For your perusal, a Triumph Tiger that would make either a great frame-up restoration, or the beginnings of a great cafe racer project. It is relatively clean with (claimed) numbers matching.
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)
Bikes, eBay
1972, 650, 650cc, amal, cafe, cafe racer, project, racer, restoration, Tiger, triumph, Triumph TIger
Here is a really clean build-up/restoration of a Yamaha XS650 into a cafe racer. So much about it is right, and just a few things need help (but they’re easy).
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.
Bikes, eBay
1977, 650, cafe, cafe racer, caferacer, cb500, cb500t, clip-ons, clubman, drag bar, gas tank, racer, xs, xs650, yamaha