I Love Cafe Racers!!!

1978 Suzuki GS750 Cafe Racer

caferacers — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:31:34 +0000

I’ve been trying to be nice lately. Really. Haven’t you been able to tell? But I can hold back no longer…

There are three things wrong with this bike. I’ll take the flack if you disagree. First, the seller is unclear on whether or not the bike is a 1978 or a 1979. Maybe that doesn’t matter from a technical standpoint, but it does from a “seller knowing his sh!t” standpoint. Secondly, there is no paperwork to go along with the bike. That can make it difficult to register (especially here on the left coast). Thirdly, the seat. Do I need to spell it out? The TL1000R seat is just wrong. It was iffy on the actual TL1000R, and here it is just not right. The stock seat would be better. A pillow seat would be… well, not better, but not worse.

I get the fact that all of us trying to build cafe-styled bikes makes choices as we design the final look, but this feels more like someone who had an extra TL1000R seat sitting in the garage. That reminds me, I’ve got a TZ250 GP seat in my garage that I just might mount on the ‘05 Sportster. I’ll post a pic if I do it.

5 days left in the auction, with 4 bidders, and the price at $510. Good luck if you are interested!!!

1978 Honda CB550 Cafe Racer

caferacers — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:16:59 +0000

This is an interesting bike with a mix of cool/new parts and a couple of relatively major things that need to be fixed. Easily, the best aesthetic feature is the cafe-style seat with the frenched taillight. And the paint looks really deep and glossy on the seat, tank, and the one side-panel that is visible in the pictures. I personally don’t really get the upside-down superbike bars, but there are a fair number of “cafe-style” bikes out there with them. The motor has a number of internal performance parts, and there are a lot of new consumables that come with the bike. It does, however, need a new stator and a ring job (according to the seller). I am pasting a full list of the mods and parts after the pictures.

I’m not quite sure what to make of the Buy-It-Now price of $2,500 for this bike given the re-ringing and stator replacement that the buyer will have to do. But the auction is currently at around $700 with 4 bidders and a little less than a day left. I would guess the bike won’t pass the reserve price, but we shall see where the sale of this bike ends up…

Needs to be done:
Stator has an issue on charging side, works sometimes, needs to be replaced.
Will need new rings, smokes at start up, goes away as engine warms.

1970 BSA Project Bike

caferacers — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:59:48 +0000

I’m not even going to attempt to claim any knowledge about the combination of motor and frame in this eBay listing for a BSA project bike. It is supposedly a 1970 frame (B441 of some type) along with a motor from 1967. The VINs are in the last two photos, so check it out if you are interested in bidding. There are 4 hours left in the auction, and the price is just under $1K with 1 bid.

A Couple Of eBay Relists…

caferacers — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:33:02 +0000

I noticed these two relists on eBay this morning, and I wonder if they will sell this time around. I am kind of surprised that the Honda has 20 bids thus far (but still not meeting reserve), whilst the XS650 has zero bids. I get that the Yamaha needs a small amount of completion work, but still…

1963 BSA B40 Project Bike

caferacers — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:14:59 +0000

Here’s a nice little project bike that is already generating some interest in bids. It’s a 1963 BSA B40 that has been outfitted with a B44 motor. It is in need of finishing (hence Project Bike in the title of the post), but appears to be a relatively easy bike to complete. The seller claims the engine is running with all wiring in place, but I would ask questions before buying this bike.

Luckily, you have lots of time to ask questions as there are still over 6 days left in the auction. The price has already gone above $400 from a starting price $1, although reserve has not been met. And there are three people bidding so far. Perhaps this little beezer will generate a fair bit of interest…

1965 Norton Atlas 750 (Dunstall Dominator)

caferacers — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:32:49 +0000

Wow! The auction closed at $11,601! How cool! See the comment below from a friend of the seller…

Mmmmmmmmmm…

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh…

Beautiful. Nothing much else to say. I might have missed some minor detail that’s out of place and someone will point it out. Don’t care. Here’s some specs and more pictures below. There’s more pics and the seller’s writeup if you are interested in learning more or trying to buy the bike. The auction’s at $8,200 with 2 days left and 17 bidders (reserve HAS been met)…

1972 Suzuki Titan 500 Cafe Racer

caferacers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:47:32 +0000

I’m not quite sure what to make of this bike. The idea seems good in concept (fully-faired two-stroke cafe racer), but in looking this bike over I’m not sure that it has been executed fully. Stock, it’s a great bike that I would love to own and convert to a cafe. I just think I would keep it more traditional.

Gripe list – square headlight, stock taillight, cafe seat plopped on the rear fender.

Like list – full fairing, two-stroke 500cc engine, fairly reasonable price.

There are zero bidders right now, and the starting price is $2,750 with just over 2 days left in the auction…

1984 BMW R100 Cafe Racer

caferacers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:54:20 +0000

BMW’s have not been a regular part of this blog as a rule, mostly because not too many of them are converted into cafe racers. However, I’m going to say that this R100 (superbike bars and all) is one of the cleanest, most aesthetically pleasing bikes I’ve posted to date. To be truthful, if it weren’t for the cafe-style seat, this wouldn’t even really be close to a cafe racer.

I’ll get this out of the way first: the Napolean bar-end mirrors should be replaced with something else, or at least mounted under the bars. Other than that, the builder of this bike has really gone all out in creating a beautiful piece of art. Everything looks well done, and it shows as if it just rolled out of the dealer in 1984. And even though the “cafe” conversion is basically just a seat, I’m sure that this R100 would be a blast on a winding road while still being a very comfortable ride.

There’s lots of interest in the bike on eBay. Currently, the price is at $4,250 with 21 bids and over 2 days left in the auction. However, reserve hasn’t been met, and I can’t even guess what the seller might set it at for a bike like this. It will be interesting to see what price the auction ends at…

1975 Honda CB400 Cafe Racer

caferacers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:17:06 +0000

This is one of the more modified cafe racers to come up on eBay in a long time. Whether you love or hate the seat, the rest of the bike is built to the hilt. The seller claims the bike “runs super strong”, and from the spec list we have no reason to doubt him. Check out some of the modifications…

So what’s the good? Lots of cool modifications that should make this one of the fastest CB400’s around. And what’s the bad? That seat. Oh yeah. The bike ain’t cheap, either. With about a day and a half left in the auction, there are no bidders and the starting price is $3,900. However, there is no reserve, so if there’s one bid, the bike will sell.

1971 Norton 750 Commando – Gus Kuhn

caferacers — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:29:26 +0000

With about 21 hours left in this eBay auction, here’s a chance to own a classic Gus Kuhn Norton that is fully kitted out. It’s definitely not a show bike, and as the seller claims it starts easily and runs great this would probably be a great bike for Sunday morning runs up to Alice’s Restaurant. That being said, I’m sure this bike would attract a lot of attention if it was parked at any classic bike show.

Here’s a list of parts fitted to the bike

While reserve hasn’t been met yet, I’d bet that there will be a few more bids before the auction ends. The price currently stands at $3,750 with 8 bids.