Another Build in Mock up stage, the CB750 Street Tracker

Well, I have a few old frames and parts laying about and pulled some stuff out of my storage and decided it was time to build another bike, as of course, thats what I like doing.

So, this time I want to build a street tracker style machine, just something tough looking but functional as well, I grew up with Motorcycles as a kid with my brother and we had old Dirt bikes and road bikes we turned into dirt bikes and this takes me back to that very time we rode around and around the back garden, just having time in the saddle when we were teenagers.

This old Honda is a Bone shaking Rusty 1978 K model that had been sat for over 30 years in the desert, so what better way to resurrect something and at the same time make something fun, as well as a part of my life back in Great Britain when my brother Mick and I would go out in any weather and I mean any weather, we even rode in deep cold snow with just jeans and a jumper but loved it.

So, there is this old carcass that I shall be using to try and at least make something that will at least turn the corners of my mouth up and have fun again, no idea what I am doing exactly for now but we shall see how this old inline Four progresses as and when I put time into it, its not a paying job, so will be just spare time here and there and a test of patience and money to see where this goes.

First off, I will get it running first, hasn’t run in decades and has seen a sorry life sat out in Palmdale out in the Desert with Sun, Wind, Rain and Frost invading its chassis , so I feel I must do something with this old Girl and she will run once more, I can promise you that.

This Machine is a Big heavy Lump, the 78K was the last of the SOHC models, along with the Super Sports and boy were they heavy, with a bigger exhaust, bigger Gas tank and seat, these were mammoths of their time, so all the old stuff like tank and seat were rotted away, I managed to mock the bike up to how I hope to have it later on, albeit I am sure things will change but I shall be keeping the Old School Lester Rims.

I got these off an old CR750 Race Bike about 17 years ago and have kept them in storage until now, so I will of course change the tires for Knobby versions to give that European Tracker look and see where we go.

Quite exciting really as it will be a look back at Yesteryear and something I and my Brother Mick will look at and remember the struggles we had as kids with bikes when all your mates had new stuff, we had Motorbikes that either were not wanted or left by the way side, but – Makes you a better person for it I feel.

This bike will rip along quite well and I am sure will be fun to take anywhere to be honest, as they have plenty of grunt and no worries green laneing, if you have good Enduro tires, then I see no real issues on here, so thats the style that I am going with and want it to look a little 1960’s.

Sp the adventure of building and recreating something begins, I had an old Alloy Gas tank and hope to use this as well as a Alloy Seat , they look kinda cool together and like that Sammy Miller set up, so hope that I can use these as it will be great to use up some old parts that were just sat on a shelf for Donkeys years collecting dust.

Will make the exhaust system up as I go along and it could change a few times, but we shall see, I do like the way it is going now though and I have some frame chopping and changing to do.

I will most probably run a Disc Rotor up the front too, not a fan of bikes with only half a braking system to be honest, it may look cool but not so cool when you got to stop at 70 Miles an hour with no front Anchor eh?

Parked up next to my old 1928 Model A Ford Roadster, 2 Classic bits of iron on the driveway.

So, there it is, in the garage, on my table and when I get spare time and a bit of loot, I shall begin trying a few things out to see what I can do to first of all, get this old girl to run again.

Once that is done, I can then go about and get the proportions right and start to create a fun Street tracker, Better get some liquid refreshment to get me in the mood with this 70’s Classic.

 

 

 

 

Send us some great Photos of your Machine and where you are from.

Almost 18 years ago I used to have a readers rides page, showing peoples machines etc, and I thought I would start to feature that again.

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If you have a bike you would like to show the world, share it with us by emailing some sharp clean images of your Motorcycles and a description of what work you did to get it to the standard it is now and of course where you are located.

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People like to see other machines for inspiration etc, so if you have some good photos just email them to me with all the information to.

carpy@carpyscaferacers.com

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I look forward to featuring them.

 

 

 

 

Just doing some Electrical work on the Honda and Triumph .

The weekends seem to be busy but I managed to get some time to get out in the garage and first off I had to charge a new lithium Battery for Jennifers Triumph Bonneville, her old one was not holding its charge and over 2 years old, so- A new Lithium EarthX Battery was ordered and its ready to fit.  Also, I had some New LED Turn Signals that I made brackets for and then fitted these to the Harlequin Honda, but, they would not flash, meaning I had to make up some resistors to get these puppies working correctly.

