The inside of the tank was etched and coated, the engine rebuilt, carbs rebuilt, all handlebar electronics run inside of the handle bars, custom battery box was welded to the bottom of the frame and security wires installed in case of breakage while riding, custom hand built seat, hand pinstriped, new rims, tires, brakes, cables, fuel lines, all the tabs were shaved off and the frame powdercoated, custom exhaust with red powdercoated shorty baffles, new ignition system, new rectifier, upgraded regulator and stronger headlamp, new gel battery, new bullet blinkers and so much more was done to this bike to make it 100% new for our 1st customer. Under the logo on the tank you’ll see the word, “Primitus.”

We named her the Primitus because she is the first serious bike we built. By we I mean Mike Wambold in PA did the paint, John’s Cycle shop in Woodside Queens did the engine rebuild and electronics and I did all the fabrication and buttoning up in my small garage in Forest Hills, Queens NY. I am knee deep in our next build which is a 1865 BSA Thunderbolt.

 

We’re keeping the fenders and putting a big fattie boombattie rim and tire on the back to give it the brat look but she’s going to have her own unique flair for sure. That’s what we love, originality. Not just rehashing old genius but bringing something new to what’s been done before. Even if it’s a small aesthetic thing that’s never been done, that’s what stands out to me. There seems to be a million guys simply “converting” bikes these days but few take the time and effort to completely give a bike a totally new and unique look.

Was I crazy to put $4k into a CB350?

Probably but 20 years from now when this bike looks brand new, it will mean something important about our cafe culture today and I am proud of that. Ralph-Waldo Emerson said, “The reward for having done something well is to have done it.” At least, that’s how I justified building this bike haha! As a graphic designer, painter and musician, I totally understand the need to stand out, have a flawless end product and inspire the next guy. I know our bikes do that and I’m so excited to see what we can do next.

Renoud, you can grab these pics from here: http://otomotif.org/clubman of me working on my new BSA for our next project if you like. Thanks so much for giving us a chance for exposure! We love you for that. Also, when you release this let us know so we can plug you guys eeeeeeeverywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The post Honda CB350 Cafe Racer by CMC (NY) – The Primitus appeared first on CafeRacersUnited.

Easier said than done, because the bike arrived in five different crates… Not a problem, but a little bit a puzzle (plus a big trash can…). And the bike itself!! Whoa, what a creative mind has been working on that bike! When we received the bike, it was a Kawa Z650 transformed into a chopper model… Probably by a rail road worker… Considering the amount of steel used for the subframe…

It was up to us to bring back the shape of the bike again.

The rear subframe at the shocks is raised by an inch and the subframe itself is completely new. All existing steel bars are removed from the frame. And although it is still visible that someone chopped this bike up, it is only visible in the tiniest details. We spend a shitload of time on it and we are absolutely proud of the outcome! And check out these tires! Complementing the bike by a mix between old and modern! The modern Daytona speedo is another detail with a wink on this 40 year old machine.

We were requested to paint the gas tank in a Sunset orange color scheme and we decided to put a subtle metallic flake through the paint. It is just beautiful to watch the sun set in the mirroring gas tank!

To come with a road legal solution for the number plate mount, we fabricated a custom rear wheel plate holder with plans to bring this in production. The system is created in such that it fits any rear wheel hub and allows for invisible number plate light routing.

The front fender and the number plate at the back reduce the worst part of the spray in rainy conditions. With a small fender like this in front, the water spray is still there, but only reaches the front light. The rider does not get a water spray on his visor now.

And yes, the side stand… We are Wrench Kings of course! The food pegs are foldable Tarrozi foot pegs on a relocated position. On the new position the pegs had to be foldable to allow for the kick starter movement. Although the bike has a small Lithium Ion battery hidden underneath the gas tank, the kick starter still works fine.

As with the battery, all electronics are hidden underneath the gas tank. There is really nothing underneath the seat.
All in all the following modifications are made on this bike:

• Frame and subframe powder coated in glossy gray
• Handle bars, triple tree and all brackets are powder coated in glossy black
• Blacked out engine look with new bolts everywhere
• Custom sunset orange metallic paint job on the gas tank
• Relocated side stand bracket and a new side stand
• Relocated foot pegs (Tarrozi) with custom brake and gearshift link system
• Tarrozi passenger foot pegs
• Stainless steel, Dutch made exhaust damper
• White exhaust wrap… Hate it or love it!
• Relocated electronics (new wiring loom with new waterproof connectors)
• Custom (bolt on) battery box above the engine (with external charger if required… Although with the kick starter, this is not really necessary)
• Led ring head light
• Daytone Velona speedo
• “Hidden” rear light (led strip with rear light, brake light and indicator lights)
• Tiny indicator lights in front
• New handle bar
• New Biltwell grips
• Brembo brake lever
• New clutch lever
• New seat
• Bar end mirrors
• Continental Trail Attack 2 tires (Perfect tires with a stunning tread!!)
• And of course a general service (New oil, filter, brake pads, brake oil, fork oil, etc.)

