Bike with Cafe Racer kit from Bike Barn... Picture

I finally got around to installing the cafe racing kit from oldbikebarn.com...
A friend of mine grab a shot of me riding on my way to our softball game...

 

I've got the same fairing on my 750, I really like it.

How much did you end up paying? Got mine for 40.00 on ebay.

 

Very nice!! Which bars are those, the clubmans or the plain drag bars?

 

Not sure how to edit my post.... It should say oldbikebarn.com....

Anyway the bars are clubman bars and at first they were uncomfortable but now I am used to them and love them. If putting them on a maxim like I did you will need to change out the Clutch and throttle cables... I used motion pro cables made for the Seca.

I bought the kit for........

Ok I was going to provide a link but it looks like they are no longer providing the Cafe Racer kit on their site

Well it was not too much money, it included the clubman bars, the fairing, some grips, and rear shocks.....

 

How do the clubman bars do while turning tight corners? It always looked to me like they'd hit the tank pretty bad. If you say they work good though, I'll probably get a set for mine, I've already got a fairing, got it off of ebay but it has a crack in it. All your bike needs is a bobbed rear fender and the grab rail painted black, and you're perfect. That's exactly what's done with mine, except right now I've been experimenting with a dropped headlight/guage setup with Seca bars, but I think I'm going to go with the fairing/clubmans instead.

 

For turning at fast or slow speeds, like in a parking lot, no problem....
If manuvering in the garage or out of a parking spot you have to be careful not to take it to full lock... Won't really do any harm to the tank, but if turned left the choke can be engaged by accident and if turned right you can hit the starter button... No biggy just have to watch when moving in tight spaces....

I really noticed a difference in handling!!! By putting on the bars all of my weight was brought more forward to the middle of the bike. It feels much more balanced now then it ever has before...

 

Clubmans here I come baby!!!

BTW, how tall are you? Looks like a pretty comfortable ride too, I like the leaning slightly forward stance, but not the totally hunched over stance like the newer sportbikes are. My friend with his '06 R6 still swears it's the most comfortable bike in the world, but he's 5'9", I'm 6'3". :lol:

 

I am six foot tall... I have found that I can vary my lean by sliding back or forward on the seat... I my back is hurting or i am just crusing I can slide a little forward and it is not as aggressive... If I slide back I can bring my head down more to cut back on wind resistance and really get on it :twisted:

 

One more thing i should mention is that although I said it took some getting used to I still think it is way more comfortable then the stock maxim bars!!! They are horrible :?

 

Damn my teardrop gas tank! I wanted clubmans but had to settle for a slightly more drag style.

The maxim stock bars are TERRIBLE! I agree to that. I've got a 750 max and the bars are a tad different..but still...They weren't uncomfortable, just ugly. That and I felt like I wasn't really in control when cornering at speeds above 20 mph.

Looks good man, real good. Thinking of getting it painted at all?

 

Yeah I want to get it painted, but I am taking my time because I don't really have the money right now and I also don't really know where I am taking the look yet... I definetly like the subdued look... Maybe a dark blue color with most things painted black and only some shiney parts showing through.....

 

For some reason my hands would go numb when I rode with the stock bars... Not sure why though.... And i agree cornering was a problem with the stock bars if you had any real speed, but the with the lower style of bars it is much easier to flick into corners...

 

Thanks Sho! 8)

 

Here is a question for the experts....
Since changing the bike by putting on the above mentioned parts I noticed that the bike will stall under very heavy braking... Any ideas as to what may be causing that. The parts added could be unrealated but I thought I would mention the timing just incase.

 

I had the same problem! After riding for an hour or so the tips of my fingers would get tingly and I constantly found myself moving my hands to keep them awake. I know it was partially due to having terrible grips, which I'll finally be replacing next week

Cornering is definately more aggressive, I love it. I'm sure yours is even more extreme then mine, having the clubman bars and all.

 

Is your clutch fully disengaging? You may have just enough slack at the start of the pull that your clutch is still grabbing a little bit. Also the sometimes the steel disks in your clutch will wear grooves into the basket that will keep it from disengaging normally.

 

I've no clutch problems at all. I was able to route the cable well enough so there isn't any extra tension or much slack.

It was fine on my old bars and seems to be ok on the new ones as well.

 

hi jauten1!!!
Do you have more pictures of your bike with the fairing?
I'm planning getting one for my xj650.
thx!