Have a Great weekend everyone

Posted on February 22, 2019January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

22 Feb

Well, the end of the week is here and the weather is surprisingly cold here in Southern California, but this weekend I need to work on parts for the Vesco bike that i an trying to rebuild for a show in March in La for the OG Show, so I am flat out right now but enjoy the challenge.

Hope that you may time to wrench on your machine or even get lucky enough to take it out of the weather is not too bad, but- this time of year, many people are in their Shed, garage, Workshop, tinkering with their 2 wheeled machine and if you need help on parts or even advise, this is why I am here as we are all a big family. I will also try hard to get you on the road as soon as possible.

I need to get another Master Cylinder for the Brat bike that I am creating and the one you see here on the Revolver Caff I built will be what I need, these work so well and are brand new, affordable and can run up to 2 Rotors too as it has a good size piston in the chamber.

I will be busy all weekend working on revamping parts and polishing parts and maybe some welding too, I get more done on the weekend than I do during the week, I think because I have so many emails and phone calls and texts to reply too and I do that all week.

Have a great weekend everyone, you can order 24-7 on my website and you can email, call or even text me still and I will reply, have fun and hope to see some of your creations soon.

Love what I do, best job in the world.

Posted on December 12, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

12 Dec

I have always enjoyed being my own boss, Yes there is never any wages, yes everyday can be a Monday, yes you can burn the candle at both ends, the the rewards of creating something with your own hands, far out weighs the negative sides to being self employed.

Happy Hump-day Everyone.

My Triumph Scrambler

Posted on December 11, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

11 Dec

Its always fun using your own machine when you need to pop out for some parts or visit a customer etc and today was a fun one for me, as I thought that I would take the Scrambler out for a little jaunt.

I had to pick a few pieces of hardware up and pop into the Chrome Platers, traffic seemed as busy as ever and it made sense to throw my leg over my 2016 Triumph Scrambler and get around to the places I needed to a whole lot faster than if I took my Van.

I love all motorcycles and today as I have my Scrambler and had recently fitted an Ammo Box to the side of the rig, well I wanted to make use of such an item and it sure got its work cut out today.

These Trumpys are a pretty Tall Motorcycle but, as I am 5″11 I can tippy toe it at a stop light, it is a really well made machine and has tons of what I call linear power and I feel pretty safe on this iron steed, compared to my Thruxton.

I removed the stock seat in favor of a more Custom look shorter version that has a rear luggage rack attached, eventually I hope to find a Vintage Miltary Ammo style box that will secure to it and give me more loading space as thats always a bonus to have, especially on long trips.

She sits high and I like it that way, I now get to see where I am going and can take in some of the Scenery, where as the Thruxton was fun, but all I ever saw was 6000 revs on the Tach , as I was always laying over the tank as I had clip on’s fitted.

I added my Own style Fog light, One- because it gives it a more rigged look, Two- I like the European styling of a Fog light, and three- This will be used on poor visabilty , ie in Fog or at night in the rain etc, be Seen- be Safe is my Philosophy.

I will eventually paint the Ammo Box in the same Matte Blue of the bikes livery and then add Dakota’s unit Id numbers as he is in Assault Craft Unit 4 in the NAVY.

Above, I do not like these stock Plastic turn signals, so I think I shall change the whole headlight assembly eventually, as well as the Black Fork ears and maybe later the gauges too.

Also added an old Vintage Copper and Brass Fire extinguisher, just for those I need some help moments and I dig it to be honest as I have had that extinguisher in my shops for years, it may not be your cup of Tea, but this really is a fun motorcycle for me and will be travelling many many miles to see some of the great areas of the states like the National Parks etc.

I will also be taking off the rear Fender and fit a smaller LED Tail light under the seat, just to tidy things up and of course I shall have a set of reverse Cone megaphones onto the Exhaust at a later date as its way too quiet at present.

I love the look and style of My fog lamp and have sold many of these over the years and now it gets dark early its good to run this when visibility is bad and it gets me noticed for sure.

I shall be removing stock parts and making my own to add to this bike and look forward to taking some cool trips on this and Jennifer on her Bonneville, its going to be a blast.

Right now I have to go to the post office to drop off some Christmas cards, so what better way than to take my own steed and go for a ride?

The Vesco Honda at El Mirage

Posted on November 13, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

13 Nov

On Saturday, Jennifer and I went out to watch the races at El Mirage dry lake in Southern California, this place has been having speed trials since before ww2 and continues today through the SCTA. (Southern California Timing Association.) So we took the van and the Honda and drove up to the lake bed and set up our ezy up and radio etc and food for the day.

Such a fun day watching cars and motorcycles race the clock, some reaching speeds well over 250 miles an hour, its awesome to spectate as you are so close to the action.

