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SuzukiSavage.com
/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> The Cafe >> Cafe Bikes /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1702852801 Message started by ThumperPaul on 12/17/23 at 14:40:01 |
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Title: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/17/23 at 14:40:01 MMRanch has been talking about his Royal Enfield Meteor 350 on another post. I'm posting this as I'm interested in seeing and hearing about other cafes and particularly thumper cafes. I bought a 2021 CSC SG250 San Gabriel on a whim about 2 month ago with 14 miles on it. Prior owner bought it brand new and decided riding wasn't for him. He could have saved a lot of time and money if he had taken a MSF course first. His loss, my gain. He let it set up for 2 years. I had to deal with a gummed up carb, bad gas, rust in gas tank, dead battery. I got it cheap and it was an easy fix. It's a Meteor wanna-be. It's fun to buzz and sling around in the neighborhood, but it's extremely lacking in any real power and forget about putting it on a Houston super slab. Manufacturer (CSC/Zongshen) claims 70mph with a 15T/50T sprocket combo (3.33 ratio). I'm running a 14T/41T combo (2.93 ratio) and ain't no way this thing is reaching a theoretical top speed of 80mph. Ok, maybe with a 5 mile downhill stretch....with the wind at your back.....laying down on the gas tank....and hanging your nose over the handlebars! It's still in the break-in period so I haven't really pushed it at WOT for extended periods. I did swap out the 108 main jet for a 112. It liked that and I have a 115 I'll try later. I think it will like that even more. I added the tank knee pads and end bar mirrors. It gets a lot of looks and questions when I'm out and about. It's fun, but not enough grunt for me and my old body isn’t crazy about the riding position (most specifically the foot pegs up my rear end). I will probably put it up for sale in the spring when new riders start looking and tax refunds start rolling in. I am real interested to see what others have hanging around in the garage! Post up those Cafe pics and tell us about it! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by springman on 12/18/23 at 12:37:46 I have no cafe bike. That seat looks like it is comfotable. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/18/23 at 12:50:32 434042595E575D515E300 wrote:
The seat feels like a 2x6 with a piece of 1/4" foam stretched over it! LOL. It's a nut, arse, buster. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by springman on 12/18/23 at 14:12:46 Yikes! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 12/18/23 at 15:48:37 Here is my Savage Cafe'......I have about 16,000 miles since the build. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/18/23 at 16:35:40 Oh my! Absolutely stunning, Dave!! I love everything about it! That is a labor of love! You have to love riding it! I can see the savage, but that’s because I know. It looks like a ground-up, completely custom, build! This is what I wanted to see and hear about! Wow! Just wow! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 12/19/23 at 03:49:44 Thanks - I rode the bike stock to the 2012 group ride at Deals Gap where I first met members MMRanch, Lancer, Oldfellor and several other members who are no longer around. The bike got the Cafe' conversion in the spring of 2013 and was ridden in primer on the bodywork, then in the spring of 2014 I took it apart and painted it. Armen has a great bike in the works....hopefully he will post a photo for you. Gary_in-NJ has a very nice bike....he hasn't logged onto the forum for more than a year. You can find more builds if you go into the Bike Builds sticky at the top of the Rubber Side Down page. Unfortunately a lot of photos have been lost when Tinypic stopped doing business. I need to repair my thread photos - unfortunately a lot of the comments from prior members will likely not make sense anymore. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/19/23 at 06:25:35 So freakin’ awesome! So much to look at and admire! The reduced rake completely changes the bike! That must to be fun in the twisties! I see y’all both did the chain conversion too! Better “bite”!? |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by MMRanch on 12/19/23 at 09:56:35 Paul , I think that 250 of your is a Hansom bike , and I see it has a Center Stand :) :) . Ya know running the Speed limit is an "OK" thing to do most of the time . ;) It seems like a lot of folks will run "As fast as they can get away with" and then wonder why there is a traffic jam getting around a wreck up ahead ?. :-? :-? :-? Personally , speeds over 70 don't seem as much fun as a run through some 30mph twisty back roads at 50 or so. So , I'll take the back roads instead of the main hwy for all my local commute's . :) :) Yes , I know , most folks have a time management problem ... and most don't even realize it ... :( :( :( ... but what are we to do ? |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 12/19/23 at 10:15:44 5A667B637E6B7C5E6F7B620E0 wrote:
