As you reminded me before, posting pictures of scantily clad women sometimes gets people all sorts of riled up. Therefore, I did not post the image I used before when this bike was used to sell the cafe racer seat pictured on this bike. The post, dated 8/5/08, can be seen here if you wish to behave in a depraved manner and ogle the bike/bikini model!

However, in a bid for a late-season BCS bid, I am reposting the bike here (minus bikini model) as it is now for sale. What a beautiful bike! If it was beat to crap it would have a certain Mad Maxian image to it, but it isn’t…

Instead of summarizing, I have decided to simply cut-and-paste the ad copy from the eBay listing. The bike already has one bid, and I am sure it will meet reserve and go to a good home. Now get out there and kick some ass in the second half! And ignore the scantily clad bikini model in the tunnel on the way to the field!!!

“1975 CB 750 Cafe Racer
This bike is featured in the Nov/Dec 08 issue of Road Bike Magazine, on page 58. This is a rare opportunity to own a show quality and very rideable vintage street custom at a reasonable price. Recently built by Ken Glenn, one of the countries premier custom motorcycle builders. If you want a bike to put in shows this one will get the trophies. A quality addition to any collection. Every bit a piece of art, yet is not garage furniture. It runs great and is ridden frequently. Scroll down and see all the photos. For more information on this bike go to KGCycles.com
Some of the many features are;
*New fork tubes. *New Clipons. *Air suspension. * NOS Manx exhaust system. *New spokes. *New bar end mirrors. *Hand made custom oil tank. *Custom KGCycles fiberglass Front and Rear Fenders, Seat, Gas tank and Fairing with dash panel. *House of Kolor Orion silver paint, *and many more custom made items.
Viewing of the bike will be done by appointment only, and only to qualified buyers. Please contact me by email to request an appointment or for any other questions. A phone number will only be given to qualified buyers. A $500 deposit is required at the end of the auction, and the balance is required in cash at the time of pickup. No checks, MO’s, or other payments accepted. Buyer is responsible for pickup with in one week of the end of the sale.
To see more about this bike go to KGCycles.com”

But for your bike they would be sweet!

That engine problem sounds to me like either an electrical thing with intermittent spark or a flooded cylinder. Or too much oil in the cylinder. But what the hell do I know?!?

The best thing about these early- to mid-1970s Honda twins is the availability of parts for fixing or customizing into cafe racers. Like that disk front end might very well bolt on to an SL350. Hmmmm. I might have to look into that….

Since this is mostly a stock bike (that exhaust looks very JCW), there isn’t a lot to say about what has been done to it. Cosmetically, it is a clean starting point for anything that might be done to it. I look at it as kind of a blank slate; what you do with it is up to you…

(Click on the photos to go to eBay and see more pictures and the full description)

I think the overall look of the bike with the nice paint, fiberglass, and decals is really nice. It will stand out in a row of bikes at Alice’s Restaurant while not being over the top. That rear seat is particularly nice, and I like the way the CB500 tank looks on the bike. The red pin-striping/decals on the white bodywork is quite classy.

But here are two things that would change the bike radically on the cheap and easy: ditch the crazy square mirror, and get some clip-ons or clubmans. I know it is more comfortable to have the drag bars, but it is the one missing element for me. And the square mirror? Enough said…

This bike is only a little ways from my house, but finances dictate I stay away and concentrate on the SL350 cafe build-up I have coming up with my friend Paul at TheMotoWorld.com.

Take a look at the description from the seller. He goes into some of the trick bits on the bike and in the motor. I think this BSA will make someone a wonderful half-century-old Sunday morning ride…

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…

• Cutting the balance tube/exhaust bracket so the rear axle would clear the exhaust with the swing arm being pushed down by the 15″ shocks. This also gave the exhaust a weird note as there was a third outlet for the spent gas.
• Race-Tech straight rate springs from my old race bike. I think they are spec’d for an ‘87 ZX600 as that is the front end I had on my EX500. This stopped the front end from bottoming during hard braking or cornering.
• EBC HH rated pads. These actually stopped the bike versus the stock H-D pieces.
• Single braided brake line in the front from the EX500 race bike. Mmmmm…

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

So then I look at this particular bike, where it has been modified with a set of clubman bars, and I think to myself, “Is this a cafe racer? Or is it just a bike with clubman bars?” I’m not sure if I have the answer.

However, as my bike (a 2005 H-D Sportster 883) has received only a partial number of the modifications that would generally describe a cafe racer, is it even okay for me to say that it has been cafe’d? Hmmm. I think I need to post some pictures of it and get opinions from all of the readers of this blog.

Regardless, this CB500 is a good starting point for a cafe racer, although I am always happier with clip-ons than clubmans…