Cafe Racer / Scrambler Bikes

[dobbslc]

I'd imagine you'd pick up a 535 lump easily on Ebay or something. I had a load of 750 bits to sell from my XV750 but most wont fit . That rear hub in post #2 is from a 535 and needed a LOT of machining work to fit the 750 drive!

 

[KaneH]

I’ve seen a few for reasonable money but as with eBay the descriptions are vague and pictures don’t give much away as to what is actually supplied.

Shaft drive is one other thing I may well do away with to simplify the process of swapping rear ends if I can’t find a suitable full 535 setup. I see some of the XV920’s came with chain drive. Any idea if the larger unit would squeeze into a 535 frame?

 

[dobbslc]

Pretty sure the 750, 920 & 1000 are the same frame. The 535 is different. The 920 & 1000 came in chain drive but not sure if they are all UK bikes or imported ones.
The US had a 700cc version that came with wire spoke wheels but are very rare! The reason I had to machine the 535 hub was because I wanted the spokes wheels on the 750, off sets, bearing sizes and spindles are all different .

 

[stuvy]

scrambler bikes yes but probably not what your thinking.
cafe racers i dont like, i respect that someone may have built it that way for a purpose but i really do think it spoils the look of a bike.
then again it may be my dealing with those that own them and havent built them themselves that maybe my biggest issue.
but each to their own
a lad at work goes on and on about them but he wants to buy one at incredible cost and seems more of a bragging right then appreciation of the bike.
my neighbor on the other hand builds them out of cat c/d recovered bikes and sells them for good money so i see that as the propper way of doing it.

The old adage of built not brought springs to mind there

I’m guessing he uses an adjustable spanned for ALL of the jobs he does

 

[Ashley Burton]

I know its not as per my original post, But just finished a complete rebuild on this:
Before:

After:

You wouldn't believe its over 20 years old!

Pretty chuffed

 

[stuvy]

Looks so much nicer with the black fork bottoms I’d have done the frame and swing arm too

 

[jordan1]

Always liked the Yamaha big singles, the sr and xt's. Good bases for cafe racer builds.

I had a Yam 600XT Tenere a few years back, sold it for £800, wish I had kept it now.

 

[jordan1]

A friend of mine worked in Pride and Clarke for a while, must have been back in the 60's, before he came back here to get hitched.

My first bike in the mid 50's was an ex-wd RE 350 s/v. Bought it for £5 and restored it enough to ride, great fun then.

 

[jordan1]

Was that a Talisman Twin three wheeler Bob, if so my mate had one of those late 60’s early 70’s

Made by Excelsior, rare now and silly money.

 

[james butler]

was working on my bros brand new sherco the other day.
head a weep from the head gasket after one heat cycle so we changed the gaskets, unfortunatly when we removed the head we found abnormal wear in the barrel so its back off to sherco for inspection and repair.

 

[james butler]

The old adage of built not brought springs to mind there

I’m guessing he uses an adjustable spanned for ALL of the jobs he does

oh definitely i much prefer built not bought but if someone doesn't have the knowledge or expertise to do so then i can understand why they would buy one.
i just dont understand why some will then start bragging down the pub regurgitating what the brochure told them and how much they paid for the bike and therefore must be better than yours
but thats just my bad experiences, not everyone is like that

 

[stuvy]

I know a few lads that run 5 to 800bhp cars all fully brought not built.... one of them is an old school aquatints certainly not friend that lives in his parents garage the others are 40’s middle management IT chaps that read evo and top gear but have no sense of what it’s like to even change a spark plug