The bike is a blast in the curves......both the steering and the engine torque. I still have a belt - Kawasaki EN500 front pulley and KZ750 rear pulley to drop my gearing. My bike is turning 3,500 rpm at 60 mph.......a stock bike will be turning 4,000 rpm at 60mph. My bike is light and my engine is modified - so it pulls just fine at lower rpm. I mostly don't use 5th gear unless I am going 60mph or more. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/19/23 at 11:01:04 Great pic, Dave! What’s the saying…. More fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow! I hear you MM! Where’s a pic of your Meteor 350 and Super Meteor 650!? |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Serowbot on 12/22/23 at 07:12:40 Dave,... best cafe ever... 8-) |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Ruttly on 12/22/23 at 07:48:10 Yes Dave’s is very well done , super easy to look at. I think his choice of tanks sets it apart from others. So I see a bike that’s very neat and in order and squeaky clean. If I had a cafe he would be my nemesis. But I ride a tracker , so we can still be friends. ;D Lots of great builders here , I think I stay for the motivation & ideas , keeps me driven. I almost bought a Chinese bike when I retired very similar to that one. But the bug bit me to build my retirement bike rather than buy one ! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 12/22/23 at 13:23:22 Thanks for the great support and compliments - the bike did turn out well....likely the best project I have ever done. The big headlight might be an acquired taste though - if you are used to the little 5-1/4" headlight the 8" one might appear a bit excessive! With the Cyclops LED it does provide a lot of light! I do ride the bike often - but I put more miles on the other bikes. I do intend to get in the Hall of Fame soon when I reach 25,000 miles on it. I have 18,000 on it right now. It stays somewhat clean as I try not to ride it in the rain - it throws water all over me when the roads are wet! Armen can attest that it has been in the rain - he and I and a friend of his road south out of Highlands, NC and into north Georgia last year and ride right into an intense rain storm with pretty good sized hail. I put rain gear on - but the storm was too intense and went right through....I ended up with a puddle of water inside my headlight! There are some other great builds on this site that are equal or better than mine - unfortunately a lot of those photos in the Bike Builds section have not survived the changes in host sites for photos....I know my build thread is pretty much trash. A lot of those builders are also not on the forum to update their build threads. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/22/23 at 16:37:19 Ruttly is right about the tank! The headlight looks right with that tank and front suspension! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 12/23/23 at 02:08:14 The fuel tank is from a Suzuki GT380 or GT550 - they both used the same 4 gallon tank. I have a range of 160 miles before I hit reserve. RYCA modified the stock tank that was only good for 100 miles, and reduced the stock tanks 100 mile range to around 60-70 miles. That just wasn't going to work for me. Where is Armen.......his Cafe' bike is really sharp - I can't find a photo. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/23/23 at 06:06:33 Poke Armen! I want to see it! Yeah, that kinda range wouldn’t cut it at all! I’d be wanting to top off every 30 miles! I don’t even want to ride on reserve for more than 5-10 miles! I ran out of gas one time. You only do that once and learn! Fortunately I wasn’t too far from home and my wife came and rescued me with a couple gallons of gas! She used to ride a HD Sportster and knows what an incredibly lonely feeling that is sitting on the side of the road. You realize most people don’t give a sh!t. If you get lucky another biker passes by and at least offers to help (usually/sometimes). |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by MMRanch on 12/23/23 at 08:20:14 Good morning folks Those are some perty bikes ! :) I'm a little shy about posting pictures of my Stock w/add-on's in the same post as them perty machines ! :-[ |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/23/23 at 08:28:46 Come on MM!!! We'll love it!! We've all seen the stock photos of the 350 and 650 Super Meteor. We want live photos of you scraping the pegs around the bend!! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/23/23 at 08:50:22 Y'all don't have to watch this, but I found it fascinating how easy a stage 3-4 upgrade on my little SG250 can be. Motocult sells a turnkey kit. Big bore kit from 229cc to 250cc, piston, more aggressive cam, and all the associated little parts. Install in less than an hour (they kinda cheated on the video, but its pretty quick and looks pretty easy). It's tempting. I want to call and see if I can get details on the piston and cam specs. They make some seemingly too good to be true HP gain claims. And not sure it's worth the money on this bike. https://youtu.be/HOzzppXZtGE?si=owahCSN6sx8DrlZi |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by MMRanch on 12/23/23 at 09:25:09 I'm still adding to the 650 , but I've got a still picture of the 350 . The guy on the left is on the Guzzi , the couple is on the Indian , and my little Meteor kept up just fine even without the performance cam. I made them work in the twistys to keep up (just to put the "little bike" jokes to rest) ! ;D Really me and Dave was on the way back from a Guzzi meeting and I was leaving Dave (on the Guzzi) in the Twisties when we came up on the Indian , but we all stopped at the same scenic overlook and chatted for 30 minutes. There was a long strait section right before the Scenic overlook and they caught up. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/23/23 at 09:49:14 Ha! Love it! Give ‘em a good workout trying to manage the twisties while you just effortlessly glide right through! Ha! I like it! You must do longer rides. I’m more of an intermediate rider and the extra baggage and I don’t get along well. Probably cuz I’m feeling old and getting lazy! