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Seca/Cafe

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by Samson, Aug 15, 2011.

  1. skillet

    skillet Active Member

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    NICE job on that tail section!!!

    skillet
     
  2. Samson

    Samson Member

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    Thanks,
    bike is back on two wheels :D

    Put a set of new brake pads on it, too.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Bobbybonez

    Bobbybonez Member

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    Looking really good. Great work!
     
  4. warchol2

    warchol2 Member

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    love it!

    looks to me like the rear shocks stick out a bit, maybe if you polish out the forks? it might even it out
     
  5. Samson

    Samson Member

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    Yeah, I wish I could have gotten them in something other than chrome, but oh well.
    I might polish the front forks later, but that probably won't be till next winter.
     
  6. mauric8311

    mauric8311 New Member

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    Looks clean!!!
     
  7. Samson

    Samson Member

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    Put a valve cover on, painted the clutch cover, and made a new license plate holder.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  8. autosdafe

    autosdafe Member

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    Looking good.
     
  9. Samson

    Samson Member

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    [​IMG]

    Looks like a bike again, but still needs a lot of little stuff... foot pegs, exhaust, battery, seat, and a lot of bolts tightened.
     
  10. wwj750

    wwj750 Member

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    Wow-lookin very, very nice! Good work there.
     
  11. Samson

    Samson Member

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    I dind of wish the seat was darker, but it'll do for now...

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Orange-n-Black

    Orange-n-Black Well-Known Member

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    Looks great.
     
  13. fuggers

    fuggers Member

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    looking good, I'm hoping to do a similar build. I like the wheel color. I am just starting to collect pieces.

    What kind of clip-ons did you get that fit the stock brake MC? I thought i read that most are too short and it doesn't fit.

    I'll attach a terrible MS paint photo of what I'm thinking for a paint scheme and seat. The green will be darker and more metallic. The pic is also at a slight angle so hopefully the tank should level out a little bit.
     

    Attached Files:

  14. darkfibre

    darkfibre Member

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    After looking at these seats (and they look good.)
    A serious question is about coping with a long ride?

    I put a gel cover over the standard seat on long rides, but the amount of padding and hard radius edges on these looks scary.
     
  15. c_muck

    c_muck Member

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    Love the wheel color! What kind of prep did you do before you painted them? Just clean them up a bit or did you strip off the black?
     
  16. Samson

    Samson Member

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    They're just a generic ebay set that goes for less than $100 shipped.
    Just have to make sure they fit 36mm forks and are 7/8" thick.
    Everything mounted up properly, I didn't even realize some might be too short :p

    I like the green color.
    My gas tank was on an angle too, it's just he way it's set up.
    One of the things I did was lower the front end a little,
    the other was making a riser for the rear mount of the tank, here's couple of pics...

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It's one inch square aluminum tubing.


    Most cafe racer seats are about 1/4" thick. The company I bought the fome from also has 1/2" thick padding for enduro, or something like that.
    They also have an "old fart" option that's 1" thick, which is what I went with :D
    It's still very firm... and flat, but I guess I'll find out how comfy it really is in a month or two.

    First I cleaned the wheels with some engine cleaner/degreeser.
    Then I washed them with soap while scrubbing with steel-wool.
    Then just primered them, and sprayed with paint (burnt copper)
    I used engine paint since it's heat and chemical resistant.
     
  17. fuggers

    fuggers Member

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    Good info, thanks. I wonder if 3 inches is too much, I'll have to run a search :)

    Are those the stock shocks in the back, comparing them to mine they look much longer. Mine measure 12" eye to eye I believe. I'm gonna need more room in the rear when I get the new seat fab'd up.
     
  18. Samson

    Samson Member

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    They are longer. My shocks are meant for a 1974 Harley, which measure roughly 14”.
    Normally you can’t put them on a shafty because it kings the u-joint start to bind because of the extreme angle of the drive shaft. I cut my original part of the rear frame (sub-frame) off and welded a new one with new shock mounting bolts some 2” higher, creating the “illusion” of the rear being raised, while actually keeping it at pretty much stock height.
    My front end is lowered right around 3”, and with a 4-1 exhaust (which has a bulky collector), it is pretty low to the grown, but still not as low as some of by buddies bikes :p

    [​IMG]
     
  19. warchol2

    warchol2 Member

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    from my view it looks like youll be scrapeing...


    are you just about done? looks great again.. side covers? something custom?
     
  20. Samson

    Samson Member

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    Shouldn't scrape unless I go head-on over a large speed bump. It is low, but the angle of the picture, and the shadows make it look lower than it really is.

    I'm not planning on any side covers, but thre's still a few things that need to be finished.
    I just finished the exhaust hanger, and installed the foot pegs, but I still have to fninish the brake pedal, battery tray and battery, and wire in the taillights.
     

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