Hey all, I wanted to introduce my project.  It is a cafe build on a serious budget and hopefully will give someone else some ideas or inspiration as I have gotten from many other projects.
Please disregard the piles of junk in the background.  Just moved and lots of stuff is just waiting for a home.
here it is at the beginning:


progress:


and its current state:




The seat foam and upholstery is not pictured here.  No I don't ride with just the sheetmetal seat..ouch.  
 After searching for a project bike I stumbled across the Ryca conversion and then stumbled here.  I bought a 97 Savage and set out to do a cafe conversion, admittedly riffing ideas from the Ryca guys as a foundation, but also completing the bike coming up with some ideas and fabrication of my own.  I am calling this the late night special because I completed it largely between the hours of 10pm and 2am.  I just had a kid and my wife made me the deal I could pick up another project if it didn't cut into family time.  I budgeted out the build, including the parts and materials left to purchase, at $800.00 not including the cost of the bike which was $1,500.00.  Again, I made the deal that I would not touch our bank account to fund the bike so I sold some car parts to make the motorcycle fund.  So far I am at $764.00.  Sorry I didn't take more photos i was just kind of trying to get it done so I could get back to riding.  It isn't nearly finished yet.  I am making another seat (i got the idea for this one from the cb450 Rpnsht posted a link to) but it rushed it and I am not happy with the outcome.  I am going a different direction with the new version.  The paint will be something in the realm of the paint scheme of one of my favorite cafes pictured here- http://www.bikeexif.com/yamaha-xs750

I wanted to throw this out as an idea for those who might want to tackle a cafe build but don't have the cash for the Ryca kit.  I have no ill words for Ryca or their kit.  I think they did a pretty great job and had some great vision to see what the bike could be.  I just don't have the cash for it.  I used the gauges, clip ons, and speedo cable from the kit purchased here from BuckRyca (thanks!!) and bought my rearsets from fastfromthepast.com.  I fabbed the rest of the parts needed, and am still making stuff and working out ideas but for now it is very ride-able and I use it as my daily driver.  I do 62 miles round trip on the freeway here in SoCal and it performs great.  It looks s a little "rat rod" now but by the end I should have a polished bike I will be proud to show off for approx $2,300.00 total.  I used some stuff I already had from previous projects (that seat used to be part of a  repro 69 camaro quarter panel  ) so to replicate it would cost slightly more than I have in it right now but I thought it might spark someone else to dive into a cafe build even if they are a little short on cash.  Thanks for all the tips and tricks I have picked up here.  I will post progress on the bike as I finish it up.  

Looks good, I sure like the peg location. Personally, I really like the No front fender look,, I just cant see me taking the crud coming off the tire.

congrats on the build! we almost have matching seat pans:

Interesting setup you have there...I like it for a cafe style bike. What catches my eye of curiosity is the rear reservoir style shocks you've got there... ... What are they? How do they compare to stock in ride quality and eye to eye distance?

That was really smart to do your research on those shocks. I had looked at those too, but decided on the Vintage RedWings that I got because they will fit the look and theme of my bike better. I think they are super sexy,  but then again, I paid $200 for them!



We had the same issue with the shock bushings.
Even though my shocks were NOS and came with two sets; 10mm, and 12mm, which are the most common sizes, they were still too small, so we had to ream the rubber bits out and squeeze in the bushings from the stock shocks. Not too hard to do, but not fun  either....

you're correct, cell phone pics in bad light don't really cut it.   The bushing situation wasn't hard but as you alluded to, time consuming and a little frustrating.  I had 12mm bushing that came with mine as well...bummer.  I love your shocks, for your bike's style that is the perfect choice.  

I did make the pipe and it does have a baffle.  I cut the stock pipe off just before the reducer and with it on the bike took a tig welding rod and bent the shape I wanted.  Took that to the muffler shop and had a pipe bent up.  There is a glasspack baffle from MAC exhaust welded in, and some BBQ paint to give it color.   I am happy with the sound, and the look was just what I wanted.    

Here are some pics of the mount as promised.  











The mounting bracket for the rearsets is equally spaced from the brackets that bolt to the engine mounts.  You can see a difference in spacing between the swingarm and the rearsets due to the shifter side of the swingarm bowing out.  Instead worrying about the gap between the swingarm and the rearsets I made sure my feet would fall to the same place on both sides of the bike but for looks someone might bring in the bracket on the brake side to make sure the gaps match.  I have measurements and a little diagram for those really interested I can pm it.  The picture from the top shows the square tubing used to brace the brackets attaching the unit to the engine mounts.  I stood on the pegs and bounced a few times and it was rock solid.    

Hell yeah, just trying to figure out the perfect combo.   Lots of freeway crusing as well as running around town and in the hills, so I think there might be some trial and error to figure out the best compromise.  I want my cake and to eat it too.