As you know, Ryca kit will give you the complete look if you wanted to do a cafe racer conversion on your S40.

The biggest problem I have is the price.

The starting price of $3,095 is a bit too steep.

For example, Ryca tank will cost you $999, but if you look on eBay, you can get an universal cafe racer tank for $100 to $200.
The Ryca clip on handle bars will cost you $159 but the universal ones are $25 to $30 on ebay.
Ryca seat kit will cost you $450 to $500 depending on upholstery, but the universal cafe racer seats are $30 to $100 on eBay.

My question is, have you guys ever done DIY cafe racer mod on your S40?
If every single parts is replacable with eBay parts, I think you could save big chunk of money.

What would be the total? I'm guessing it won't be anywhere near $3,095...

And you forgot the best part ! No resale value !!!
I have a Ryca but it ain't for sale !

Ruttly ,makes an excellent point. when you make changes to a stock bike it should be to make it what you want it to be ,but it won't make it more valuable. I wouldn't see anything wrong with using parts from Ebay etc. even parts you might use that don't fit perfectly could be altered to fit. I've done this on my bike by taking into account how each piece added needs to blend with all the others (consider the whole picture).

In the Bike Build section, you can find several Cafe' bikes that aren't RYCA bikes.
http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1383565946


My build is a bit of a hybrid - I used a few of the RYCA parts, and others that weren't RYCA.

If you are talented, have a vision, have good tools and a nice garage to work in, you don't need RYCA's help.  If you are a bit less talented - then RYCA makes it possible for you to build the bike of your dreams in a kit form where the parts are built - but you need to make them fit and assemble them.

If you plan on riding, get two.
A nice one to ride and a cosmetically challenged one to build

JOG:  did exactly that! S41 & S42! one not stock, one looks stock but popular mods. Trying to resist buying a 3rd one! This time of year, lots of bikes going on sale!

Ryan and Casey (Ry Ca) did a great job designing a beautiful and simple bike. The parts that are fabricated by them (or for them) are well designed and well built. Are the parts expensive? Some are, but these are low volume production pieces that are batch built. RYCA have to place a large enough order to interest a manufacturer, and then they have to carry the cost of warehousing unsold parts. It's a risky business, and that is reflected in the price.

I have no problem with their mark-up and profit. I'm enjoying my bike and have never once complained about the quality one of their parts. With that said, knowing what I know now, if I were to build another bike there are things I would buy from RYCA and things I would source on my own. But three years ago I didn't know what I know now. RYCA has done a masterful job of creating a one-stop-shopping environment for a novice custom builder.

I hope they are working on another interesting conversion. I'd gladly do business with them again. In fact, my DRZ Street Tracker has some parts on it that I purchased from RYCA.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 10/04/17 at 21:33:55:

If you plan on riding, get two.
A nice one to ride and a cosmetically challenged one to build

When I went searching for a bike for a cafe conversion I set out to find a running, unloved rat. That's what I found and in short order I was unhappy with my search criteria. The bike I found was a'95 with 2,600 miles. It was adult-female owned and never ridden hard. But when it wasn't ridden, it was stored in a metal shed with a dirt floor on the NJ Shore - a wet salty environment. Here's why a "cosmetically challenged" bike is a false economy:

The finish on all of the clear coated aluminum parts (wheel hubs, engine cases, fork sliders, handlebar controls, t-clamps, directional mounts....) was damaged. I thought I could simply clean these parts up and they'd look new again, but I was oh so wrong. I had to remove the remaining clear coat and hand polish everything. It was a gigantic PIA.

The few chromed parts that were reused for the build (fork stanchions, headlight) were pitted. I brought these back to life with steel wool and WD-40, but once again, I was polishing instead of building. The head light bucket was replaced with a 7" unit and I've been looking for replacement forks for some time now. I will settle for nothing less then forks in perfect condition.

My frame was rough. Not only did I have to paint the cut modifications, but I found all sorts of places that required touch up. The swing arm was in such bad condition that I had it powder coated (it now looks beautiful).

There was a dent in my tank. This didn't concern me at first. In fact, RYCA hammered most of it out during the tank modification. But it still required body work. Time and money.

I spent more time polishing and repairing then I did actually building. Knowing what I know now, I'd start off with a beautiful bike...and build a better looking bike from it. My "cheap" rat bike probably cost me an additional $1,000. I would have gladly spent that up front if I knew the amount of effort involved.