So ive been looking into moding my bike and I think im going to get my LS650 to convert to a Cafe!
No kits, just self work. But I do have a question.

My bike has forward controls, would it cost much to get mid sets?

This has been on my mind all day at work looking at peoples S40 cafes'

If you can weld, you can make a bracket like that yourself, but the Tarozzi peg/lever sets cost about $250.  They are available from fastfromthepast.com, which has a good website and an eBay store.

Yeah that's super cool. If I were to build a cafe from our bike, I'd want to do it custom. The RYCAs are cool kits, but personally I find the price to be just too high. For 3K I can buy a whole lot of tools and parts! I'd rather own the gear in the end. But I can see why people do go for the kit. But I just don't have that kinda money to toss around and feel good about it.

I converted a cafe once,, turned it into a bar..

I guess I've ridden them all, 1970s Scramblers, 1980s cafe` racers, 1990s sportsters, and BMW autobahn burners...

This is my advice.

On a cafe` racer, the front fork must be as vertical as possible, and the triple tree must be tall enough to allow plenty of room for adjustment.

On a 1960s cafe` racer, the fuel tank was often contoured "backwards", with the streamlined end looking forwards, and the fatter end at the back; this allowed for ample room for your wrists when negotiating tight bends.

On a cafe` racer, the footpegs must be no further forward than your hip joint, and that is a must! More often than not, on a true cafe racer the footpegs would be up to 6" behind the rider's hip joint, depending on riding style and type of route/track to be raced.

On a cafe` racer, the rear mudguard/fender would be round and go all the way back (i.e., no ducktail fender as on the Savage) I'm sure you can source one, and make sure the taillight is small and round.

On a cafe` racer, the exhaust would be sweeping low and the silencer would reach back horizontally (1950s and 1960s) or point upwards but just a tab (1970s). Avoid that ugly tendency to design a wonderful cafe` racer, and then sopiling it all with a "scrambler" exhaust.

Now, another point: You have a Savage, which is a great little cruiser and a HD-Sportster lookalike that is better than the original in many ways.
Are you sure you wouldn't be better off starting from an original  street-going single?

Excellent pictures to copy from can be found Googling :
- "Ace Cafe London"
- "Ducati Cafe Racers"
- "Norton Manx"
- "Ducati desmo singles"
- "Royal Enfield Bullet"

This is an example of what you can find


Original Ducati 450 "S" Desmo single


Yamaha XT 550 converted to cafe` racer - see how raked the front end is


MV Agusta 350 Ipotesi, the Holy Grail of cafe racers (twins)


Honda 500cc single cafe` racer


Yamaha XT Enduro converted to cafe` racer


Yamaha SRX cafe` racer - same engine as the XT 600 but chassis etc. made for the road (looks like a twin but is actually a single)


The Real McCoy, the one and only, Royal Enfield Bullet Cafe` Racer  

Mind you, if you could find a front fork with a credible drum brake, that would really cut it !!!

I'm surprised that the Ryca conversion doesn't include a rear disc brake setup. For the price, it totally should.

Here are some links to my posts of my very slow moving project.  I have not posted in quite a while but it is progressing.  I am hoping to make real headway this fall and winter and will post updates once I get going.

12/07 update
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1196943498/0

6/08 update
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1196943498/34#34

3/09 update
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1237084786/7#7

10/09 update
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1257039622/0

If anyone has found a cafe-style tank (or a less-than-cruiser-style tank) that will fit the stock Savage frame without too much hacking, post pics!  The Ryca tank looks like it holds less than a gallon, and it's too wide at the front for my taste.