 

This was a relatively easy job and think I may offer a little kit to sell to help people out in the same dilemma. Now, sometimes things happen and people ask me how I fixed the issue, so I thought I would add this video to show you what I did to over come the problem with the turn signals, I hope it helps you lot too.

I will be making the brackets soon and offering them on the website as well, it helps you from blowing fises or having to run to far off connectors in the harness.

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Here is the extenders I made for the job and I made sure the wires were the correct color with factory fitted ends that I crimped to keep in uniform to the stock wire harness, You can see the resistors i made up and wired and shall be offering these on the list of parts you can use on your motorcycle too.

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Might look a little messy right now but once all made sure everything works, I shall shorten and tie up under the frame so nothing really seen, I will be fitting Colored Heat Shrink to match the wires, keeping everything uniform and easy to locate later if needed.

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Cut some Aluminum flat bar up and made some brackets, of which I shall later water cut and offer on the website as these are always a hand set up for turn signals on any bike.

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There you are, still in it’s Raw mode but now polish and will be ready to fit up to the bike on the top of the rear shock absorbers.

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Now these are polished to a chrome like appearence and I can now go and fit these onto the Harlequin Honda and then I can mount the New LED Diamond Turn Signals to the Brackets.

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Fitted to the top of the shock absorbers and now I can insert the wires from the signals and then fit the signal into the bracket and simply tighten the nut.

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Nice sturdy Diamond Signals that these LED’s will allow for other people on the road to see you, they are in a nice Polished Chrome body and will tuck nicely to the side of your motorcycle.

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These are a 3 wire system, I personally only use 2 of the wires, as the third wire allows you to use your signals as cruising lights if you need to.

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Easy to fit and a real nice custom touch to your motorcycle, I have sold the Bulb versions for over 15 years but the LED ones are way brighter and will last longer at the end of the day.

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There you go, all bolted up and another job completed on this harlequin Honda Custom cafe Motorcycle, its been a fun bike to build.

All wired up and functions great, so Glad I chose to go this route and have the reassurance that these turn signals can easily be observed from anybody at the rear of me when I am on the road.

Thanks for looking and I These great looking signals available but am just going to be making some wires kits on offer as well as the resistors so you can get the bike all dialed in in one go.

 

 

Kick Back Motorcycle show LONDON

One of the up and coming leaders in the European motorcycle shows these days is the Kick Back show in London, many builders come out to bring their best builds, many built at home in the shed.

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Today, I wanted to share a few photos with you to let you see just a sprinkling of the creations that are around across the pond.

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If you like motorcycles, then you will love this show as many styles and creations jump out at you, this show has a warm and friendly atmosphere and people from across Europe travel to see the bikes that are being displayed.

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Many favorites of course but for me, this should be called Kick Arse!

What an awesome Triton, I’d love to hear this fire up, the Up-sweeps look great and so tightly fitted, great job.

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This show seems to be taking a hold now and I am sure that the venue will just get more and more following in London and am so glad that so many shows have come up back home in the Smoke.

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Cafe Racers, Brats, Bobbers, Choppers, Trackers and Customs are all sprinkled here at KickBack, hopefully one day I can revenuer back home and see them in real time.

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Below, the Old Step through, many people had these back in the day, my brother has one and used it on the dirt roads as thats all we had when we were kids, so great to see these “old memory” Bikes making a come back.

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Check out the Flying S Jap Suzuki- I had an AS 50 when I was 16.

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So many cool builds and styles, something for everyone.

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We have many shows here in the USA too and hope to feature them as and when they come up.

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The choppers are always worth a look as none ever the same and I love the uniqueness of that.

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This has had a lot of work to make it what it is and many just build these at home and as a hobby.

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Above you can see that this FAT ATTACK Trumpy has had major surgery and the Brat/tracker look is really popular now and I would love to take this out.

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I am sure that you will find a favorite here in these machines and I love the way the future of Motorcycle building is going.

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I see many of these styles over here and I cant get enough of them, so continue wrenching everyone its a blast.

