoehorn a larger rear tire in using this method BUT max shim size is 5mm* AND you have to offset the dish of your wheel by an equal amount.

*for a few reasons: anymore than that and the hub would be 'open' to the elements, brake sufaces would'nt line-up and, lugs may have to be swapped-out for longer ones, wich may mean drive teardown... lugs never have much in the way of 'extra' thread.



Or, I may need to finish my coffee.

BORN TO LURK, FORCED TO WORK.
www.NYCvinMoto.com
www.VinMoto.org

 

[Ease]

Yeah one of them was severely off center. Not what I want at all.
Plus I cant do that... Theres no room physically from the swingarm to the tire to go up a size... Barely enough room for the 120.

I'm not looking to have a giant tire like these Streetfighters.
Just that theres alot more tire choice for modern equipment... Plus I like the 150 tires some guys throw on CB's, just looks better.

I had to special order some Dunlop GT01's for my bike cause noone stocks my size in a rear, suppose you have to special order anything for these cafebikes anyway.

Dont think theres a chain drive variant on the XJ motor... Maxims and Secas are all shaft drive as far as I know... as were the 2 Streetfighter V-Max's... And a really ugly chopper that was there that day... Longest bike (and UGLIEST) I have ever seen... The shaft alone had to be 4 feet long with about 3 joints. It even had the Muffler off of a Rice-Mobile Honda Civic or something (looks like someone put alot of time into it though). If that someone is on here... uhh... sorry??

Hey By'

 

[ttilghman]

...and i don't believe those are OEM swingarms.

 

[Geeto67]

mad max does the wide tire conversions for the vmax. Not sure what is involved but as far as I know it is not cheap.

I saw a drag v-max once that had a rectangular swingarm made where the shaft was inside one of the arms of the swingarm. Still doesn't solve your problem of spacing the driveshaft out.

What about xj900s? did they come with wider rear tires? how about the xj750?

I think this is close to what you want to build but unfortunatly I can't read german:

http://www.xj650.de/spar_erlebnis.htm

The wheels are fzr600 (which take a 160 tire in the rear) and he machined an adapter plate to take the shaft drive unit from the xj.


Edited by - Geeto67 on Dec 12 2006 10:26:38 PM

 

[Ease]

quote:...and i don't believe those are OEM swingarms.

Ya think? Hah.
It just got me thinking... "What did they do with the stock ones and how can i get my hands on one."

Geeto, that's a nice looking XJ... one of the nicest i've seen actually... But I dont want to build a streetfighter - just threw those pics up for interest's sake.

That's a good question about the 750's an 900's... May have to look into that. Thanks

Hey By'

 

[Geeto67]

quote:

quote:...and i don't believe those are OEM swingarms.

Ya think? Hah.
It just got me thinking... "What did they do with the stock ones and how can i get my hands on one."

Geeto, that's a nice looking XJ... one of the nicest i've seen actually... But I dont want to build a streetfighter - just threw those pics up for interest's sake.

That's a good question about the 750's an 900's... May have to look into that. Thanks

Hey By'

do you know what the difference between a streetfighter and a cafe racer is?












about 20 years.

 

[robertob]

spoked wheels

 

[Ease]

quote:
do you know what the difference between a streetfighter and a cafe racer is?

about 20 years.

Let me rephrase - I dont want a modern front fairing and a ducktail

And to my own message:

quote:But I don't want to build a streetfighter.

That's a lie - I'd love to build one... Just out of a new SV rather than my XJ650

Edited by - ease on Dec 13 2006 2:52:37 PM

 

[Geeto67]

bodywork is what it is - easy to change.

Converting to a wide tire however that is a little harder. I was thinking, it might be helpful to find out how much lateral play you have in the driveshaft where it attaches to the engine. I have noticed most shaft drive bikes have a rubber boot to allow movement - this may help you to space the tire out the inch you need.


not that you want to know this but.....

BTW - the modern ducktail shaped seat was devloped by team hanson in 1972 for the H2R:

and a similar design was used extensviley on the TZ750:

the reason a lot of streetfigthers use it is to give their bikes an old timey 70s race vibe to them (except more modern ones are more cartoony).



Edited by - Geeto67 on Dec 13 2006 3:45:53 PM

 

[Geeto67]

quote:
spoked wheels

You've got to be kidding. The RD400 came with mag wheels and it makes an awsome cafe racer. Some of the hottest 70's cafe racer items were a set of lester, morris, or sun mags - if it was good enough for a race bike then it was good enough for a street race bike.

if you have to put a dividig line on cafe racers and streetfighters, the line is probably 1984. In 1984 the factories were still building their top of the line bikes to mimic homebuilt cafes and specials (see the z1r, cb1100f, katana, gpz900, and fz700 for examples). But in 1985-86 the factories decided that building race replicas was a better marketing stragety (see the 85 gsxr750, 86 gpz1000r - zx10R, 1986 fzr1000,vfr1000r,etc...). It made sence cafe racers were street bikes made to look and perform like race bikes, and the factory was copying these cafe bikes - eventually they cut out the middle man and just built replicas of what they raced. Pre-1984 and you are adding small fairings and bubble back seats, post 1984 and you are removing fairings and fiberglass tails.

 

[robertob]

That comment was somewhat tongue-in-cheek but I do think that spoked wheels are a cutoff point of some kind. I know about all the mag wheels and stuff, but when I think of "cafe racer" it's something built by a dude in his garage in the 60s or 70s, or a modern vintage-class racer built with that aesthetic. When I think "Street fighter" I think 80s or 90s race replica jap bike with no fairing and motocross handlebars.

Yeah, I totally understand that it's the same damn thing with 20-30 years of technology in the middle, but for me there's got to be a line somewhere.

Anyway, a Vmax with a 150 rear tire is NOT a cafe racer to me personally, but a XJ650 with a 120 rear could be.

 

[Swagger]

My XS850 came from the factory with the rear wheel offset! I only noticed last year when I started tearing it down for a ground up rebuild and started taking measurements for some work I'm doing. The XS750 (same bike sans 100ccs) came with an 18" rear wheel and is well centered. The 850 has a chubby 16" and the goofballs offset it rather than rework the swingarm. I always thought it turned left WAY easier....

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

 

[Geeto67]

quote:
My XS850 came from the factory with the rear wheel offset! I only noticed last year when I started tearing it down for a ground up rebuild and started taking measurements for some work I'm doing. The XS750 (same bike sans 100ccs) came with an 18" rear wheel and is well centered. The 850 has a chubby 16" and the goofballs offset it rather than rework the swingarm. I always thought it turned left WAY easier....

Lead, follow or get out of the way!

you'd be surprised how many bikes are set up offset. The GSXRs had asymmetrical offset swingarms until the mid 1990s.

 

[teighlor]

spoke wheels over mags or sandcast anyday......ANYFUCKINGDAY.....