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by MMRanch on 12/23/23 at 10:06:45 ;) Paul all three pieces of luggage come off with the turn of a key. But its nice to have my coat and gloves with me if I'm out after dark . In this case I was on the way back from a Lunch meeting in North GA , ridding back to middle TN. Some time I only bring the 30L trunk (in the picture) for better fuel millage. I've got a 45L trunk ... but its a BEAST of a thing , I had it on the Guzzi for a while and it held all of Marcia's stuff plus a little . ;D |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 12/23/23 at 10:49:47 Nice! :o |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by FinnHammer on 12/25/23 at 12:56:57 Dave, I love the big headlight. The change in rake, did you acheive it solely by lowering the front end, and jacking the rear end up, or did you cut the frame and reweld. I am asking because I am not a big fan of the stock steering geometry. Cheers, Finn Hammer |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 12/25/23 at 14:37:50 I lowered the front 2" and raised the back up with 340mm shocks. The rake and steering is far different from stock. It is scary for some as the steering is very, very light. This was not quite so obvious with bias ply tires - but with radial tires it is much lighter. I did add a steering stabilizer and that helps - I am going back to the Bridgestone Battlax BT46, as those tires were far more stable for steering. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by MMRanch on 12/26/23 at 06:37:48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLSfj_-2yZ0 The BT46 experience convinced me too ... but ... the rear one didn't last very long. But I really loved that Front one ! :) |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Ruttly on 12/27/23 at 07:17:32 Was cleaning out stuff that hasn’t been moved in maybe 15 years and I found a brand new 3-4 gallon solvent tank with pump. Just in time for the BSA build I even have small barrel of mineral spirits. Add some atf to it so it’s not so harsh on the skin. Almost a shop , it’s gettin there. It would be nice to have a lathe and a mill but no room for it. Small improvements are being made as soon as they are recognized. Working towards making a roller and then start mock-ups. Need engine in frame so exhaust can be fabbed up. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by TheSneeze on 01/10/24 at 15:45:23 Old school with some newer school flair |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Ruttly on 01/10/24 at 19:47:35 That bike would get me in trouble quick. Pure Moto porn |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 01/12/24 at 05:55:36 TheSneeze - the Kawasaki green KZ750! My uncle had one that he let me ride when I was like 17. It had stupid power compared to my little ride, a Honda Elsinor MR175. I gave my uncle a good scare as I wheelied off down the driveway! And I’m pretty sure I had to change my underwear later! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 01/12/24 at 06:11:43 Does anyone have thoughts about the Buell Blast and modifying it into a cafe? The basic layout looks conducive - riding position, rake, suspension, 500cc thumper. I don’t know much about build quality and parts availability. The first thing I’d have to do is get the muffler out from underneath the motor and reroute it. That muffler down there bothers me on so many levels. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by zevenenergie on 01/12/24 at 06:53:57 I think it is the nicest motorcycle to convert into a cafe racer because of the engine. https://www.bikeexif.com/buell-blast-custom |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Dave on 01/12/24 at 10:03:30 The Buell Blast is an interesting bike.....I have often thought about buying one and playing with it for a year to two. The thing that has kept me from doing that is that they are reported to be mediocre bikes, and hard to resell, and I was worried that I would end up stuck with the things in my garage and have to put it in my will to a relative I don't like much! They look pretty light and simple - but is weighs close to 400 pounds with fuel in the tank.......and no counter balancer for engine. The belt drive is always a big plus for me, and the front brake is a great looking design. I have never ridden one - but from what I have read the performance is not very impressive, the shifting is clunky. At this point in time you might have difficulty getting parts for them. I used to see them for sale fairly often on Craigslist and they seemed to be either low mileage bikes with good care - or horribly treated by their previous owners. I have not seen one for sale for a long time. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by zevenenergie on 01/12/24 at 10:20:30 There are hard to find here as wel. I mainly meant the appearance of the engine, it has very nice lines. I personally think that cafe racers are uncomfortable, so I would turn it into a street fighter style bike. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 01/12/24 at 11:15:48 I test rode a Blast about 3 years ago. It doesn’t have the same low/mid range power of the Savage. You have to wind it up pretty good to get some grunt. The rake and shorter wheelbase creates a totally different ride than the Savage. I like the fact it has cast wheels and a rear disc brake. It wouldn’t take much to get some Cafe look to it (rear fender and solo seat would go a long way). It’s already a wanna-be street fighter without balls. There are several for sale around Houston. All cheap and need work. One guy has a 2 for 1 special for $1200. Share your concern Dave - you’d have to want to keep it or realize you are going to lose money if you fixed one up and sold it.. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Ruttly on 01/18/24 at 11:27:23 I was almost drawn in too ! Keep reading up and you might change your mind. Then I was liking the Ryca kits , here I am. Still be a fun project just not me. |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Ruttly on 01/18/24 at 14:07:35 If it was a knucklehead , now that would give me pause. 8-) |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by ThumperPaul on 01/18/24 at 14:19:16 Dammit Ruttly! Lol. I better stick with playing with the LS650! At least I have some help here when my shade tree mechanic skills wander off! |
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Title: Re: Cafe Bikes Post by Ruttly on 01/18/24 at 15:40:04 The LS is a good mount , great donor bike as well for cafe , bobbers , even trackers. I have even seen some LS choppers & trikes. |
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