This winter in particular has been a long time coming. I bought my 1992 Honda CB750 Nighthawk back in February and I've been riding it ever since, with a few weeks of down time for maintenance here and there. Since then, Mike and Garri have bought their own: a 1982 Yamaha XJ650 and a 1978 Yamaha SR500 respectively. However, the motorcycles from the last millennium that we have are full of "character", a slang term for busted parts, bruises, blemishes and sometimes unique ways of operating. For example, Garri's SR500 runs without a battery and the XJ650's motor is blown, so I guess it's not running at all. For now.
CB750, XJ650, SR500
We have been planning on stuffing 3+ bikes into a garage for the winter with dreams of a complete tear-down and repair. I managed to keep the Nighthawk working all summer and into the fall with only a small amount of zip ties so in other words, it's a great-running almost-stock motorcycle. I plan on bringing it back to full stock over the winter as opposed to what Garri and Mike have planned: Cafe.
In the '60s, the British rocker-type
greaser guy subculture was blooming and the leather jacket and cigarette usually came with a Cafe Racer motorcycle. The Cafe Racer was
a chopped, short, powerful motorcycle and was a symbol of the
devil-may-care lifestyle. It was almost always modified by the owner
and it got its name from, yes, racing from cafe to cafe. In my opinion,
the retro look of the Cafe bike is making a comeback. The reasons are
not important but I would guess it is because it is incredibly simple to
get yourself a motorcycle for less than $1,000 and at most another
$1,000 and a little bit of mechanical know-how and you have a very
inexpensive and unique slice of motorcycle history, not to mention a
symbol of your outlaw attitude. On the whiteboard that hangs on the wall of the garage is a list of ideas for each motorcycle, a couple drawings and a wishlist of parts and supplies. The major changes to the SR500 and the XJ650 include discarding the seat, handle bars, stock exhaust, body fairings, and any non-essential weight including the battery, which is replaced with a capacitor. The handlebars will be replaced with short "clip ons" that clamp to the top of the front forks, the seats will be crafted out of plywood and foam to reduce weight and the exhaust will be upgraded for looks and downgraded for sound (think louder, way louder). There are some other small changes like lights and mirrors but those are the essentials for a Cafe Racer.
The Nighthawk has a different destiny; I plan on removing everything from the frame and sending it to be powdercoated black, which is the factory color. The frame suffered one crash on dirt from the previous owner and has some rust that needs to be removed. I'll also have to inspect it thoroughly to make sure it isn't damaged. The tank was also dented and scratched so I will be getting an estimate on the cost of repair and repainting. I'll also inspect the top end of the motor in addition to all the other parts that I remove. If I need to replace anything, I'll try to get as close to OEM parts as possible. The idea is to make it look like it did the day it rolled off the line. Two things pose a problem: the headlight mounting bracket was bent so it doesn't fit in its housing anymore and a small metal tab on the frame which prevents the handlebars from turning too far was broken and needs to be welded. The headlight housing is being searched for by some fellow Nighthawk owners on the NH Forum so keep your fingers crossed. There are some other tweaks I need to do to bring it back to stock but those are the major repairs.
This is all well and good for the gear heads but what I am really looking forward to is sharing with you the footage from 3 GoPro cameras and a fancy DSLR. We will be taking video, time-lapsed footage and a ton of still images to keep track of the builds, just like my Grandpa did with his 1949 Indian Arrow. I'll be sure to post it on here when it is finished.
Safe ride.
http://www.dropbears.com/gallery/yamaha/Yamaha_1978_SR500.htm
http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/6920781-download-yamaha-xj650-xj-650-seca-maxim
http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/threads/614319-Post-a-pic-of-stuff-you-want-V-quot-I-covet-my-neighbor-quot/page20
http://www.styleforum.net/t/116251/cafe-racer-as-first-bike
