And now for something completely different…

Those of you who read the blog regularly might remember my recent post about the billions and billions of Honda motorcycles that seem to end up on the site. Yes, I am a whiner, it’s true. And then comes along this… I’ll call it a cafe racer. While maybe not a cafe racer in the classic sense of the word, this 1977 Kawasaki KZ750 definitely has many cafe styling cues. Maybe it is more of a Euro street fighter with clip-ons. Regardless, the seller has done some cool stuff to a bike that doesn’t see much love from the cafe crowd.

Here’s a list of the things the owner has done to the bike (I deleted many, many exclamation marks when I cut-and-pasted the list):

Dyna electronic ignition
Accel Super Coils and Plug Wires
Vance & Hines 4-1Exhaust
Pod Filters
Fresh top end
Carbs Rejetted
Ness Batwing Mirrors
Italian Custom clip on handlebars
Rearset foot controls
New Tires Front and rear 16”
Custom Seat
Drag Specialties tach (CR – check out where the builder put it!)
Custom wiring harness
Almost all powder coated, not painted

I have to give the guy credit. This is a unique bike with which the builder has followed a unique vision. I’ll leave you with this quote from the eBay listing: “This bike is fast and very eye catching. I guarantee no one else will have a bike like this one.” Huzzah, I say!!!

Why are they all Hondas?

I know, I know. This is something of a rhetorical question. But looking back through the posts over the last couple of months, most of the bikes I’ve written about have been from Honda. The CB750, CB550, CB350, and the CB350T have all been featured multiple times in various states of cafe build or disrepair.

I suppose it’s because so many Hondas were sold in the 1970s that they have become the ubiquitous cafe racer starting point in the United States. And so we have lots of aftermarket manufacturers supporting these bikes. Then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy…

I say bring on the other makes and models of bikes. Let’s see more Suzukis, Yamahas, and Kawasakis! Don’t keep that old Norton in your garage stock! And bring on the Beezers, Triumphs, and other older British marques! And while we’re at it, let’s build more Beemers and Ducks into classic cafe racers!

Sorry for the rant. It’s probably time for my meds…

Kawasaki Mach III H1 Cafe Project

Up for auction on eBay right now is the project bike that has the potential to turn into a really beautiful cafe racer. The seller has an okay description and more great pictures available in the listing, but the highlights are as follows…

Supposedly original Dunstall fairing, but has a few fixable cracks from a garage incident (see photo 4 below on the lower right side)
Hardly complete. Needs controls, front brakes, carbs installed/rebuilt, exhaust, foot controls, etc, etc, etc.
More work than it appears from first glance, but a great final outcome possible with enough elbow grease.

This seller also claims to have a garage full of bike (around 30) that he will be selling. I may try to contact him to find out what’s up with this collection being sent to the auction block. There might be some more potentially beautiful cafe racers coming up for sale!

Nice Fiberglass Cafe Racer Seat on eBay

I found this nice-looking cafe racer seat on eBay this afternoon. There’s only a couple of hours left though. Hopefully, the seller will repost it again…

Specs: seat is 8 1/2″ wide at front, 9 1/2 wide at hump, 28″ long, seat area is 16″ long

Interesting Cafe Racer Seat Idea…

I guess I had never really thought of constructing a good looking cafe racer seat in this manner. I’m used to looking at fiberglass or metal constructs that leave the stock seat-pan behind. The eBay listing for this says that it is for an early Kawasaki, but what’s interesting is that it is a stock seat-pan with a fiberglass cafe racer hump attached. And it looks pretty good, not kludged together.

Thoughts on this? Done right it seems like a cost-effective way of building a seat for just about any bike that starts out with a usable seat-pan…

Cafe Racer Looking Seat...

How They Built It...

Honda CB350F Cafe Racer

Here is a fairly standard build of a CB350 four-cylinder cafe racer. The seat goes well with the tank, it’s got reasonably sticky tires, clubman bars are fitted, and the pipe is a nicely upswept 4-into-1 piece of kit that has been blacked out.

But… it is still running standard position foot pegs. And it has the all-to-familiar flat black paint job.

Additionally, the seller is also selling a much more interesting Kawasaki drag bike, but the spelling in that listing looks like an offshore scammer trying to dump a stock-photo slathered GSXR1000. Weird, because this listing was written reasonably well by eBay standards.

Either bike from this seller is a decent buy if you can get past any trepidations you might have at the possible scammy implications of the writing in the drag bike listing. And I will admit that a nice revvy CB350F might be just the bike for me…

Kawasaki KZ900 Cafe Racer

Here’s a really clean Kawasaki cafe racer based on the KZ900. The owner (an Australian and different from the seller) appears to have done a good job of replacing all the parts that would be marginal on a bike of this age, and it looks like a pretty clean build.

From a styling perspective, it is pretty standard Kawasaki cafe racer/street fighter until you get to the tailpiece. Wow. That it is different. Not sure how it would be under hard acceleration give the flatness and lack of any kind of rise or hump at the back. But it is certainly unique, and I like the tail lights.

Kawasaki H1 Tracy Fiberglass Body Kit

Do you have an H1 sitting around in need of something new and different? Do you want to stand out fromthe crowd at the local Quaker Steak and Lube bike nite? Do you really dig psychedelic paint jobs and wear cool bells and cords?

Well, have I got a deal for you. On eBay now with only about 9 hours left (as of 11:20am on 7/29/08 ) is this Tracy fiberglass body kit for a Kawasaki H1. I am assuming the super cool paint could be changed to better suit your taste, but why would you want to do that? It would be great to be blogging about a bike built up with this bodywork in a few months!!!

I have included a picture below of another Kawasaki (an H2, I believe) with a similar body kit as reference for potential final product after installation.

A similar kit on an H2…