Photos

I rode the project bike out to a Vintage bike show in Chilliwack BC last weekend. The local Vincent group had a number of mostly original bikes on display and asked me to bring mine in from the parking lot to add some variety to the display.
The photographer for the event is producing a Cafe Racer book (I know, yet another!) and asked to photograph it for inclusion in the book. Up till now I have only had my own crappy photos of the bike, cheap camera and no artistic ability on my part.
He intends to do an interview and take some more photos out on the road somewhere, maybe with a backdrop of the mountains which are all around this Valley.

I thought these looked pretty decent. Something about proper lighting, an expensive camera and training/experience!

Glen

That bike sure is nice...

That sure is a nice bike, the photographer may need a bit of tweaking though. Take a look at the bike ictures on this site http://southsiders-mc.blogspot.ca/ their studio photos are great, they even make a Triumph look nice :mrgreen:

Jean

I think he can do better, for example my cheesburger problem should be airbrushed away

And I want the hair thickened up, maybe a dash of colour added.....

Glen

worntorn said:

I think he can do better, for example my cheesburger problem should be airbrushed away

And I want the hair thickened up, maybe a dash of colour added.....

Glen

Click to expand...

Hire a model, cheaper than all your requests. If you really want to draw attention away from any defect the bike "may" have, get a sex change... better yet, hire a female model :mrgreen:

Jean

I've noticed that when riding this bike I draw some attention from young females/model possibilities..... they lose interest when the helmet comes off however.... :cry:

Looking good, better than most on this board I imagine :lol:

Sweet bike, enjoyed your build thread.

Thanks Wil
Its almost time to start building the big engine for it. Im starting to get separation anxiety having the HRD motor out of its original cycle parts. Will probably put that back together, then get at the new motor build.

Glen

they lose interest when the helmet comes off however....

They do pretty convinceing masks , these days . I could send over a can off black spay paint , if youd like to tidy it up , too . :wink:

wow that thing is super duiper awesome!!!!! what a gem!

What type of fork/disc is it...I could use 2 fingers braking on my Egli... the 4LS is nice but needs more pull thn I have left!
Philippe

The brake is from a 2003 gsxr 750. I chose that year and model because the front end is partcularly light, 2 pounds lighter than the later upside down forks.
Its best to use just one finger on the brake, two invariably gives too much braking at road speeds. It took a little getting used to, all my other bikes are drum except the Commando which is stock disc and needs the big squeeze to do anything much.

Glen

Thank you Glen for the explanation. Do you know if it would be possible to have a spokes wheel? I have spokes on mine and Id like to stay like this. Did you use the Suzuki trees to??
Philippe

Hi Phillipe.

Yes, the fork yoke arrangement on the Suzuki is similar to Norton and others, but lighter in weight than our roadholders. It needs to do a much bigger job than the roadholders because of the greater braking forces of this brake.

Early on in the build I thought about converting to wire spoke wheels but changed my mind when I decided on using big rubber. After doing a recent 1400 mile trip thru the Rockies, I am really pleased with that decision. The combination of good suspension and big rubber allows the bike to really soak up the rough stuff- it just floats along at a high rate of speed.
In a nod to the original Vincent I polished the outside flats on the rims painted the centres black then added the red stripes. Original Vincents came with this type of treatment, so I thought that would be fun.

To get a Suzuki front end that came with wire spoke wheels, one needs to go back into the 70s or early 80s. The brakes of those early disc models is said to be quite poor, probably on par with the Commando disc, so no advantage there and likely they are quite heavy and poor in the suspension department.

To convert the modern front end and brakes to a wire spoke wheel arrangement is something that others have done, but it is a pile of work/expense for an end result that is weaker, not as stiff, heavier and has limited tire choices. So it was looking at a new Norton 961 with alloy wheels that made me realize the bike would look really good (to me) with the wheels I already had on hand,plus the end product would be a lighter, better riding machine.

Glen

Glen

1993 GSXR 750 frontend, Harley disc hub, Deep drop center 17" wheels, Buchanon spokes.
I machined the hub a little bit for width, metric bearings easily sourced and dropped right in, and made 2 axle spacers.
Easy Peasy!

Right now I have a Ceriani and I was thinking of going for someting like maybe a TX/XS650 fork with gold cartridge in it and the excellent double pistons calipers x 2 of the period yamaha. Or adapt a single Brembo on a Yamie or kawaie fork of the 70/80'...
The machining/lathe etc is not an easy solution for me as I have to search for outside help to do it!!!
Philippe

Why not have a look at the 90s Kawa Zepher wheels or maybe a modern Triumph. Some of them came with spoked wheels and pretty good forks.

Webby

Now that you mention it, some of the early 90s bmws had wire spoked wheels, decent looking double discs. I dont know how heavy these setups are, probably quite heavy, but also good quality.

Glen

YEA ,some of them are four short , on spokes , too. ( 36 Vs.40) if you disaprove of cost cutting .
Were some twin disc alloy rimyam 650 XS's about , a twerp bougt 3 for a grand . One flat trackish .
Was going tomess them up , but had a Brain Tumour . Old days a lot of coustom disc brake stuff
was on the market.

Glen, Cycle World likes to show cafe racers, send them a pic of yours - why not?
& post a burn out shot on this thread, when that back tyre is spent..