We are proud again! And we had a good time shooting these pictures! Bas Duijs, the photographer, is a good friend by now and it is always a pleasure to work with him. Naturally we would like to praise his work with a reference to his website.

We trust that Mitchel has many smiling kilometers with this machine!

The Kings

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Bullit Custom Cycles based outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada is owned by myself, Rob Cloutier and has been around since 2009. I started of by doing builds and restorations of older bike and I was spending many hours on the net searching for unique parts for my builds.

Then I decided to build a website BullitCustomCycles.com to find these more unusual parts at one location. The parts I can’t find I fabricate for my builds to put on the site such as billet upper triples.

The ’71 CB350 build started with a stock tank, engine, stock wheels and frame.
The customer wanted to retain the stock drum wheels but wanted to upgrade the 33mm stock forks to 35mm CB550
CB550 35mm front end modified with spacers and new brake arm to accommodate the stock CB350 wheel.

The frame was sandblasted cut and a loop was made with shock plates then TIGed back together. The custom rear loop and rear section was fabricated to accommodate the PACO fiberglass Café seat. The loop also has an integrated turn-brake-running LED light flush mounted.

Once the frame was done I moved on to the battery box. All the components were laid out then the fabricating of the box was made to contain a 4 cell Ballistic Battery, electronic ignition, fuse box, updated voltage regulator, and custom wiring harness.

The custom 2 into 2 twin exhaust started with the stock exhaust headers, Emgo Side Slash Mufflers and a pipe kit from TC Bros. A series of bends/cut were used to get the mufflers to exit on the right side and also accommodate the center stand only- no side stand.

The stock engine was re-sealed and re-ringed but 2 new 34mm Mikunis sporting Velocity Stacks were added

The stock toolbox was retained but a Custom Cigar tube paperwork holder was added above it.

The customer did the white and dark metallic red powder coating on the bike and the paint was done by Mark at Dino’s Paint shop. A touch of modern was added to the tank by adding tank medallions from a newer Honda

I didn’t like the tank to seat transition so I fabbed up a section to smooth out the lines thinking the customer was going to upholster the seat but he ended up just getting it painted and leaving it!?!

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It all started in 1989 when I was just 5 years of age and my father borrowed a yamaha y-zinger 50 from wor k for the weekend. I learned how to ride a motorcycle that weekend and learned to love motorcycles for the rest of my life. It wasn’t long before i would start taking things apart and seeing how they worked. Soon after that I was required to maintain my own motorcycle if I intended to ride it on the weekend. In 2008 I started riding on the street daily as a form of transportation.

Soon after that I stopped using a motorcycle as daily transportation due to a accident and a severely broken leg and began Racing sup ermoto in the southeast. Currently I race Flattrack and occasionally a hare scranble to stay in shape. I have enjoyed painting, powder coating, and fab ricating some of my custom race bikes so much that I have decided to build a few custom bikes to see what they bring us. Whether it’s building for a living or for fun my passion for motorcycles will never fade away. This bike started life as a 1997 Yamaha Xv250 Virago, the bike that many fall in lov e with at the riders safety training classes all over the world.

The wheelbase was shortened 4″ and it was de-raked to 24.5 degrees. Subframe and swin garm are custom along with the exhaust. The sound this bike makes is incredible, breathing through a downdraft carb with a factory velocity stack and calculated air intake plenum. Then sucked in with some less than boring factory camshafts and two fairly high compression ratio cylinders. After all of that comes the pleasing part, exhaust gasses are forced out of equal leng th stainless steel head pipes and on out the under seat tail pipes. The paint gives it a retro Yamaha look that many like along with the 18″ aluminum mx wheels. For proper riding position, a set of aluminum rear sets were adapted from a road race bike on one end and a set of simple flat bars on the other end.

The Facebook of Matthew (click here)

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He wanted us to produce something similar but also said it will need to be a practical daily ride in London. It must be 100% reliable (he is not mechanically inclined) and he was not willing to pay a fortune.

