My XJ 550 glass cafe

First, a paper and cardboard mockup



Then build a plug from wood/plaster/foam/epoxy/paper/paint. It needs to be a PERFECT model of the seat pan I am molding. I am planning lots of space inside for wiring, and possibly the battery.



The topside of the plug is shaping up. Only a few more coats of filler to go.
The idea was to tip the tank up at the back, and blend the seat pan in with the underside curve. The seat padding will cover the mounting flange at the rear of the tank.

 

The underside, final will be self locating and held on by only the tank bolt.

 

looking good, i am guessing you have done this before

 

Nice work, I like the way this is shaping up!

 

Never done it before.
There is a TON of info and how to's on the net.
I have done some truly miserable body work before. Maybe that was practice.

I skipped a lot of early attempts. My first plan was to build the thing in wood and ply and then skin it with thin aluminum. As it went along I decided to try a cardboard model. That was a blessing. I found a way to use the original teardrop tank. I think it's going to look nice. I'm thinking red powdercoat frame and details and white tank and tail with check stripe down the center.
Still thinking about the bars, It might work with the British BSA "home market" bars, if not I think clip ons. I'd rather not use cafe bars, just a personal preference.
The clipons make a project for me, figuring out what to do with the stock risers. They are cast right into the tripletree. Maybe a mount for gauges.

 

maybe you should clear up "self-locating" 'cause one front mount on a seat sounds NUTS!!!

 

Nice work,indeed! How hard was it to make the rear frame loop? It looks great!

 

Seat looks cool!

Looking forward to the end result.

 

The back of the underside clips under the fender crossmember/bracket. The front of the underside holds a perf-metal box with all the electrics. The box wedges between the frame sides and crossmember. One bolt will do fine.
I worried for a week over just how to make that loop. Finally I grabbed a piece of HEAVY thick wall galvanized pipe I yanked out of the wall when I was doing some kitchen renos, and started bending it by hand in the vise. I just left the jaws open a bit and threw my considerable weight into it. Bit by bit I nudged it along. There are some divots but I can grind them out. I need to clean it off for brazing anyway. It makes a great handle for shifting the machine around. I'm going to make sure I leave finger clearance at the back so it stays useful.

 

Hey Ease.
I love your bike me son.

I spent a lot of time looking at how you put it together. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

Thanks!

'me son'? Hmm... You're not a Newf are you?

 

Bluenoser

 

Pretty close then. hah. :wink:

 

Aren't we all Newfs deep down?

 

for your first try you are doing an amazing job. Looks like you built a really nice (and sturdy) plug that you can pop lots of parts from. You should make a mold for later use.

 

I have a lot of patience. I really love fixing machines up to look like new. This machine however... well, let's say the look was dated, and not in a way I like.
It's taking a lot of styling cues from my BSA. Maybe it's something I secretly desired for the Beezer, but could not bring myself to do to it.
I suspect I will take the time to make a really nice job of it, and I will make a production mold. You never know, I might sell a few.

The woodwork underneath that sealer looked really nice with all the layers of the plywood showing.

 

Pictures say so much more than words.
I would caution you, I don't have much use for foam as a molding compound, everything melts it, it is too flimsy.
If I started again, I would use all plywood and short strand fiberglass reinforced polyester filler.

 

The plug is done.
I'm waiting for my son to deliver resin and gelcoat.
Meanwhile, I'm going to tackle cleaning and polishing the engine, and stripping the frame.

 

Oh, you might notice a section of fender on the back wheel.
I was thinking I would make the rear fender a floating fender attached to the swingarm. Then I'll have a place for my taillights and number plate.

 

engine porn

 

I love the plugs in the intakes...really makes it Pop!

 

nice work on the engine, where did you get the sprocket cover?

 

Sprocket cover was hand modified, drill press, hand files, little dremel.
The corks were a fantastic help. I stuck them on the end of a drill and turned them to every size and shape i needed on the grinding wheel. Simple as pie.

 

I'm going to try and soda blast the carbs all assembled. I figure I may have to take them apart anyway, but maybe not.
I'm trying to do this project on the cheap.

 

Blasting with baking soda kicks ass!!!!!
It's cheap and easy and very effective.
I bought 12 lbs of baking soda and only used 1!
It took about 5 minutes to de-gunk my carbs all assembled.
I blew out all the ports and checked the sliders before lubricating the whole rig with a light oil.
I will not worry about this gear. It looks like factory new.

 

Progress.
A lot of prep work. A LOT of grease and crap came off this machine.
Heavy, heavy caked on stuff.
I'm glad to be at the relatively clean stage of building.
I'm seriously considering silver tank and seat pan at this point.
The frame is going to be completely open. The battery box will be under the swingarm where the center stand used to be.
I've invested less than 50 bucks to now.

 

Latest pics. I'm going to give the tank a shot of primer to help visualize the finished colours.

 

Im not a big fan of cafe bikes but damn nice work man. looks real good

 

Thanks, it's always nice to get positive feedback.
I'm the only bike fan in my little family.
It's a great hobby, buying these old machines and fixing them up. I don't think I'm really happy unless I'm fixing something.
I take the machines completely apart and polish and clean every single part.
This is my first attempt at "designing" a new bike. Up till now I just put them back to factory.

The main emphasis is, believe it or not, keeping as much stock as possible. I'm trying to salvage as much as I can from the old Maxim.
I'm not sure about these bars, may have to go to clubmans for tank clearance.

 

Wow!! Amazing work you're doing there. And a silver tank would look great on that beauty.

On the subject of gas tanks, though, I have a question. Won't having the rear of the tank lifted reduce your range? I assume the petcock is located near the rear of the tank on your 550.

