BRG73 A very Distinguished Cafe Racer I built.

Posted on August 28, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

28 Aug

This is a Superb machine and it now resides in Kansas City, and Glad that the New Owner likes the creation I have made.

The gas tank needed some help to get all the old paint off, so I did it the old way this time.

I wanted to make a few heads turn in that area and the owner is now more than happy with my creation.

British Racing Green was chose and the year of the bike was 1973, hence the BRG73 title.

I loved building this cafe Racer and it rode really well too, a nice stance and a good Classic color scheme really shows this as a timeless piece.

I hand hammered the gas tank and added my Dunstall tail section and tore the bike completely down to the bare frame and began from scratch.

The Bird in here is on of the owners friends but she sure suits the bike. I hand drilled the rear brake hub and added a Brass breather plate for that old time look. Here is a closer photo.

So I thought rather than all the blurb what I have done to this and what I used and what I threw away etc, I would just add a few photos and let you decide if you dig this.

I ran around on the bike for a 100 miles, just to make sure all was well and it ran really smoothly and with my 4 into 1 exhaust system, it barked like a hungry pit bull.

I used new bolts throughout this build and mostly stainless steel Allen heads were used and they are not cheap, just add ONE of them up and you may understand how expensive rebuilding a Motorcycle can be.

The owner has taken this to shows and placed first, people seem to flock around it and that’s even with out the girl there.

I would of loved to have kept this machine as my own and I am sure the owner gets many miles of smiles on this mean machine.

Harley 16 inch rear rim laced to a polished CB750 Hub and stainless spokes, this then has the good old Bridgestone 130X90X16 tire to hold the road, I powder coated the rims a high Gloss black as it was a nice contrast.

Peace and Grease as always.

Carpy

A Cafe Racer Named- The GRIFFIN

Posted on August 26, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

26 Aug

1971 Cafe Racer, The GRIFFIN

Here we are with another cool classic ride.

This time, its a 1971 K series that I have changed into a fun Cafe Racer that you can bomb about town on and generally have fun with.

This has all sorts of cool parts on it.

It has my signature steel tank with inserts and will sport a Rocket 4 seat with my oval tail light.

This also sounds great with the Ton Up performance 4 into 1 exhaust system and I love the sound this makes and power.

The bike has Clip-ons too and that is a fun style to have on your own road racer.

The rear has a chrome boxed swing arm and an original Boranni race rim with one of my drilled brake hubs to add to the flavor of yesteryear.

Just getting the upholstery sorted and she will be all set.

Everything works on this machine and I am sure you will dig the flowing lines of the bike.

The L.E.D. Taillight lets them know you are in front of them.

I hammered the tank and Aptly named this machine the Griffin and it is one sweet ride.

As you can see, I have now upholstered the seat with the classic snaps, this definatly gives this Racer machine the look of Yester Year.

The tank is painted with a Rich Dark Black and I have fitted a New Gas cap and a New Lock too.

The rear sets are tarozzi and function really smoothly.

The seat is upholstered and I have a New LED light on the rear and all wired, tested and functions great, yes, it does have running light and brake light.

Turn signals fitted to some custom Aluminum brackets I made and tested and work fine too.

yes, I hand drilled the rear brake hub too and then polished it.

The Exhaust barks like a scolded dog and this is one of my Ton Up performance systems and yes, it does have a removable baffle too.

I wish I could keep all the bikes I build but unfortunately I cannot.

The bike handles really well and has the stance that I like.

I just wanted to show you The Griffin, before the New owner comes to pick it up and ride off into the sunset.

Hybrid Cafe ” The Tracy Special”

Posted on August 24, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

24 Aug

The Tracy Special was a Motorcycle I created for fun, and to use all the parts I had laying about in my garage at home, and she turned out to be a really cool little bike.

I used a set of Original Raider rims that I have had for many many moons and powder coated them an Aztec Gold color to give it some contrast as I hadn’t seen any Gold rims over here then.

I loved the rims and they were heavy made and sturdy as hell, so had them all ready to go but i wanted something right out of the Custom scene of the 70’s this time and there it was, an old Tracy body that I picked up at a swap meet.

I also hand drilled the front Rotor on a cheap harbor freight drill press and am glad how she came out.

Its an early model too and I went about cleaning it up and getting the bodywork all prepped and then had to decide on a color that would suit this, I then decided that if I used the original Candy Apple red, that would accentuate the gold really well, and so, the concept was born and off i went on a crazy tangent of odds and sods until I had what I needed.