With a little prodding it turned out what he really wanted was the Guzzi engine configuration. The requirement for the 70s LeMans was only because these were the only images on the web which he could find.

Having got this sorted out we realised that daily 100% reliability would almost certainly push us to a modern donor. It did not take long to land on the basic Guzzi V7 Classic. Standard Guzzi engine layout, spoked wheels and a nice ride. Guzzi themselves do a café racer version, but this was not what our man wanted. We looked around and acquired a low mileage 2011 bike in great condition.

The design brief called for a solo seat, rear-sets, clip-ons, good looking exhausts, a slimmed down overall look and a plain alloy finish.

The solo seat was made in-house from a cut down BMW R80/7 unit with the tail light built into the hump. Tuck and roll upholstery is by P&D Custom Bikes.

Clip-ons are by Café Racer and the bar-end mirrors/indicators are by Oberon. Grips are grey Renthals. The headlight is a Bike-It LED unit and the stock instruments have been lowered to directly above the new light; so giving the top of the bike a clean low line.

Rear-sets are by Café Racer and the linkages have been fabricated in-house. GP Style exhausts are by DanMoto and are hung from the pillion footrest brackets. The rear shocks are Hagon Nitro piggy-back units.

The stock spoked wheels have been rebuilt by Hagon. Hubs are painted black, rims powder coated black and new stainless spokes fitted. The front brake has been upgraded to an EBC wavy disc and the stock front fender has been trimmed down. Tyres are good looking Metzler 880s.

The very large airbox between the V-twin cylinders has been replaced by pod filters. A new battery box has been fabricated for the small Shorai Lithium battery and located under the rear of the seat. A stainless collector for the various engine breather pipes has been fabricated and placed behind the cylinders. To give the slimmed down look slightly modified flat carbon fibre Laverda Jota side panels have been fitted. These have been drilled to show the centre of the bike and now also carry the Guzzi winged eagle logo.

The V7 Classic has a plastic tank so the alloy finish required some subterfuge. A 97% nickel paint has been applied by Silvester Coachworks to the tank, seat, fender and some engine covers. The paint dries to solid metal so really looks the part.

And so a good looking Guzzi Café Racer – but also a daily 100% reliable ride.

The post Moto Guzzi V7 Cafe Racer by 2WheelsMiklos appeared first on CafeRacersUnited.

Every time they passed the bike gold came to mind so the Matt Gold would be the basic colour. And what goes better with gold than black? Excactly; nothing! So Black it would be, in matt and shine finish! The rear springs were coated black and also almost all aluminium and chrome parts were painted matt black.

The Artwork on the tank was done by one of the BurninRubber guys Frank Bouwmeester who runs HuidenStaal a tattoo and signing/lettering shop within our shop. All work is done with the brush.

Ofcourse the way too long plate holder had to be removed and a new one was made. They also made a new rearlight bracket which kept the new rear light perfectly in the seat for a clean look. The rear light is a reference to the older XJR’s double rear light.

They took out the original blinkers and fitted some maze in the holes in the fairing. The levers were changed with Black anodised LSL levers.

The exhaust was a real “addic” find! A new old stock Marshall intended for a 4 Cilinder Suzuki but modified to fit our XJR. An dofcourse finished in matt black instead of the original chrome.

For the seat they decided it should have that extra grip as well as elegant and smooth styling. No material is better for that than a nice black suede. Marcel Miller did a very neat job on the upholstery.

24 K Because we think that the bike turned out as real gold, Kando because that is what Yamaha stands for:

‘Kando is a Japanese word for the simultaneous feeling of deep satisfaction and intense excitement that people experience when they encounter something of exceptional value’

Need we say more….

Specs:

Motorcycle   :          Yamaha XJR 1300
Builders       :         Burnin Rubber |F.Bouwmeester |G.Bos

Mods:

Yamaha “racer” kit : Fairing/clip-ons/seat cover/front fender
Rear light: Bike Design
Plateholder/ Rear ligth bracket Burnin Rubber
Exhaust: Marshall Burnin Rubber modified
Levers: LSL
Seat: Suede upholstery by Miller Kustom Upholstery Zutphen
Paintwork: design by Burnin Rubber, work by F. Fijlstra Bentelo
Artwork on tank and cover by HuidenStaal.nl
Facebook : Facebook.com/burninrubberNL

Instagram: BurninRubberNL

It is even for sale! at : €10990,- Excl. VAT and Local Taxes (€14990,- Netherlands)

Shipping Worldwide.