Oh yeah... The fork gaiters? Love 'em! Have to get around to installing some on my X.

 

I think it will drop the tank capacity by about a litre/qt. not enough to worry about, the petcock is about mid-tank, and the rear of the tank might have been below the outlet in the original config.
The gaiters are old re-pops from the BSA, they fit perfectly, I made up some acrylic rings for the tops to get them to sit right below the lower tree.
I want to get busy on the fiberglass, but the budget won't allow right now.
I think the next step is the front fender cropping and clean up the sliders, calipers, and wheel.
Gunk scraping is not my favorite part of the hobby.
I could use a solvent wash tank.

 

The motor is re-fitted. I had a hand to put it in, so I took advantage.
It's really starting to show it's personality, and I think it's black and red.

I did a bad photoshop to test it out.



[

 

Newest pic.
Gotta get at cleaning the front end.
I'm building a bending brake to make the battery box. It's going to hang under the swingarm pivot.

 

Page 3, new pics.
I need a new headlight and brackets. I'm going to craigslist a bunch of used parts to help finance this project.
I have spent less than 100 bucks to this point.
Not counting the drill bits, grinding wheels, sandpaper etc.
Paint 20 bucks, hardware 35, filler and wood 30.
I think I might be able to make that back on the used parts. Who knows? this bike may turn a profit.

 

Absolutely beautiful design and work, Gunk.

Keep those photo updates coming!

Herb

 

Thanks Herb.
My wife doesn't have much time for bikes, so I need all the encouragement I can get.

 

Just a couple of pics to fill in the blanks;

Painting, messssy. That's my '69 BSA under the blue sheet, I still haven't had a look to see how much overspray it got.





Dramatic shot. I have really learned a lot about this camera.



Wiring !@#$%^&*
It's a stage of the build where it can look really ugly for days!



inside the belly of the beast. Looks like it will all fit! This will all go inside the seat, the voltage regulator gets mounted to the bottom of the seat nacelle. I'm just laying the wiring out on an old scrap of plywood temporarily screwed to the frame.



So, finally the fiberglass supplies are on order. Nobody carries small quantities around here, so I have to wait for the local boating supplies' place to get it's spring inventory... any day now.

In the mean time. I've got about a half million little bits to sort out, and I have to clean up my workspace, there's not even room to change my mind in there.

Oh, looks like it's suppertime.

 

Very nice.
You painted the sprockets too? no powdercoat?

 

Looks awesome! Also like the gratuitous shot of the blac lab!

 

No powdercoat.
That's not to say I don't like powder coat.
Heck, it's the best thing since sliced bread.
But to prepare and mask all the parts, then to drag them all to the guy, waiting forever for the "overnight" job...
If I could do powder coat in my own garage maybe, but for now I like the paint. After all, I could paint it, then change my mind and get it powder coated next winter.

I prep all my parts for painting by thoroughly sandblasting and then wash the parts with lacquer thinner before painting.... tough as nails. And when I scratch it I just touch it up, no tears.

The dog is Norm. He really IS my best friend.

 

looks like theres a feline critter on the couch in the background too.

 

wasnt finished, oops. that bike looks awesome!

 

Looking good, any chance of seeing that bad boy on the roads around here (or what's left of them) after the rest of this mess is gone?

 

Not much chance I'm afraid.
I'm in Burlington.
I get down that way each year, we rent a cottage on St. Margaret's bay.
But alas I may never ride the Portobello Rd. again.
We are from Bedford.

Yup, the old apartment was infested with cats. (one being an uncontrolled infestation) We still have em too. Two of them now, I keep trying to drop engines on them and stuff, but they still multiply.

 

Underslung battery box.
Well, not much of a box yet, but it will be!









The chrome steel is from a plastic and steel woodworking clamp. Got it on special at $4.99. Crappy old cold rolled steel was almost 9 bucks. So I got a slightly shorter bar clamp for 4.99 and my chrome steel battery bracket for free. I see materials everywhere. My wife is frequently after me for stealing parts from household items!

 

Gunk, man that is beautiful work, I love it. & that BSA aint to shaffy either. Question on you battery box location, being that close to the collector for your exhaust is it not going to be rather hot for the battery? Just a thought. It does look good plus from a racing frame of mind it helps lower the center of gravity. Good work!
Gregg

 

Too hot? I don't know for sure. I do think we humans tend to overestimate things like that. I never got a burn from my exhaust unless I touched it.
But, I am planning on cooking up a little zinc box that should preclude any battery melting or stone damage.
My biggest concern was the chain. It comes within 15mm of the battery, closer to the drain tube. I did consider placing it longways, but it stuck out like a sore thumb.
I wanted to keep the frame open like a kick start, lots of inspiration from the XS650 crowd. Darn batteries are huge. Keeping that 4 kilos down low will help the handling a bit.
Anyway, the joy of doing it yourself includes making problems, then making them go away.

I see you installed blade fuses. Did you find a 4 fuse box?
Thanks for the encouragement Gregg. I hope I don't mess up the fiberglass, if it ever arrives.

Gunk

 

I went with individual inline blade fuses & fitted inside existing fuse box bottom. But the top no longer fits. It was pretty easy, each one has extra wire on each side of fuse so you can use the existing harness wiring without adding any extensions. I use regular blade fuse holders instead of the weather proof kind with the cap on top of each one. At some point I may regret that but for now all is good.
Gregg

 

Gunk, you got my curiosity now?

Would you be in Burlington , Hants Co?

 

Hey Ghost.
I'm in Burlington Ontario.
I didn't know there was a Burlington in Hants Co.
But I am a Maritimer by jeez.
I got my BSA from a guy on Liverpool St. and had it sorted by Gary Cooke in Harrietsfield.