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!

springman wrote on 12/18/23 at 12:37:46:


The seat feels like a 2x6 with a piece of 1/4" foam stretched over it!  LOL.  It's a nut, arse, buster.

Here is my Savage Cafe'......I have about 16,000 miles since the build.

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.

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  ?

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!?

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.  
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 !

Ruttly is right about the tank!  The headlight looks right with that tank and front suspension!