The bodywork came out so well and then one night about 10pm I get a call from a guy in Guatemala, he asked about the Tracy body and that the one I had was a very early one that he made many years ago in the 1970’s, I said oh yeah really?

He said yeah, turned out to be Mr Tracy himself and he was glad that someone had made a bike using the body and raised me on my effort, that was so cool, so I had to finish the bike now.

There were many produced over the years but you don’t see too many on the tarmac as a lot of people have them on the wall but they tend to twist out of shape from the heat and then will not go back to their original form after that, so you usually see them hanging up on walls in shops but they do look cool. ( I took the two pictures above from the internet on Google, so shows there are still some out there.)

The motor I had was a Late 1978 set up and I wanted to use every year of the SOHC on this Hybrid just to see how she turned out to be honest.

I wanted the exhaust system to be wilder than I first designed, so this time I had my Buddy Eric come over and we pieced together this crazy Spaghetti style header set up and I just loved it, so we tig welded it and then chromed it, I should of numbered the elbows as it took me 2 hours to figure out what went where that day.

The design was good but, your leg on the right hand side got bloody hot for a long length of time, but overall I liked the bike, I dug the headers, but wished I had re-routed the 12 bore side winders to go under the bike, but that’s bike building and I was building TWO bikes for the Pomona show that time.

The Gas tank was sealed and once the Candy Apple went on it looked amazing in the sun, also the early bodies have the hold in the tank for a bolt, that’s the way it secures to the frame, so to make at least something appealing than just a mount hole, I incorporated an oil pressure light in there and it worked out very well indeed, banged on a few pin lines with the triple O dagger brush and she was awesome.

I loved the way the bike came out in such a short amount of time and using just spare parts that I had been leaving in the garage to trip over from time to time and the proof of the pudding is in the eating and I ate well that week. I built the carbs and they purred like a kitty when the motor first fired up, no leaks and no misfire, something that is quite unusual to be honest as they are more than likely out of sincronisation, I just got lucky on this one though.

The seat base was something I hoped to make as I didn’t have one at all, my buddy rang me to say he had some Original 1970’s metal flake Gold and I said that’s just what I need and we made up some cool Diamond stitching pattern and the end result was just the cherry on top of the cake for me.

Next up was what the hell was I going to do about the Grips on the handle bars, as Black was just the wrong choice, but then I found some Original New Old Stock Red metal flake Grips from a friend of mine in Belgium and the deal was done, he shipped them out to me and they were just what I needed and was stoked at the condition of these.

I entered the bike in the 60th grand National Roadster show and placed 2nd, i was stoked as first place went to me for my other Black cafe.

I love to create and this has been a fun journey and continues to be, I see so many cool bikes being built and I hope that just a little bit of the stuff I have done has steered people towards having fun in the garage.

My old Garage back in Orange where it all started here in the States in Feb 2000.

I will always be building motorcycles and cars, its just something that I grew up with.

El Frijolito The little Bean Cafe Racer

Posted on August 23, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

23 Aug

EL FRIJOLITO CAFE RACER 1975 CB750 F SUPER SPORT

I was fortunate to get this motorcycle from the Original owner, its a good and bad thing as the poor guy did a lot of work to the machine back in the day, but unfortunatly, the drink got the better of him and some 30 years later he is still battling a drinking problem.

I named the bike ” The Little Bean ” as it was in a Deep part of Santa Ana of which is a predominately Latin area of California.

I changed her around a little bit by polishing the upper triple tree and making anew gauge face, as this bike was just something I could not take all apart, it ran well and boy is a cool ride, so I removed the stock tank and fitted my Glass S.S. Race tank, then removed the old tatty stock seat and fitted my Razor back model.

I replaced the old worn out headlight with one of my Tri-bar set ups and chromed the old gauge cups.

The New gas tank and I wanted to have some old style GOLD Racing strips on this machine and they needed to follow the tank and seat for that 70’s race look.

In the end I ended up changing a lot on this bike as I had Hershey Chocolate call me and the owner wanted it for his son, so I changed a few things and used some cool rims that I powder coated black gloss, then polished the hubs and used stainless spokes, fitted with the good Old Bridgestone tires and then I drilled the rear rotor with 140 holes and that was on the drill press.

Whilst I was there I removed the old caliper and took the black corroded paint off it and polished it to a chrome like finish and rebuilt the inside. And now stops on a dime.