Took some snaps of the Vesco Honda and thought that I would share them today, above you can see the Shorty Turn out that I did for this particular build, the bike is all running now and am happy at the outcome of this machine that had not run since the 1980’s.

This is not a show bike but, it could easily be, as I was thinking of running for 100 miles, then stripping the bike down to the frame and painted the chassis silver and start a cool custom project, but also this is up for sale as she is right now as I do have other builds to continue with for my Customers.

The Bike runs well now and fires right up with either a Kick start or hitting the starter, it has nice low end torque all through the range of gears and is a fun machine to ride.

Sitting Pretty on this famous Dry lake where even Don Vesco himself has raced, the Honda does look at home sat here in the So-Cal Sunshine.

My Custom, Hand made and chromed handle bars – Make this bike so comfortable to ride, no back breaking leaning over the gas tank, a sit up and cruise feel that I enjoyed.

The exhaust system of mine flows so well to help exit the gases from the engine and it has a velvet tone to it as she pulls through the curve.

Old style lights but really are modern LED, that way it looks old school but people will see you with these bright lights, plenty of travel in the suspension on the rear too.

See if you can visit the dry lakes when they have sanctioned races on, its an awesome event to go to and everyone is approachable.

These Lester rims are 19 inch front and 18 rear, I took these off a CR750 Road racer some years ago and have had them in storage for quite a few years and I am so glad that I got to use them, fitted my New side stand as original one had broken off, the bike sits well.

This is a comfortable bike to ride and has loads of potential to be a really cool Custom machine, it has some rare parts on and are only getting harder to locate these days.

It has New Handlebars, Bar Switches, Harness, Battery, Pipe, Shocks, Grips, Cables, Chain- as well as many other new parts, like totally Rebuilt Carbs and New intakes and Throttle Cables etc.

A fun weekend on the lake bed and Jennifer and I had a blast, chatting to Racers and meeting up with folk we haven’t seen in a while, the commeraderie is second to none.

Jennifer taking in some of the racing as she helps move the bike onto the Lake bed.

Time to get some miles on this puppy, but wanted to at least share some photos that I took whilst out at El Mirage, this bike will be up for sale soon, if interested call or text me on- 714-598-8392

Thanks for reading today.

Get the parts you need for your Build this season

Posted on March 19, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

19 Mar

Well, for many the weather is just starting to ease of a little, Spring is almost here and I know a few of you will already be in the garage or shed, with the heater on, trying to figure out what to create with your two wheeled machine. Spring mostly brings great weather and I am sure that by now, you are ready to jump in head first to build your Custom Motorcycle and get the bike out on the tarmac as quick as you can.

Be it a Cafe Racer, A Cool Brat style, a Full on Custom or a wicked Tracker style, we have the parts that you are looking for, and with over 4 decades of building Motorcycles, I do my utter best to help you create your machine and get the parts out to you as fast as I possibly can.

Many people email me about their machines and ask for ideas or just inspiration, I have been there many times and you eventually hit a wall in the design process, but many hands make light work and many ideas from people certainly help mold that design into a more solid Concrete build and then, you are off and working like crazy to get the idea out onto the road.

I too have a few long projects that need to be completed, I also offer Servicing to full builds and, have enjoyed doing this in Southern California for over 18 years.

If I can help with anything, even if its advise, call 714-598-8392 or even text and I will do my very best to help you out, this industry is a fun and creative one and I hope that I can be of some assistance to you, this is not just a job for me, its my life and I continue to push the envelope on parts where I can.

18 Years has Flown by.

Posted on February 19, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

19 Feb

18 years has flown by since I first started building bikes here in California and people remember the Black K5 Honda Cafe I created and for quite some time I had emails from customers informing me that they have had my bike as their screen saver at home or at work. I will never forget that and my passion has always been with Motorcycles and parts. I strive to continue is offering more parts for the bikes I create as well as a few other brands too.

Below is the old K5 I had from bits and pieces and wanted to create a cool Caff bike to ride around on whilst I built other bikes and my Hot Rod.

Below: As you can see it turned out so different than the bikes that were out on the road at that time and boy did it turn heads.

This was a fun bike, I rode it to many places and took it to over 30 shows, later on making the cover of Motorcycle Classics Magazine, I still love that bike. It sure was a blast to ride.

So thank you for supporting me for all these years, I am thinking of building something similar for my 20th anniversary, so will start to collect parts as the Original is in Canada.

I shall continue to make parts like Exhausts and seats etc as well as offering bars, mirrors, lights and all the other goodies that you may want for your project.

I love what I do and enjoy helping customers out with their builds, this is a fun time in my life and I look forward to designing more Custom parts to offer.

