It's Alive!

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debby

debby

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Another Norton rescued from the grave! I fired up the Anti Cafe Bike for the first time tonight. It sounds good, no scary noises, and there were no drips or puddles or leaks.

I bought this bike last March off ebay as a parts bike. The seller advertised it as an "expensive project" that he "didn't have time to finish". In reality it was a loosely assembled collection of mostly bad parts. After much time and money, it's now a nice stock 850 Roadster. (That's why I call it the Anti Cafe Project).

Photo of the new bike cooling down after its first run:

It's Alive!


Still lots of work to do - sidepanels need to be painted, wiring needs to be finished, and the alternator has a rub. I'm running it total loss right now and don't even have the stator installed. But it fired up and moved under its own power tonight and I'm pretty happy about that! :D

Debby
 
Nice looking bike!

That front brake looks interesting. I see a Nissin caliper. What's the rotor from originally? Care to share any specs, such as rotor diameter and thickness, what the caliper came from oroginally and piston sizes, what master cylinder you're using, etc?

I am trying to pick your brains because I want to upgrade my brake but for a lot less than the price of the kits out that are out there.
 
Nice work Debby. You don't waste any time do you. Mine's been sitting in the shed for about 12 years waiting to be restored. From memory I thought this was going to be a special? It's a real buzz when you first fire them up isn't it. Congratulations.
Ben
 
EXCELLENT!

I also like that front brake setup.

I'm seeing more and more affordable modern front disc conversions on the scene; it's about time!
 
Congratulations, Debby! Looks great and I bet it runs great too!

Still lots of work to do
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These things have a habit of being a continual work in progress. I put my cafe racer on the stand last winter for new pipes and mufflers and it is still there with new forks with cartridge emulators, new adjustable clip-ons, new Brembo brakes, Production racer tank and seat, different oil tank, new tires, rebuilt starter... You get the idea. Got to make a few more pieces and get the paint done.
 
iusedtolikehondas said:
is that fender on backwards?
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Some owners choose to fit it like that, as the stay wouldn't fit in the normal rear position because of the non-standard caliper being in the way.
 
The front fender is actually on the right way, but I removed the rear stay because of the caliper interference. I'm running the same brake on my 750, and on that bike I do have the fender on backwards. It came to me with a Mk3 front fender (no front stay) and I didn't want to drill the fender so I just flipped it around. I got used to it and left it that way. Hardly anyone notices.

The brake uses a Harley rotor and a Nissin 4 piston caliper from a Honda CBR600F4. You can buy these parts cheap on ebay from owners who are upgrading. I paid $35 for a pair of calipers. Brembos usually sell for about $200 per pair, used.

On this bike I'm running a Brembo 13 mm master cylinder from a single disk Ducati Monster. On my 750 I'm running a Nissin 13 mm master cylinder from a Honda CBR600F2. Both work equally well. Good used master cylinders are hard to find - they usually have crash damage - but new Brembos are available.

A friend in the club made the rotor carrier and caliper mount. Overall I'm very pleased with this setup. It works just as good as a full Brembo system for a lot less money.

Debby
 
even without the last little bits done, it's a great looking bike:

congratulations!

(now i'm even MORE itchy to kick mine over for the first time!)

karl
 
karl, are you going to be changing your forum username?
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ha ha ...... lets see if I can get it to fire up! The guy I got the bike from is a dear friend who in the last few months passed away. His nickname was Strunzo pazzo (crazy sh*t) ...... so I'm thinking of having license plates that say strnzo in his honor.....the only problem is our Italian friends may not like the name so well.


I'll probably stick with what I have , since at 55, I don't think I can navigate around the site well enough to figure out HOW to change my username :?
 
Nothing to add other than to reiterate: really nice job and great looking bike! And if per chance you have copious amounts of free-tiime and energy, I've got one in the shop that still needs attending to. The will is there but for the next few months, frustratingly, I just don't have the t i m e . I'd provide all the food and libations, naturally!

wrench
 
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