Fitted new fender and polished the speedometer drive and fitted Stainless Allen head bolts through out this machine, as well as polishing the forks and adding my own polished fork brace to stiffen the front end up.

Alloy gas cap is a Monza style and new turn signals fitted to make sure people can see where you are going is a must around these parts.

Polished the engine covers and then I drilled the sprocket carrier and polished for that Race track look, then fitted a new 530 Gold chain.

Drilled the front caliper and took the Original YOSHIMURA pipe off and ceramic coated it and put back on.

Upholstered the razorback seat with Tuck n Roll and snaps round the side give this a timeless era.

That Yoshi barks like a angry hound and hard to find series 2 versions these days. This is going to a good home as well as I doubt I will find another Original Yoshimura like this again and I wanted it to stay on the bike as its been on it for over 30 years.

New rear shock and a full service and this is now ready to head to Hershey Pennsylvania and take the twisty lanes on the east side.

I should of took more photos but to be honest, this was just going to be a small clean up but I got a little carried away, personally I like to take the motorcycle right down to the frame and begin again fresh- and then go through everything, but El Frijolito turned out pretty darned good and I hope that have fun up there in Chocolate County with her.

The COSMIC CAFE

Posted on August 22, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

22 Aug

This is the CB750 on the left I am re-creating into a Cafe Racer for John.

Well, here we are again, but this time a guy up in Salt Lake City, sent me his beloved CB750 HONDA that he has owned from new, and wanted the ” Carpy” touch added to his machine as it was time t re-vamp the bike into something cool again.

So, I took the bike apart and all he asked was to have Cosmic Orange with silver like on the Victory motorcycles, so here is where I went with this look and the bike turned out pretty cool if I don’t mind saying myself.

I took the old gas tank and beat the gonads out of it, and this is quite a long and laborious task, but the end results are worth it.

After I beat the tank in with my hammer to the shape I needed, I then used a plenishing hammer to smooth the dings out, then after that, flipped the gas tank upside down and took off all the old trim tabs. But- Remember, that you must wash the gas tank out, I use simple green, as this will dilute any gases, then air dry, but I still block the petcock holes up, as I shall be grinding and obviously , that causes sparks!!!!!!

Yes, yes, yes, wear all the eye protection, era and hands, I know you are all looking.

Gas tank has more body work applied and then the silver was laid over the high fill primer.

There is way more work here than you know as this isn’t an easy job, to prep and block all the body work is the key to having a good looking paint finish and the more that you prepare the surface of the tins you want to paint, then the better the finished job.

This was a three stage set up and the color had to be bang on, once we had the right color and the Customer approved, she was then painted with the Silver metallic.

The tank has a metallic Cosmic orange and silver and looks really cool in the sunlight.

Originally this was a Victory Motorcycle Color.

The New side covers of mine came out great as well.

I am glad that my New covers paint well and these are available to all.

The bobbed rear fender got the same treatment too and once all pinstriped, this was buried in clear coat and then buffed out.

The Racing lines have a subtle pin line in a gold/tan shade and this does break the lines up and contours very well indeed, a triple O dagger brush for the one shot.

Fitted new petcock, but make sure you either use the fiber washers, or, if you can get the correct size, I personally use stainless Allen bolts. M6X25mm and then use a dab of seal all to make sure she does not leak.

The gas tank then got sealed and pressure tested and Brand New hardware from Honda, as I try and use as much New Genuine HONDA parts as I physically can.

As you can see, there is a ton of work that I have done to this Motorcycle and the owner was so stoked to get such a transformation in such a short amount of time.

I ran New Tires and love using the SP11- The old Bridge stone spitfire tires give that Nostalgic look to the motorcycle and are a good all round tire in any condition.

I took the original seat and made the Guilerri style from the 1970’s that was such a hot ticket back in the day and it fits you snug too.

New Clubman bars and polished bar holder with stainless bolts set the machine off, but I got rid of the old idiot light cluster for a more refined and Racey looking set up that we manufacture here at the shop.

And I used a Aircraft red warning light that is connected to the oil pressure switch, then some stainless display lights that show High beam and of course Neutral.

I also used Brand New shocks, as I made one of our Boxed swing arms fit the bike and of course, it goes without saying these days, that I had to drill the rear brake cover for that old style of racing look, then polished the heck out of it. Yes- We did put a cotter pin in it later after we had them chromed.

The oil tank was cleaned and new rubber grommets were out in place of the dried out ones.

