xbr500 cafe racer project - only 2 months to complete

[guest1529]

after finishing the cb750 kz for a customer we have the next project to get on with.
only stipulations we have are
1 to be road legal
2 be done to the given budget
3 to be done in 2 months completed with mot ( we still have to make the carbon parts & cafe racer seats so can only spare a couple - max hours a day at the moment)
so i can do what i really want with this little beauty.
before it came to us someone had tried to cafe it & failed miserably,
the original handlebars were put under the top yoke, had a custom stainless exhaust built
unfortunately its more like street fighter than cafe racer, & then lost the fuel tank, lucky we have a few in stock & moulds to make others
it had been left in a garage not running for a few years
started out looking like this

the first thing we did was to get it running, put fresh fuel in the small tank we use, connected a charged battery, pulled the choke on & stabbed the start button & expected nothing - it proved me wrong turning over & firing up first try & ticked over smoothly till warm then ran perfectly off the choke - hope the rest of the build goes like this
next had a play with some seats & tanks we have to get the look we want (roughly)

after a couple of hours today the bike was just a pile of bits

[guest1529]

Yesterday we had a thinking day - well ten minutes thinking & a couple of tins of diet coke.
We decided on the colour of the bike.
The frame & decals down the centre of the mudguard, tank & seat is going to be candy fools gold

The tank, seat & mudguard are going to be black
well black / grey
well if im going to be honest we made the seat unit yesterday & its not going to be painted at all
have you guessed what it will be yet?

That was taken out of the mould an hour ago without any finishing, the edges want finishing & the whole lot wants flatting & lacquering, may even put a faint gold pearl in the top coat.

[guest1529]

Today we completely striped the bike down, cut off all the unwanted brackets, main stand & subframe,
then welded some small gussets in the triangulated part where the side panels went & a bar where the subframe was cut back (to mount the light & number plate bracket)

the frame & swinging arm are off to the sand blasters on monday should have any imperfections on the standard welds filled & acid etch primed & 2 pack high build primed by wednesday/thursday.
Then a quick dry build with tank & seat before full paint on frame & swinging arm - that will take a few days as it has a silver base coat (3-4 coats), then the candy (up to 6 coats) & finally the top clear coat (4 coats).
In between the painting the frame i will be stripping & cleaning the engine (externals only as it ran perfectly) painting matt black & doing a bit of polishing

[Ian]

....................... so can only spare a couple - max hours a day at the moment)

Its amazing what you can do when you "can only spare a few hours a day"     

[tj63]

I wonder if Graham is drooling yet?


Trevor

[JOOLZ]

Have fun It looks like a great project. What tank is that in the photo

[guest1529]

Have fun It looks like a great project. What tank is that in the photo

it started life as a bsa tank but has had a few teaks to make it look a bit more "cafe" if you know what  im saying, we have the mould for the top of the tank & just make bottoms to suit the bike

[guest1529]

The frame & swinging arm have returned from the blasters, they are using a new medium which doesnt do any harm to bearing surfaces or threaded areas, & it makes a fantastic job (did cost a bit though)

Spent a while filling & smoothing the welds that are seen & will get it in acid etch & high build primer tomorrow, maybe in silver base coat if i get time.
Over the couple of days that the frame was away i have cleaned & de-greased the engine giving the rocker cover a quickish polish with the wire brush on the drill, the covers have been sent to the polisher & all the little brackets have been painted. will post pics of engine when i get the covers back & rebuilt.
Ordered a massive lot of stainless nuts bolts washers & allen bolts for it - should do every nut bolt on bike with these.
I found a pair of rs250 spokies on ebay quite cheep, got the front fitted in the xbr forks today & it fits & lines up perfectly, just need to sort a disc out, will have a look at the rear next week

[guest564]

That RS250 rim looks good in there, you might want to whip the tyres off and check them out though as they have a habit of delaminating inside.

[guest1529]

cheers mate
i will be checking the wheels & making any repairs needed & fitting new tyres.
Got the frame acid etched primed & high build primed, not happy with a few imperfections in the finish so a bit more filling & flatting required before getting the base coat on.


Had another play with the front end with the spoked wheel & looked up & measured various discs to suit the rs wheel, found an old cb900f disc we had kicking around & it fitted & lined up perfectly, might have to machine 2mm of the caliper mounting bracket

[guest1529]

Not had much time to get a lot done this week as we have been very busy selling & making loads of cafe racer seats & having meetings with the web designer - new website coming soon just for cafe racer parts.
excuses over, I will be working all day sunday on this.
We have had a few new parts delivered, stainless bolts, k n style air filter & exhaust.
finished flatting, filling & re priming the frame spent 4 hours doing that!!
then managed to get the frame, swinging arm, side stand & torque arm in bright base coat silver, tomorrow the frame & swinging arm will get the candy applied & finished in top coat.
the engine has been stripped of its covers( which are at the polishers) the whole lot has been de greased  & wire brushed, the rocker cover has been cleaned & lightly polished. the rest inc crank cases have been painted in gloss black engine enamel. all the bolts nuts etc have been replaced with stainless allen bolts

[guest1529]

got the frame & swinging arm in the candy colour today & 1 coat of clear on
(ran out of lacquer so the other 2 coats will go on in the morning)

[guest1529]

today the owner came in to pay his parts bill, or thats what i thought he was going to do
instead we had the kleenex speech that goes like -
" i cant afford to do this bike anymore (even though we are well under budget so far)
lost my job girlfriend pregnant, car failed mot, etc, etc"
passed him the tissue - metaphorically speaking & told him he couldnt take the bike until he had paid the parts & labour so far.
another project never to be finished.
so instead of letting you lot down i agreed to give him a small amount of cash (well i am a yorkshire man)& let him off with what he owed us
15 mins later he came back with the log book.RESULT
Now the pressure is off to meet the deadline shall i
1 still do it in 2 months or relax with it
2 sod the budget & go all out on it
3 brake it for parts & make some ££
or 4 carry on as if nothing has changed.
SOD it - off to see the guy that does my chrome with loads of bits then ordered every other nut & bolt i dont already have in stainless,
ITS MINE NOW SO THE BUDGET WILL STRETCH SLIGHTLY but still keeping the deadline
rant now over

[Oldtimer]

Getting exciting this Innit!

[guest1529]

Yesterday i managed to get the bottom yoke, torque arm & side stand in base coat,
colour & lacquer, its starting to come together now.

Today started off very well with some bits returning from the polisher

so after the working day had finished i decided to spend a couple of hours building the engine up, putting the polished cases on & changing every bolt for a stainless allen bolt.
All looked good


Then just as i was tightening the genny cover down it all went pear shaped
IN A BIG WAY
 
I used an allen bolt & washer on the genny wire retaining clip bolt, which must have been touching the crank case, i wouldnt mind but i was hardly tightening it not swinging on it like a bloody monkey!