XJ900F Cafe Racer Italian style!

here i am showing you some steps of my work!
first of alla I apologize once again for my english.. maybe i'll miss some technical terms so, please correct me! (i'm an ingeneer and those corrections will be really useful!! )

chapter 1: the project and the bike.

this bike has a sad story. the owner was a friend of mine's father: antonio. he owned this 1987 XJ900F (he bought it in 1987, so i'm the second owner) an a 2004 Ducati ST4s (obviously a ducati! i'm near Borgo Panigale!). in 2010 a stupid old man on a car decided to cross a road without looking left and right.
antonio died in the accident destroying his Ducati.

a couple of years later i met my friend and, drinking some coffee, he told me about the XJ saying it was good as new, with only some scratches because he fell in a bush trying to ride it.
so we made the trade!

the bike had 27k km on the odo!
i rode the bike during last summer thinking about the cafe racer project planning to start it in winter.

the project was to create something like a 70's sport bike (ducati ss, laverda sfc, etc), with half fairing, single seat, little tail light, clip on handlebars and so on!
I LOVE endurance bikes, so I wanted to put the double headlight just like the laverda endurance!

this was the idea:



as you can see, i love laverda! i owned one for 4 years: 2008-2012 and i sold it because of expensive insurance and taxes :cry: (i'm a poor student!)

so.. this is the introduction! try to understand my english!
i'm going to tell you about the project showing some with pics as soon as possible! now i have to study!
stay tuned if you're interested!!

 

Wow! Let the journey begin! Oh and those Jotas sound awesome

Here is some inspiration!

http://www.bikeexif.com/yamaha-xj900

 

very interested.... do a build thread!

 

yeah i've seen it surfing the net! but it didn't impress me..
i mean.. nothing different from many other cafe racers!!

i've rarely seen cafe racer with half fairing and stuff like it!!


unfortunately in the end i didn't find the double headlight.. i didn't find anything certificated in markets and on ebay.. i used a standard one in the fairing :cry:
anyway.. you'll see it very soon! :wink:

i'll start soon the building thread! i'm writing it when i'm not studying and when i'm not riding my bike!

 

Can't wait to see the project !

 

all right, here we are!
first of all i checked some shops and open air markets looking for some parts.
i bought:
- front fairing: a Laverda SFC replica, fiberglass made
- tank from a suzuki gsx550es
- chromed fuel tank cap
- some steel to build some parts

this is how it looks like with tank and fairing ant tank placed on it!

 

Looks promising! I'd like you to report us how well it handles with this setup as soon as you have a chance to ride it.

 

next step is building a frame for the fairing. it tooks a long time because i had to check the compatibility of each modification on the bike and the fairing.
theese are some steps, unfortunatelu i haven't a photo of the final result

 

of course!

 

time for the seat!

i didn't find anything fitting the xj frame so i decided to build my own seat using fiberglass! it was the first time for me with fiberglass!i read lots of pages and watched lots of video on the internet but i never tried before!!

so.. i took some foamed PS in a shop and built a big block!

i drew the lines of the seat and started to shape it with the file



that's the result:

 

:? :? :? :? :?

it's awful!!! :lol: :lol:

let's try again adding some polystyrene!



again and again with the file....

and here we are!



much better!!! :lol: :lol:

i took the foam form an old vespa seat and covered the polystyrene with some packaging tape

 

now it's time for the fiberglass!

REMEMBER TO WAX THE PIECES BEFORE USING FIBERGLASS!! or you won't separate it! i had to destroy the polystyrene...

anyway, the first layer is done!



next step is adding 3 or 4 layers to reinforce the whole structure. then the last layer with white gelcoat.

 

I would have thought you'd make the seat with flat sides just like the Laverda seat. What is the use of the part that's sticking out?

 

here are some more photos

the seat with the tail light and indicators. tail light is a CEV replica, indicators are taken from an Aprilia Scarabeo (a scooter).

this is how the front fairing looks like. front indicators are taken from an old Alfa Romeo! mirrors are screwed on the fairing frame.

 

i was waiting for someone noticing it!

those parts are covering the original seat locks, in fact i wanted to lock the new seat on the original locks! (is it clear enough in english??)

i have a photo explaining it!

 

here it is! as you can see there are parts i had to build (how are them called?) in order to use the original locks: i didn't want to use screws and i want to lock the seat with the keys.

 

Good work!

 

you can see also the electric contacts for the tail lights.
now, to remove the seat, i only have to unlock it with the key and i don't have any contact to open manually.

those contacts has been taken from the trunk of an old Fiat 500! (is "trunk" right?)

 

thanks! :wink:

 

now everything is almost ready.. i have to prepare the seat and to paint everything.

a friend of mine offers to paint it professionally, but i didn't have enough time! it was already the second half of may and i wanted to ride it!!
so i painted it by myself and i'll call my friend this winter!

the same for the seat cover: the upholsterer asked me 10 days to make the work.. but i have an ace in the hole: my grandmother!
i explained her the work and gave her the fabric!
the result isn't perfect but it's good enough for this season! waiting for this winter to call the upholsterer!

 

anyway here is the result!

side fairings are made with pierced steel sheets!

it isn't perfect, but it's ok for this summer!

next steps will be:
. fill tank "holes" with plaster (i mean the lcation of the original suzuki seat on the tank! i don't know how to explain!! )
. painting (maybe kenny roberts replica!)
. seat cover

 

i've already made the "touring" version of my cafe!

i bought a couple of Krauser suitcases with the frames!!

i'll show you soon when i take some photos!

 

You just need a custom exhaust now, that exhaust looks too low for this bike.

More pictures in better light, please!

Your english is fine, by the way. The "holes" you refer to, I would just call them 'bolt holes'.

Kenny Roberts paint would look awesome!

 

Grandma does great upholstery!

 

No way for custom exausts.. Italian police won't be happy!!
We have very hard laws about modifications of some parts: first of all exausts And The angle of The plate (max 30 degrees from The vertical line).

 

I just bought a GPR exhaust for my VFR1200 and it is from Italy. It came with a certificate from Ministero dei Trasporti which I think discusses that it passed some government regulation.

 

yes, of course some exhausts have a certification! but i didn't find anything for my XJ..
only some brand new 4-in-1 Marving (standard or racing) or Motad!

 

Great effort Lo_zarro. I think you have done an excellent job here and come up with something rather unique looking. Excellent job managing to integrate the functionality of the old seat and hinges with the lock. It took me some effort to retain that on my build but was well worth it. The helmet lock was very handy.

Happy Riding

 

Wow! Thanks a lot, really!!

After 500 km riding I'm really impressed!! Great handling with low bars! Good position with original footrests And braking improved!
I just have to set The headlamp: it's a bit low!
I Also have to change The flasher unit: front lamps are 5W And flasher unit is off!