You will also notice our Brand new stainless hose clamps adorn the New Rubber intake manifolds, and the carbs I fully rebuilt and polished the bowls etc to make sure all was good. then I added some New old Stock 1974 velocity stacks to give her that race track look, works well I think?

The Original Master Cylinder was as blocked as the local pubs toilet, so I used one of our Brand new Black master cylinders and mated it to our Braided hoses to the front of the bike, simply bled and now it stops as it should.

Chrome Diamond turn signals of ours tells people if he is turning and chromed the fork ears to a lovely Original luster.

I also got rid of them big reflectors and replaced them with the New fork badges we make here at the shop.

The seat base works great and I powder coated the base and all looks brand new as we have high density foam inside that tuck n Roll.

The Bobbed rear fender is a good seller for us, something I created many years ago and I love using them, we used the BEEZA style rear tail light and all functions perfectly.

Here is John, the first day he got the bike and is as pleased as punch with the end result, I didn’t send him any photos until he got the bike, that way the surprise is more amazing and he sure was amazed.

Out in a great part on the country and it sure looks like he is having fun, but John? Whats with the Green sneakers?

A Ton of parts, new brakes, drilled Rotor, rebuilt caliper and polished as well as Gold chain, new sprockets new battery and tender, solid state rectifier etc, new cables and grips, this is a fun machine and as John has had this bike since Brand New, I am sure he will have many many miles of smiles with the Cosmic cafe Racer we created for him.

Polished Valve cover and Gloss Black Jugs make this 750-4 stand out when you look at this 530 pounds of fun. But check the other details and parts out that are from us.

How about the rear boxed swing arm? The new rear shocks? Our Yoshi style 4 into 1 exhaust that barks like a scolded dog. And the finned rear stabilizer bar that I try and put on many of my creations.

New fender as well as New Gold 530 X-Ring chain, new sprockets and all the outer cases polished to a chrome finish with Stainless Allen bolts on everything.

I even chromed the kick stand and used new Honda bolts and springs, the forks are rebuilt and polished and I hand drilled and polished the front Rotor, the brake caliper I stripped all the anodizing off and then polished to a chrome finish as well as honing the inside and new seal etc. new brake pads and braided hoses set this baby off.

I even used Original Chromed gauge covers and New fork gators, caps and rubber mounts too, I loved building this bike as it was a total suprose to the owner of how much I was going to do.

And I hope you enjoyed the photos too?

The Cyclone CAFE RACER

Posted on August 5, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

05 Aug

Here is a cool ride that I created from a old 1969 bike and now is living in Long Horn country and enjoying some Texas tea I am sure.

I spent many hours taking this bike down to a skeleton and then smoothing all the welds in the chassis and finally high fill primer, block sanding and then House of kolor flake and then clear, to make sure this thing sparkled in the sun. The motor was banged out to 836cc using Wiseco pistons and Genuine Honda gaskets etc as well as many many hours of cleaning and polishing the aluminum to look like chrome.

I hand hammered the gas tank and pounded the knee inserts in as I do on many of the mach9nes I have put together, this was going to get all the best treatment I could muster and boy did she turn out a belter of a machine, and I am so happy that the owner digs this Cafe Racer.

I fitted Stainless steel Allen head socket bolts through out this motorcycle and the bolts are over a buck fifty a piece, this stuff soon adds up.

It was time to add my special 4 into 1 exhaust system that is so similar to my Original Yoshi system I have had for Donkeys years, and I ceramic coated it and then added the badge. I also fitted some Tarozzi rear sets to give it a little more aggressiveness.

This bike is an early KO model and I bought it from a local guy who had it many many moons and it was time to let it go to a new home, so I bought it and then took it down to the frame and began to build this for a customer who wanted something tough but also have a bit of Zazzle to it.

I hand drilled the front Brake rotor and there are 140 holes in that puppy but I enjoy doing this on the drill press in the shop, I also completly stripped the front brake assembly and honed the carcass out, made a New stainless steel piston and fitted New O ring and brake pads, I also polished the caliper to a chrome finish as in a stick guise they are an anodized Black color.

New rebuilt forks with brand new tubes and seals and of course, polished lowers with a $360 New front fender, sets this off, but I had to paint the fender and make sure no scratches got in as this is a 4 stage set up to get the custom lines in etc. I then fitted the good old Bridgestone tires that I really like the feel of on the road.