Cannot believe that this time has gone so fast, over 1000 exhausts sold, 4000 turn signals, 200 Swing arms, 600 headlights, 2000 handlebars and continue selling.

I have always helped people and enjoy talking on the phone or by email etc and offering everything from parts to complete builds.

The Cyclone was a fun CB750 Honda I created for a gentleman in Texas, and still has it today.

Another old video I did at the shop with the GCR cafe Bike I created.

How I tune the Carbs on sohc 750- 4 models.

Here is one of my Razor exhaust systems.

Here is the 550 I built and has my side winder on it.

Little Brat bike, motor had not run in over 30 years, this was the first time it had started up.

So drop me a line or a Dime and I will help all that I can.

Another of my exhausts.

Thank you so much for supporting me, even if it is just to read the blogs.

Just to wake you up, an 8 CB750 I built into a fun Brat bike.

The HTML bike with one off exhausts, have a Great week everyone.

Enjoy your two wheeled machine and have fun with your build.

Below are a few of my favorite machines I have created.

The Anvil was a tough Motorcycle that ran really hard and what ever you did to it, the bike just carried on and on.

The Road Warrior was a great bike I created for Captain jack Schuller who was on the USS Nimitz, I got to go out twice on that aircraft carrier and will never forget that experience.

Next up is, My Royal Enfield, that was a tough little 535cc bike that had a great sound with my unique exhaust.

Below is the Tenacious Ton Alloy Honda cafe that took me many years to get it how I wanted and boy the hand made 4 into 2 Dunstall style cans sounded awesome.

Next is the Revolver, this was a wicked machine that had all the Bells and Whistles and I sent to a Customer in Australia, she owned a Hair Salon and sure loved Motorcycles.

Another is the Brushed Steel 550 Brat Bike with my Side winder exhaust system, this ran hard and true.

I could put more but I have a bike to work on this morning, but thanks again for ALL your support, and look forward to helping you again.

I will finish off with the Bike I built for MIKE DIRNT of the Band GREENDAY he saw my Black and Gold bike and came to see me and he still has the bike to this day.

Peace and Grease to you all.

Little bit of work on Customers CB750F today

Posted on February 7, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

07 Feb

Had a customer come in with an old 1975 Super sport, just wants a few little things changed so he can ride for a while and then sell it, these jobs sometimes can get out of hand as you are dealing with unknown history and previous issues. Knackered exhaust, no side covers JB Weld on things, ugh! Some of these things do become a big task and would of been better if they left it alone, but, we all have to start somewhere and I know I can help this fella out and get this bike running and looking to how he wants it. Working on a small income is hard, I have been there but this will be a fun machine and he will get miles of smiles once I have completed the tasks at hand on this Super Sport.

Above is the before and after as you can see the bike had an old Chromed Kerker Muffler on the unit but, it had no Baffle at all and was so loud, it would let off peoples car alarms every time you fired the thing up, so I made a smaller custom one from steel and added a kick up and baffle, it now resonates nicely and looks a whole lot better I think.

Above, you can see that I also changed out the rear shocks, as his ones were rock solid and rusty, so now he has some comfort on his machine that will soak any bumps up from the tarmac.

Removed the rear Master Cylinder bracket and Polished it to at least clean the area up a bit as well as polishing the reservoir cap too, makes a difference I think.

Above is before and below is how it is now but still more to do as I need to make a steel seat base and then cut some high density foam and upholster it, not sure what color material he wants but will call him once I get to that part of the work that is needed to be completed. I also have to figure out his tail light and turn signal situation as well.

Next up was to remove the stock headlight and fit one of my LED versions that has the internal turn signals, this, not need the old bog ugly stock ones. be seen, be safe, thats the most important thing on a Motorcycle and with the halogen bulb and super bright Amber LED internals signals will make sure people know your intentions on the road.

So there ya go, just a few little things I did, am now going to re-route the throttle cables as they said when they fitted them they tended to bind, so will address that next, I made some side covers and they are now on, just need to be painted to match tank when he repaints the stock tank later but so far I have got a lot of the issues out of the way.

Seat next so hopefully I can do that soon and will keep you posted as to how that looks, if you need any parts, just drop me a dime or text us on 714-598-8392 and we hope to get you fixed up and back on the tarmac as fast as possible. I am here to help and love what I do its been a passion of mine since I was a Kid in Great Britain.

Have a Great Wednesday everyone and thanks for reading my Blog.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

Posted on January 2, 2018January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

02 Jan

Here we are 2018 and on the road to a New 12 months of adventures, I thank you for all your support, I have been into Old bikes, Hot Rods and the like since I was a kid, I love what I do as well as what similar like minded people do, this has become a way of life for me and have made so many friends from all over the globe in what I do.

