1978 Suzuki GS750 Cafe Racer

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

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…

Hand made “Frenched” Tail light Café Racer Seat
Chrome mini Bullet Turn Signals
Gloss Black Single Stage Paint
“Kreemed” Gas Tank
Flanders Café Bars
MAC 4:1 Exhaust System
Web Cam Springs & Titanium Retainers
Web 58B Camshaft
Ported and Polished Head
Head Decked for Higher compression
New Old Stock BETOR Racing Shocks
New EBC Clutch and Spring Set
New Sunstar Sprockets
New EBC Brakes, Front and Rear
New Wheel Bearings Front and Rear
New Fork Seals and Bushings
New Battery
New Petcock
Carbs have new needles, seats, and gaskets in them
New points and condenser

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.

A Couple Of eBay Relists…

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…

1972 Suzuki Titan 500 Cafe Racer

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

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

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…

Yoshimura Racing 466cc pistons and rings
A.P.E. Racing block and ported heads
Race camshaft
Titanium valve spring retainers
Keihin 26mm smooth bore
Dyna ignition
Triple clamps from 1979 CBX
35mm CB550F forks, clear powder coated, 10 wt oil, new seals
Works Suspension front dual spring kit (#230XH)
Daytona aluminum front fork brace
B900F Koni shocks NOS, #7610, 14″ (+1.5″ of std)
Dual CB550F rotors and calipers, trailing mounted (as opposed to stock forward mounted)
Baker Precision stainless steel brake lines
CBR900RR master cylinder and adjustable level
stretched aluminum tank custom made in England
Pro Flo 35mm clip-ons
CBR900RR footpegs and linkages

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.

1970 Honda CB350 Cafe Racer

There isn’t much that needs to be said regarding this bike. It is just plain beautiful. This is pretty much the epitome of the small-bore Japanese cafe racer. There’s a ding on the tank, but the seller seems to be very honest about the bike. The price is only at $2K with 24 hours left in the auction, and reserve has been met. It might be a good chance to get a well done cafe racer for a reasonable price…

1981 Yamaha XS650 Cafe Racer

Here’s a very cool and very built 1981 Yamaha XS650 cafe racer. It’s actually a 750cc due to the big bore pistons that have apparently been dropped into it. Other cool features are the 17″ motard rims wrapped with sticky Michelins. Definitely a little bit different than your usual 18″ wheels. The front brake setup is a mixture of GSXR master cylinder, Ducati 900SS rotor, and old school caliper. Overall, this is a really cool build that mixes old with new and appears to be one stonkin’ cafe racer…

It’s on eBay with 12 hours left, zero bidders, and a starting bid price of $4,500.

1978 Suzuki GS1000 Cafe Racer

Do you know the K.I.S.S. acronym? “Keep it simple.” This bike ignored that dictum. For you Suzuki fans out there, this bike has potential as more of a street drag bike given its lowered stance. But as a cafe racer, I think that it moves away from balanced function/form that we see in the most successfully built bikes, and enters into the realm of bikes where stuff was done to it just to do it. My only comment on this bike would be to lose the brown stripe on the seat. That sucker is going to wear off quickly…

If this big GS floats your boat, there are only 10 hours left in the auction, and the bidding is currently at $635. Quite a deal if you want a big bore bike from the 1970s.

1975 Ducati 860GT Cafe Racer

Sometimes, an easy litmus test can decide whether something is cool or lame. In the case of this Ducati, just think about riding up to your favorite local hangout. What’s the reaction going to be? Personally, I think this bike would garner looks as being an authentic cafe racer that is no trailer queen. A lot of the Ducatis you might see on Ducati Island at Laguna Seca aren’t going to have this many miles on the clock, nor this much road grime and wear-and-tear. But that’s the whole point, isn’t it?

There isn’t much that hasn’t been done to this bike cafe-wise. It has adjustable clip-ons, shocks, seat, tank, good brakes, and a big-bore kit. What it really needs is (and the seller backs this up) a bit of maintenance come this winter. And maybe a bath and some scrubbing, too.

The price on this bike is still very reasonable at under $2K with less than a day left in the auction (reserve hans’t been met, though). I wish it was on the west coast (it’s in Connecticut), because this may be a chance to get a good deal on a classic bevelhead.