I always name the bikes I build as I can then remember them, so this one I aptly names the Cyclone as they get many in Texas and this bike will indeed go like the proverbail wind.

Check out the custom Oil filter I had machined for this set up,

I tore down the old ripped seat base and powder coated that Gloss black and made the Guilerri style seat for the bike as I liked these back in the 70’s.

Polished triple and new bars with brand new switches that I polished and a New harness, made sure this thing is a keeper, new chrome turn signals add to the classic lines and then I made some cool Gauge faces to embellish this KO motorcycle.

Gloss black, with Silver Flake and Grey pin lines make the fender flow and I hope I really blew the guys mind when this came out of the trailer and into the Texas Sun when he received it.

Hand drilled the rear brake hub and fitted my Custom swing arm to really make this bike stand out from the crowd, with brand new shocks with adjustable alloy lowers and a wider Bridgestone tire just adds more neck breaking looks.

I searched for some time and found Original metal flake material from the late 1960’s, so bought the entire roll and upholstered it in the traditional style called Tuck n Roll.

Master cylinder I polished to like a chrome finish with new cables and new levers, just to make sure this looked like a brand new bike was inportant to me. I also hunted down a 1973 Oil Pressure gauge assembly that was off a Drag bike and thought that this would make all the theme flow. I machined the oil tank cap and the finned them does go through out the bike.

All the brakes are brand new, the actuator, the brake rod and spring, all new and this is a tight looking machine.

Plenty of silver metal flake to catch your attention, as well as new chrome everywhere too.

NEW SIDE STAND AVAILABLE

Posted on July 2, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

02 Jul

Many people asked me about the side stand I have just used and, it is now available here at the shop, we make these and I use them on the CB750,the 650,the 550 and cb500 HONDA and this sits the bike at a nice angle.

As I am sure that your one is bent out of shape and the bike is leaning over too far and you have to fit a block of wood underneath the stand to stop it tilting.

This is solid Black and replaces your old tired out version, you can buy the spring and bolt from us too if you so wish.

Just unbolt your old one and then fit this and you are styling once more.

I am happy that I now have these available and I am looking forward to using these on all my rides in the following months.

So, if you are tired of putting a piece of wood or board under your side stand, here is your answer.

1975 CB750F – THE – COBALT – SPECIAL

Posted on March 22, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

22 Mar

This 1975 Super Sport Is the Real deal, look How cool she turned out.

GALLERY:

VIDEO:

This 1975 CB750F was a boring looking ride, but had loads of potential.

The bloke that owned it had fitted a few hop up parts, but, with a stock Motor, they were about as much use as an upside down cross in a church.

So, I took this puppy apart, and now plan on building a radical Cobalt electric Candy Blue Cafe Racer, that will really turn heads when this blaps down the tarmac.

The 75 will be a cool ride for sure and follow the pics on this build to see the transformation from a boring semi snotter to a Cor Blimey Guv ! Motorcycle.

This will have one of my Custom tanks and seat units and also a unusual touch to the rims, which I will let you discover later on, so check back regularly for any updates.

I took the old girl completely apart, throwing the old rusty and stock bolts away.

I only use stainless allen head bolts and washers etc and this will also show up nicely in detailing, against the CANDY BLUE paint work that will appear on this Cafe Racer.

The bike came apart easier than a Chinese built truck, but, I got to the rear swing arm bolt and it was tighter than a ducks arse.

I wacked it, I banged it, I swore at it, I clubbed it, I threw it, I gave up on it for a while.

I heated it and beat the living crap out of it.

The only way that this bloody thing would budge, was to put it in a 20 ton press.

I was surprised how seized it was, but when it came out, there was more rust on it than a Antarctic Metal Dog Kennel.

I think that who ever fitted this bolt, did not use any grease at all.

So now I have to locate a Super Sport swing arm bolt from a 75 and other years are different, bloody great start eh?

Well I looked around and managed to get a good bolt and then went about changing the rusty, oily and chipped paint on the frame.

This was bead blasted and then baked for 3 days, just to get all the oil residue out of the welds etc.

After that was done, the frame was powder coated Silver, then it was powder coated Candy Cobalt Blue, and then it was clear coated.

So, a big set up but boy has it paid off, this deep Blue looks stunning.

Photo’s cannot do it justice, everyone who has seen it at the shop, love the color and all comment on it.

Be a shame when this Cafe Racer hits the road.

I took the wheels apart and cut all the spokes off with a set of bolt cutters.