Been building machines for over 30 years and will never stop, too much passion for the 2 wheeled machines.

I have no idea where the Motorcycle industry is going but the ride can be a curvy one, I have been here a long time and ridden the rough with the smooth, opportunities in my life pop up all of the time and I look forward to great things, I shall still be building Motorcycles, making more parts, offering great add on parts and of course another apparel range too.

So I am looking forward to the next episode in my life and hope that you too can join along with me on this journey too.

So-send me High quality photos of your Build and I shall feature it on here. carpy@carpyscaferacers.com I really love seeing other peoples machines, what parts they used and where they are from, it makes this world a whole lot smaller and, I believe makes for a close knit mechanical Family. So send in some cool pics of finished bikes with great Backgrounds like a Railway Track, bridge, River, Church, old Building, Brick wall, you know the deal as people love seeing photos of rides and I look forward to featuring them as a Blog.

Enjoy this Year and we may even cross paths, that would be cool too.

Coming soon will be New Handle Bars, new headlights, new seats etc and trying to push the fun of creating your own machine to the limit.

The main thing is to have fun with what you do and I am here to help, email, call or text I am here to help you out.

Keep watching website for New blogs and also parts etc.

A Very happy and fun new Year to you and your family from Carpy’s Cafe Racers.

Now get building your Motorcycle.

Southern California Motorcycles Spring Open House Show! SATURDAY 2nd APRIL

Posted on March 31, 2016January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

31 Mar

Well, Only a few days away and the BIG event to be held at North America’s biggest Triumph Motorcycle dealer will soon be upon us.

We shall be having a small Booth there,, showing parts and Apparel from our shop and be great to see you in Person. Maybe have some headlights, Seats and other cool parts for your british iron. So we sure hope that you will ride over to this Open house and come enjoy this fun Saturday with more Triumphs than you will know what to do with.

Where:Southern California Motorcycles
515 W Lambert Rd
Brea, CA 92821
When:Saturday, April 2 – 10am-5pm

This is a big and fun event, so jump on your Trusty Trumpy and head over to Southern California Motorcycles in Brea on Saturday the 2nd April for some great bargains, heck, you might even fancy buying a New machine as they can hook you up right there and then if so needed.

I have bought Three Motorcycles from them there and have always given me a super deal and an easy Transaction too.

Bring you and the Family as there will be all sorts of stuff going on and know that you will enjoy yourself.

Here is a Bit more about their show for you to read:

Southern California Motorcycles invites riders and enthusiasts of all ages, as well as their family and friends, to join us for our annual Spring Open House. The event will take place on Saturday, April 2nd from 10am to 5pm at our dealership located at 515 W. Lambert Rd. in Brea, CA. Attendees can enjoy free food and drinks, live music, and the chance to win prizes from free raffles and a Best Bike contest. Vendors will be displaying the latest and greatest in motorcycles and more. We will have a bikini bike wash, photo booth, and tons of great deals throughout our showrooms. Our Service department is now taking appointments for an exclusive offer for onsite suspension setup. For only $40, riders can have their suspension set up (an $80 savings) in about twenty minutes. We will have over 20 motorcycles ready for demo rides from all our brands; sign-ups are on a first-come first-serve basis.

We shall be there with a few of our own Motorcycles too, so make sure you can come by and say hello, maybe even buy some products from us too?

Hope to see you pop by and have a chin wag on Saturday as the weather will be perfect for it. We shall be there early and stay until the end, so please come out and say hello, we support all businesses that are local and love to see some of you there. Ride safe.

CHP Busts Professional Motorcycle Theft Ring

Posted on December 20, 2013January 30, 2020 by Steve Carpenter

20 Dec

CHP Southern Division provided these photos from its December 18 press conference in Compton, California.

Glendale, Calif. – Southern Division Special Services, Vehicle Theft Unit, completed a long term “sport bike” motorcycle theft investigation dubbed “Operation Wheel Spin.” This operation was spearheaded by CHP Auto Theft Investigators to combat an increasing number of sport bike thefts in Los Angeles County.As the investigation progressed, investigators identified several professional motorcycle theft rings, their methods of operations, and their facilities used to dismantle the stolen motorcycle to be later sold as component parts. Additionally, it was determined many of the suspects were using the internet and social media to sell and distribute the stolen motorcycles and components. Operation Wheel Spin also exposed an insular group of individuals who were involved in a multitude of crimes which included, but was not limited to, robbery, larceny, burglary, fraud, and identity theft. Operation Wheel Spin spawned several ancillary criminal investigations, some of which were investigated in San Diego County and Las Vegas, Nevada. Operation Wheel Spin culminated with over 100 criminal complaint filings by the California Attorney General’s Office.

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