The post Yamaha XJR 1300 Yard Built “24 Kando” appeared first on CafeRacersUnited.

TOKYO GONE from Speedtractor on Vimeo.

speedtractor.com or follow us on instagram #speedtractor
iceblockfilms.com

Director: J.J. Koester
Cinematographer: William Greenawalt
Producer: Matthew Roberts
Sound Recording: Michelle Madden

Special thanks:
Little Wing Engineering
Cool Beans Cafe
Animal Boat Custom Cycle
Yokohama Swing Boys
Tatsuya Mizuno
Toneya Yukari

lwe.co.jp
animalboat.com
coolbeans-book.com

Read more at speedtractor.com

The post Tokyo Gone – Cafe Racer Movie appeared first on CafeRacersUnited.

So no, the bike he was looking for was long gone. But of course we can make something that looks alike. Not exactly the same, as each bike should have its own unique features, but something similar.

Rens, that’s the guy we’re talking about. A very friendly bloke who lives at the west side of The Netherlands, the glasshouse area of Holland (you know, where you get all your beautiful red tomatoes from…).

Rens was very particular on his wishes; the triangle underneath the seat not too open and vintage blue and yellow colors on the tank. And with that basis we started.

Searching the Kingdom we found a perfect Suzuki. It required some on-the-spot maintenance to get her up and running again (old petrol and very dirty carbs), but the bike itself was in a perfect condition. No rust anywhere and hardly any mileage on the odo. A rare find in a country as wet as Holland!

We drove the bike back via country side villages and back roads, as we didn’t want to be seen on it in its original state… Kidding, it just makes for a fun drive and we had all the time of the world!

We stripped her, cleaned her, chopped everything off that wasn’t required and powder coated everything that was left over. We dare to say that the bike in its current condition is better than original (and a hell of a lot better looking!).

And driving! What a nice machine it is now!! The Tarrozi pegs are placed to fit with the new seating and this definitely adds to the handling. Flat through the corners and more than enough power to have a race feeling!

The Japanese builders boost about their original design and the road handling features already. “Because the low placement of the handle bars and the rear set foot pegs, the rider is put into a racer position when cornering” (not our words). We replaced the original high handle bars with low tracker handle bars and placed the pegs higher and more to the rear, which makes it a completely different type of bike. The old chopper is transformed to a classic racing machine now, perfectly suitable for people with average height.

The sound of the bike is typical for the air-cooled, two cylinders four stroke engine. You’ve got to love the sound! But at the same time we managed to reduce the sound in such that you will still be able to attend the neighbour’s barbecue.

The main modifications on this bike are:

• A complete blacked out look whereby really everything is powder coated.
• Customized sub frame to fit the seat
• A custom box underneath the seat for the ignition key and light switch
• A new wiring loom whereby the visible wires in front are made of classic fabric material.
• All electric components hidden underneath the seat
• Clear and visible battery, purposely kept on its original location
• Clean handle bars, with only a custom switch for the blinkers
• Slick shorty dampers (with additional modifications to reduce the sound)
• Of course a Wrench Kings paintjob on the tank
• Progressive rear coils
• Tarrozi foot pegs, including a custom brake and gear system
• Lowered and more progressive forks
• A shitload of subtle custom brackets (blinkers front and back, blinker switch, speedo, electric components, etc. And of course these are all powder coated as well.

In other words, a complete new bike! Rens needs a few weeks to recover from a busted knee, but we’re absolutely sure that he will have a blast of a time with it! Summer is coming!!

Up to the next build! We’ll keep you posted!

Pictures are taken by @Basduijsphotography. Bas is a master in portraits and film stills and with his graphic design background he has a clear eye for concept, light and detail. For more info on his work visit his website at www.basduijs.com.

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How To Remove Brake Caliper Pistons

The post How To Remove Brake Caliper Pistons appeared first on CafeRacersUnited.

Established in 2013, Rick Lampe & Danny van Zon started Goodspeed Customs. At the start of 2013 we met for the first time in a store in Eindhoven. What got us talking was that we were both building a caferacer.

Pretty soon we were talking about motorcycles and we noticed we that we shared the passion for motorcycles. The funny thing was we had the same background when we where young. We were both scooter racers/tuners and so a friendship started.

Now, almost 3 years later we are grown to up to a full custom shop with all the tools we could wish for. The result is building cafe racers on a high level. Everything we do, we do in our shop. All the bikes we build are one of a kind and nothing is untouched. Our latest build is this yamaha xs500 from 1976. Let the visuals speak for it’s self…

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