Then the hubs were cleaned with thinners, to get all them years of grime etc out of the fins.

The bearings were removed and then I set about cleaning the hubs and then getting into polishing them.

This takes such a long time, there is no easy way to do this and, I get many emails and comments on what I have learn as a kid, working for Rolls Royce.

My brother and I spent many hours polishing Gold, Silver and Brass for those prestigious cars back in the 1970’s, it was a craft I am glad we learned.

So, the hubs now are polished and I thought I will go ahead and powder coat both rims the same color as the frame and, I really like the way they turned out, I may add some extra designs on the rims later, but time will tell.

The bike is coming together and I hope you like what you see, as, what you see is many hours of work.

This aint no $200 Ebay bike.

OK, things have gone quite a ways now and I had done bucket loads to this Cool Deep Blue Cafe.

There has been no expense spared and I am going to make sure that this ride gets every nut and bolt in stainless and all the cool parts to let this CAFE RACER stand out in the crowd.

Everything will be replaced on here and as you can see by the photo’s that are attached to the right of this build up, there are plenty of NOS parts and once you price this stuff up, only then will you truly understand the time and money put into it.

Anyone can throw something together, but, the trick is not only to make it look cool, but, to make it last.

The Motor was out and on the floor, it l resembled a big snotty piece of old Coal.

So, I thought that this needs to have a good strong 836 kit in it with a good street cam.

The Motor got all the treat meant and it should run like a Swiss stop watch.

The motor still looked crao Black, so i took all the paint off and detail it to a nice retro aluminum color, now, the motor really does look good in the frame.

I polished the valve cover and breather, as well as all the outer covers.

Replaced the snotty soft headed Japanese Phillips screws with stainless Allen head bolts.

This will look like a really cool Jewel and will pull hard.

Many of you have been commenting on this particular build and you should see a transformation very soon, as I plan on the gas tank being sorted in the next couple of weeks.

I removed the stock gas tank and hammered the sides in, then, with my faithful grinder I removed the top.

But this time I had help, the infamous Chica, of chica Custon cycles gave me a hand, and now this cool tank has a Harley gas neck in it, very cool and unique.

I then removed the stock petcock threaded tube and welded a Pingel bung in it’s place, soon as the gas tank is painted Candy blue and Silver, a new high velocity Pingel petcock will be added.

Next up is the seat, I am going to have my Rocket Four style seat on this puppy and it will cry out Nostalgia, this will be a very cool Motorcycle.

OK, the COBOLT is really taking shape and I am stoked the way that the lines are looking.

The Motor is now in and I have polished the Valve cover and the engine covers, this is starting to really make some headway and I am sure the Owner of this will be more stoked than a steam trains boiler.

I have just fitted my finned dress up covers and painted them to match, sure looking like a Cafe bike now and a long way from the black bike it was first resembling earlier.

I added my cool Finned parts, to give it that race look and to help dissipate heat and I think I shall add a oil pressure gauge too, just to keep things in check etc.

The Motor looks really good now with all the touches, it also has the dyna Coils to give it the best Spark too and irridium Spark plugs for extended life and power..

The Custom Oil Filter Cover looked really cool and of course, I had to fit a Yoshimura 4 into 1 system.

There are Many details that I have simply forgotten on this venture, but the people who like reading my builds will know what has changed.

The Starter Cover is quite rare and an original 1970’s aftermarket piece.

I have still to make a set of trick Gauges as well as a gauge holder, so more to look for in this build.

The Gas tank is really going to make this bike too.

I sealed up the ugly Arch that is in the rear of the tank and this smooths things out.

The Rocket seat will have a 48 GM tail light that is L.E.D. to make sure People can see you are stopping.

I have changed many things on the Cafe racer and I wish I could keep it for myself, as I really have enjoyed this build.

The Motor is just a pleasure to look at the lines flow like a river, this has to be one of the coolest ones to date and I know the new owner will not stop looking at it for a long time, it will be going up to Mount Shasta in Oregon soon and will be on Display for all to see if you are in that area?

I am still a few weeks away from this but there are many things I wanted to show but the bandwidth is getting smaller, and I need to show other stuff, so have to restrict the amount of pics that I put on here.

But I have Just made the Gauges bracket, as the Original one to me is dead Ugly.

I simply ground the bolts off and then I made a template on card and changed the outlook to how I wanted it, ie, losing some of the location holes, as I am Not using the Idiot light cluster that is usually in the middle of this.

