I don’t have any clue if these will fit on my SL350 project, so I am going to let them go. I also am probably going to fit a different triple-clamp and forks to my project, so these wouldn’t work anyways.
But for your bike they would be sweet!
After a 3 month hiatus, I am back.
Today I went for my first ride in a while on my cafe’d Sporty, and I had a blast. And my elbows hurt. I guess that’s what I get for not staying in shape and riding the beast every day. I went to go see my therapist after a two month hiatus from talking to her (sense a theme here, my friends?), and I rode home on my favorite 1.5-lane, no-center-line winding road. Awesome fun!!!
I’ve spent the last three months taking care of my kids every day, learning how to ride in the dirt on my KTM 640, and generally whiling away the days whilst I look for a new job. Today I was turned down for one for which I thought I was a shoe-in. Lots of resumes going out, but not so many responses coming in.
So now I will be once again searching the web for cool cafe racers, writing about the foibles of my life, and chronicling the SL350 cafe racer build-up that I am starting in semi-competition with my friend Paul who runs TheMotoWorld.com. I’ll post an entry about that later.
And if I get a job, I promise to continue this blog. In fact, I am looking into setting up a website to host the blog so I can have more related cafe racer content available to everyone.
See you on the road…
Back in the day, when I first started tearing my bike apart, I ended up with a few mods (there’s more now, though). It is a 2005 Sportster 883. This pic is one of the few from that stage of the bike’s build. Right here it has 27″ drag bars and 15″ Progressive shocks as the only purchased add-ons. I also did a few home-brewed mods, including the following:
I will try to get a nicer picture of the bike (and maybe some detail shots, too), and post them with a list of updated mods. However, don’t expect it to be beautiful. It is a daily rider with lots of miles and is no show bike or trailer queen.
Thanks for reading the blog. I appreciate everyone’s great comments!
Sportster with stage 1 cafe racer mods
I was checking out the google on the internet machines :D, and I found this site. I think these bikes are ultra cool. I really like the concept of all of his bikes having a one-off feel to them. I think I’ll need to talk to my friend Paul about converting one of his older Honda’s into a cafe racer with some of these parts. Click on the photo below to visit the Benjie’s Cafe Racer site…
Two Harleys in one day? What is the world coming to…
This one is a bit more customized than the one I posted earlier today. Lots of engine work. Paint. Suspension. So on and so forth. Cool XR piece of kit…
What makes this bike interesting is the Evel Knievel link. From the listing, it is unclear if he rode this during a show. If this has been jumped by the great Evel Knievel, then it is a pretty cool piece of history. I wish there was a photo of the signed helmet and article, too. But regardless, this is a very nice bike - cafe American style.
For your perusal, here is an utter Frankenbike. The subframe is basically non-existant, it has no gauges, and it has an open exhaust. Now, I am not against the occasional Frankenbike. Nor am I against bikes without instruments (I’ve owned them and may currently ride one 
). However, I wish there was some audio of this bike running via YouTube or something. I could post something like that (hint, hint)…
Overall, I like the look of the bike. It is certainly minimalist in the right way, I just want to know more about the details of the build.
I really, really like this bike. This is pretty hard-core! No padding on the seat! Ouch! But overall, great cosmetically. The combination of parts and paint make a really beautiful bike. I can believe that it is a bike night winner.
But somewhere, inside of every post, I always have at least one complaint. In this case, it is my usual “needs clip-ons” complaint. But that’s an easy fix. This is probably way more comfortable to ride, but that’s my preference…
Once again… Bad Ass XS650!!!
Did you ever see Kill Bill Volume 1? I did. It has this character in it (quite despicable) who drives a truck that has an interesting pair of words painted on it. P&%SY WAGON. This bike reminds me of that. Not that the owner of this bike in any way represents the character from the movie. Really. I don’t like libel. I’m sure the owner of this bike is quite a nice person.
However, I really like the paint job. “Crotch Rocket”. Name it what it is. That’s what I always say. Who needs a ZX10R when you can ride one of these.
Yes, it needs some parts.
Yes, the owner is being honest about the project nature of the bike.
Yes, the paint is supposedly not that good.
But who cares?!?!? This bike is wicked fast and has big ’70s style lettering that references your crotch. How cool is that?!?!?
I’m definitely in kind of a weird place. Maybe tomorrow the blog will go back to normal…
Okay. So this is a street bike. I missed it the first time. But look at it!!! It sure looks like a race bike. But it has mirrors and lights. It must be registerable somewhere. Either Maine or Vermont, I’m sure. Please accept my apologies…
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So this is not a cafe racer from the stand point of going ton-up on the street, but it is a cool race-bike conversion. I like the number of after-market parts on the bike, but I’m not sure about the long number of years in storage. Check it out for yourselves and see what you thing…
I think this is too much of a project for me, but it looks like a good starting point for the right person. I’m not sure the price is right, but maybe something can be worked out before the auction closes. I really like the tank. I want to do a “The Tank Shop” tank for my Sportster but I don’t have the scratch right now.
