Year: 2010

Reader Ride! Fantastic CB550 Cafe Racer!


Update: I’ve corrected the post title to reflect the fact that this is a 550 and not a 500. Yes I knew that. I tell my daughter that rushing causes errors. I should take my own advice I suppose.

I love builds like this Eric sends in this outstanding garage built CB500 Cafe Racer. His solution to the spoked wheel / modern fork combination is something a lot of folks are looking for.

Eric Writes:

Hi Steve,

I cranked up the res on my camera and snapped some more pics yesterday afternoon; I hope these look a little better. I also included a pic that I took when I first picked it up just to give you an idea of where I started from.

As far as the mods go, I fitted a set of forks from a 2004 GSX-R 600, using a Harley narrow glide wheel which fit surprisingly well between the calipers; it was almost a plug-n-play operation. The rotors are 320mm units from a Hayabusa which required 10mm spacers underneath the calipers. The eBay front end also came complete with clipons & controls so I decided to go ahead and use them; the right control wouldn’t fit with the bar-end mirror so I binned it in favor of a Motion Pro throttle assembly and start/kill switch from an R6.

I cut everything off of the frame just aft of the shock mounts and welded on a hoop made from some old handlebars I had laying around; the battery & other electrics were mounted to the new rear hoop and hidden underneath the bumstop. All unneeded brackets & tabs were shaved from the frame before dropping it off for powdercoating. The rearsets are Tarozzi universals mounted to the passenger peg mounts. The rear wheel is a Harley 3.5×18 rim that I laced to the 550 hub with Buchanan stainless spokes.

I popped the top end off the engine and freshened it up a bit with a set of 59mm pistons and camshaft from a SOHC CB650 for a little extra oomph. Once it was back together, I laid on a few coats of Duplicolor’s engine primer & enamel. For the exhaust, I welded a pair of merged collectors to an old set of 4-2 headers and finished them off with a pair of repro Commando peashooters.

I’m a big fan of the DIY method so I’m fairly proud to say that with the exception of the cylinder machining and powdercoating, everything on the bike was “garage built” by myself.

So that’s probably a little more than you needed (or wanted) to know, but I hope it’s helpful. Let me know if you have any questions or if there’s anything else you need.

Thanks!
Eric

My kinda bike! Much appreciated Eric!

A few "obligatory" Jay Springsteen Vintage Harley shot from Daytona.


He’s there every year and I never get tired of looking at his bike.

Reader Ride! Those fine XS650’s keep on coming!


Everyone has a few bikes that they have a soft spot for.  If you’ve been following this site I’m sure you’ve noticed that Moto Guzzi has a lot of allure to me.  Another bike that I’m especially fond of is the Yamaha XS650.  It’s such a timeless bike that I really don’t understand why Yamaha doesn’t still sell it.  If you search this site you’ll fins XS650’s set up as fantastic roadracers, bobbers, choppers, vintage motocrossers, and especially flat trackers.  I have no doubt that if Yamaha still sold a nice basic, shouldered rimed aluminum wheeled, XS650 that people would still be buying them and turning them into everything under the sun.  I suppose that the Triumph Bonneville has sort of become the newer version of the older XS… which is probably why you’ll find so many bonnys on here too. 

Anyway all this philosophizing was triggered by this latest reader ride.  I’ve wanted to build one of these for years now and this picture may just put me over the top.  This was sent in by Jeff Corcoran.

Jeff writes:
Here is a picture of my Dad and his project.He would really get a kick to see the picture on your site.The motorcycle picture of the day has become the regular topic of conversation between us.  His name is Mick Corcoran of North Highlands Ca.Thanks for your time you have made a great site somthing to look forward to every day.

My pleasure Jeff.  She’s a stunner!  And Thanks Much for visiting!

TWO UPDATES: Gobsmackingly Beautiful Ducati…


UPDATE: For an excellent writeup on this fantastic motorcycle please be sure and check it out here at the indespensible Bikeexif.  They’re a great site that does the legwork to search out the stories and history behind a lot of these great bikes. Fantastic Work!

Update #2:
I recieve an email from the owner of the bike Mr. Mike Cecchini.  Most of this repeats the Update#1 in the Bikeexif post above and includes comments to some posters over on that site.  Pleas go there and check it out!  As a bonus he has also included some more great photos attached below!  Thanks VERY  much sir!! 

SORRY.  I’m having formatting problems with the message and I had to take it out till I can sort it better.  For the gist of it go on over to the Bikeexif post. 

This may be the most beautiful motorcycle I’ve ever seen. It’s easier to say than prove but for the moment, I don’t remember seeing it’s better.

 
 
 
 

Suzuki T500. Just got home from the Daytona Vintage races and this was literally the first pic I took.


What a fantastic day it was. This will probably be “Daytona” week (or so) around here so those of you who have sent in pics please don’t despair. I’m saving a lot of your material. Thanks and please keep em coming!

Oh OK a few more..

 
 

One scary singletrack video.


By this time tomorrow night I hope to be bringing back a new (to me) enduro / dualsport bike.  But I guarantee that you won’t see me riding this trail!  Very impressive singletrack.

http://www.youtube.com/v/EPCpHqg5EDs&hl=en_US&fs=1&