All I used was a Dremel, A File, and buffed it up.

Now this looks like a real Custom part, not that water jet B/S that is just pressing a button, Cafe Racers are hand built and personalised to each creator.

I drilled the holes and changed the shape a little bit and I am happy with how this came out.

This is going to look Great on the top of the triple tree’s and I am sure you will agree too?

The Gauges took me some time, but I wanted a cool set that reflect the bike, so this time I thought I would go with Metalflake Silver, and one the Speedometer put the word SUPER and on the Tach I would put SPORT, and I am glad the way these turned out to be honest, very cool and unique.

Once this is all buttoned up, this will be more photogenic than a super Model and will get more attention than a join the dots painting in the Tate Gallery in LONDON.

This really is a stunning cafe and something Any of you lot can do, I receive so many emails about the bikes I build and am so glad that you have all gone in the garage, shed and even kitchen and started to wrench on your own creations.

CAFE RACERS FOR LIFE !!!!

OK, now have a look to the right of the screen, yep, she looks unreal and the Gas tank, the seat and the side covers all are looking like a Nostalgic ride, I have yet to color match and this will be a Darker Blue when i have finally completed this, and then, I shall add the pin lines and clear coat the whole thing, to make it really stand out in the crowd, this truely is an exciting motorcycle and once all the work is completed, you will see how Classic this Super Sport has turned out to be.

I shall Cover the seat in Black Leather and I already had this look in my mind from the start.

OK, back into more work on this infamous Cobalt special.

She really is almost complete and I keep adding detail for the guy so she will get more looks than a free telescope if there was a picture of a Naked Woman on the Moon.

The seat is now upholstered in Rich Black Cow hide, and really looks the part and is comfy too.

The Other thing I had to do was to change the RED Plug Cables, as they just did not do the Cafe racer any justice at all, and it took me a while to find the ones I needed and then I fitted the set last night, and I am sure Glad I did, this really trick the Motor out now and I am sure the owner will be smiling like he has 3 sets of teeth.

I then turned my attention to the wire harness, as the Super Sports have way too much on it and I had already removed about a foot of the stuff, only to find I needed to relocate the bloody thing so the fuel tank fits nice and snug.

There is more wiring in that thing than up the arse of a transformer Robot I swear.

But I managed to sort that out and test everything and then went about and fitted the tank, it looks great, the velocity stacks look really good on the carbs and also the New Blue fuel line hooked to a high Velocity Petcock makes the transformation.

Still more to go but I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Bike now is ready to hit the road, and boy sodes this thing look great.

I wanted to make the European look jump out and grab you and, this certainly does, the Cobalt blue is stunning out in the U/V and this will be hard not to get stares from.

In fact, he may have to have some sort of ready made answers for all the questions he will receive when he stops places.

I have added many tricks to this and non are illusions I promise you, the trick Air breather, the cool rear sets, the custom tank and seat, then hand made brackets, the polishing, the molding, the leather upholstery, all this stuff was worth the hard work, as I am super happy with this.

And, going by all the emails I receive, today i had over 595 emails, I am glad to hear you all dig my work too.

The rest of the work that you can see to your right , is what I did over the last week or so , and boy was some of it a challenge, I had to alter the wiring harness 4 times . A ll sorts of hidden little things I was not sure that were going to bite me in the Arse.

Next time!!!!

I’d be better off setting light to myself for a few seconds, than do all that again.

Thanks again for following this build, I know it has helped many of you out with your problems on your particular Cafe build and this is what it is all about.

Thanks once again for all the emails and phone calls and I shall continue to build these as i have as a kid since 1978 in the UK.

CAFE RACERS FOR LIFE !!!!!!

GREENDAYS MIKE DIRNT CB750 CAFE RACER

Posted on August 25, 2012January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

25 Aug

Here we are with a great old Style Cafe Racer that I built for Mike Dirnt, the infamous bass player for the Bay Area Punk Band, GREEN DAY.

This bike was built by my and designed by Mike, and we went ahead and knocked this ball out of the park, and, I created this at home in my old garage at home.

This was a Stock 1971 CB750 that belonged to a really good buddy of mine who used to live in Costa mesa but moved to Arizona, so, a 7 hour drive and then a purchase of the stock bike and then hauled back here to So Cal was done and then, I began the transformation of what you now see here now.

My First Cafe Racer I built here

Posted on July 14, 2012January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

14 Jul

Yes, this was my FIRST full on Cafe I created here in the United States as my daily ride.