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Not many specs that I can give as they didnt give any – But just enjoy the photos and hope that some of these bring a smile to your face today.

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Beemers are very much sought after today and I can see more and more making the transformation from Stock to Custom and its good to see.

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Two differently built machines but look great together, this is so much fun seeing so many cool machines being created.

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Another Double Overhead Cam with old and New technology is something that always grabs my attention where ever I see one.kickback9 Above, I would so easily lose my license running around on this, it cry’s out to be ridden hard!

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When I was 17 years old I had a GT500 and that thing would pull like a steam train, wish I had kept mine.

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Cant stop loving the 70’s Muscles machines, unless you have ridden one of these, you cannot understand something called. “Power Band”.- But Look hard, what’s different about this Motor?

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These Street trackers are popular now and I bet this is so much fun running around.

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Great looking Sportster, I have an old 883 I shall play with later on.

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Thanks for reading my Blog today, if you are in London in April this year, then Kick back is on again, make sure you can find time to check it out, if you do go, send us some photos, love to see it.

 

 

 

Just a few Video’s for your enjoyment today, have a great week.

Here is the 2015 Show Below.

And finally 2016 show, enjoy all my friends.

YAMAHA’S XV950 looks terrible to me.

I saw this in MCN and here is their report on it, to each his own, but surely as you will see at the bottom of my Blog, there are far better ways to change the stock XV into something cool? the paint Scheme looks something out of a Home depot catalog, the Body work is too Boxy and it looks more like a Customized Speedway bike, what do you think???

 

Yamaha’s ever-growing Yard Built series has gained another son in the shape of this Yamaha XV950 by Swiss builder GS Mashin. The result, the Yard Built XV950 ‘ULTRA’ is a total transformation, bringing a whole new vision and style to the Yard Built line up.

 

Founded three years ago by ‘Niners’ crew member Tom Mosimann, GS Mashin blends solid, hand craftsmanship with eye catching new design ideas. Working from a small garage in Bern, Tom works to deliver truly different bikes within functional and technical requirements, meaning everything he builds is fully roadworthy and not just eye candy.

 

The Yard Built XV950 ‘ULTRA’ is no exception, looking radically different from the standard XV950 it’s a truly custom machine that follows the Yard Built principles requiring no cutting or welding to the frame to realise the concept.

 

“I love what Tom has created with the XV as his base,” saysYamaha Motor Europe Product Manager, Shun Miyazawa. “I’m really happy that despite going for a really radical look, he shares our principles that a custom machine needs to retain the most important function; rideability.

He’s kept the soul of the XV950 and wrapped it in a really original look without any cutting or welding to the frame. What is perhaps also very impressive is that 95% of the work he does is completed with just a few tools, an angle grinder, a bag of sand and a hammer!”

 

The Yard Built XV950 ‘ULTRA’ fairing is handmade from 1.5mm steel sheet with the mounts cut from a stainless steel pipe. A small Bates floodlight sits inside the fairing with the two Highsider turn signals.

 

The custom fuel tank is also hand crafted from 1.5mm steel with the upper edge made with a trimming press. The lower section is cut from the original XV950 fuel tank. One of the standout elements of the build has to be the super clean prototype rear suspension units built by K-Tech, based on their signature style Bullit units.

 

The hand crafted steel tail unit wraps around a Shin Yo rear light unit and the seat is again a hand made affair with leatherwork by Jose Rey Saddlery. The beautiful aluminium upper fork crown is machined by Asic Robotics and is super clean without the holes for the risers. The wheels are a work of art, the original hubs were used then 18inch back and 21inch front rims were added with new spokes, with ABS!

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I am always a fan of many bikes but- this one I think misses the mark, but that’s my 2 pennies worth and you may like it and thats fine, but i would of gone a different route like these.

Really cool and so much work but I dig this version.

Bang- What a tough machine and I would love to own this myself.

What another winner we have here, tough, big, brute- and sure would be fun to ride and has that Nostalgic paint scheme too.

These is a great machine as well, so how did they go so wrong with the main feature I have here?

Yard Built Yamaha XV950 Dangan 07

Well I leave it up to you, but I know the route I would of taken.