It didn’t always look like this as I bought this bike out of the Recycler newspaper for the sum of $800 and almost all stock condition.

This was a 1975 HONDA K5 CB750K inline Four of which I love to ride.

I wanted a pretty much stock one and it took only a few days to locate such a machine, as back in the early part of the milenium when I moved here NOBODY was building cafe’s and especially out of CB750 Honda’s, so I had a great choice of bikes to go and pick from. So, after a little bit of haggling, I rode this bike home from Anaheim hills, the only thing that was not stock from the factory on this machine, was the aftermarket exhaust system the guy fitted in the 1980’s.

This is how I ran around on the bike for a while, I had an Original Paul Dunstall gas tank and made a seat base from an old H2 Kawasaki racing seat and was fortunate to have an original series One ” Yoshimura” 4 into 1 system, and soon as I fired it up with that exhaust on, it bought back many many memories of the 1970’s when I used to walk up to the local Motorcycle shop in my Lunch time from school and I would hear these amazing exhaust scream past me.

I painted her all Black first as this was my Only means of transport and was trying to get a feel of what I waned to do and the color scheme was almost there but missing something, so I rode her around like this with a checker stripe on it for about 5 months.

I had many miles of smiles on this machine and finally after a lot of thinking I came up with my color scheme for my Cafe Racer and wanted to do as much as I can from home, but first, I kept getting so many people ask me, ” What is that bike”? or “what do you call that style of bike?”

So, I had Bob Iverson Gold leaf the word ” CAFE” on my Gas tank, as if people would ask me and I would simply point to the tank.

I rode the balls out of it and went to many places and checked out some great roads in Southern California, I was a happy guy for many thousands of miles, until I had an issue with the carbs and the clutch.

I fixed the clutch and carbs and whilst I was starting my website on webtv, a guy in North Carolina liked my bike so much, that he offered me $5000 for the bike there and then, well, I was in need of some loot, as I had some room mates move out and was stuck with the bills on my own.

I sold it and off the bike went to Raliegh N.C.

I was sad to see her go and missed the hell out of it, and whilst the bike had gone to a new owner, I kept busy restoring bikes and selling them in the paper and on my website, well, things did pick up for me and my name got around, so, out of the blue about a year later, the owner of my now infamous #59 bike, called me to see if i was interested in my machine back.

So a deal was done and in a couple of months, I had her back with me in Southern California, I was more stoked than a steam trains boiler, and thought to myself that I think that I will revamp the whole bike and make a killer Cafe like I wanted to.

One cold and wet day towards Christmas time I decided that I would rip the old girl apart and just build her how I wanted to, but, I was also building a 1928 Roadster in the garage and had no room to do anything in there, so, I parked the bike on my porchway and became to wrench on her, having a cup of tea in between to keep me pinkies warm.

Here is the transformation as I build this bike on my porch way, outside the front door of my house.

Now I am into it, there is no turning back on this bike and I needed it back up and running as quick as I can.

Really starting to look like something now and the Aztec Gold look great and just the look I was actually after.

I chromed the rear swing arm, used a New Harley Rim and laced to CB750 Hub and used CB1100F shocks.

Now I am into this, I thought that I may as well go all the way, so rebuilt engine and I even refaced and drilled my own Brake Rotor.

The Aluminum rim belonged to Don Vesco, I bought it at an auction, so had to have that on my bike as he is a legend.

Everything wanted to go together really well, I was really happy at the way my Cafe was looking.

With all the parts together, including new wire harness etc, she really looked a jewel.

So, My old 1975 Cafe was all done and all dialled in, I was happy as hell with her, then a promoter for a Hot Rod and Custom show invited me to the Grand national Roadster show in Pomona, this was synonymous with cool cars and bikes.

So off I went to Pomona, only to find I am the first ever Cafe Racer to go in this show and against top Chopper builders in the Custom class.

I had a ball there, meeting many cool builders and enthusiasts, I was opposite the infamous Chica Custom Cycles and we got on like a house on fire.

What I didn’t know was that I won FIRST place, I was totally gobsmacked and to this day I still grin as this was one of my proudest moments in my life.

Chica and me became great friends and many times I have met him and actually took three of my Cafe Racers to Sturgis with him.

The photo’s above were taking via Cycle World, as they saw my bike at the show and wanted to do a feature on that Motorcycle and it was indeed featured as a double page spread and I won the American flyers nomination, and they took some cool shots, as you see above me.