revtothelimit - motorbike forum

Tons of scope here, from the originals, BSA's Triumphs, Tritons etc to 70s retro stuff to modern incarnations.

If I was going to build one, i'd love it to be a based on a CB750 and my Henry Ford colour scheme would be applied. Damn someone beat me to it, with side panels to boot!

Any out there you like? Or do you hate the genre?

https://www.bikeexif.com/1978-honda-cb750

Nice ...

Off to have a look ...

These were taken at Barbon Hillclimb in 2009 and are a bit more racer than cafe but I reckon they'll fit on the thread all the same.
I've not got great info on them cos the only spec I had for them was in the race programme and even that was a bit sparse. Plus I didn't check it all at the time and Ive scopped the programme in the bin years ago anyway.
Ducati 350.


Norton ES2 Special


Rickmen Trident 741 and Matchless G3WO 350 in the background.


Theres more but I'll get to em when I have the time.

Pretty sure this was a CB750, friend of mine picked it up a couple of years ago (him posing, not me!)
I quite like it apart from the odd angle of the tail piece.

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:29 pm Pretty sure this was a CB750, friend of mine picked it up a couple of years ago (him posing, not me!)
I quite like it apart from the odd angle of the tail piece.

20210109_122738.jpg

Effin' love that!

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:36 pm

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:29 pm Pretty sure this was a CB750, friend of mine picked it up a couple of years ago (him posing, not me!)
I quite like it apart from the odd angle of the tail piece.

20210109_122738.jpg

Effin' love that!

Must admit looking at it now I'm tempted to give him call and see if he wants to sell it to me.

When ever I think cafe racer, I think Suzuki Goose. It was cafe racer styled from the factory.



...and while looking for that pic I came across this...

https://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/s ... cer/goose/

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:45 pm

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:36 pm

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:29 pm Pretty sure this was a CB750, friend of mine picked it up a couple of years ago (him posing, not me!)
I quite like it apart from the odd angle of the tail piece.

20210109_122738.jpg

Effin' love that!

Must admit looking at it now I'm tempted to give him call and see if he wants to sell it to me.

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

Looking a bit sorry for itself at the moment as it was left in a lockup for a while but my mate has a CB cafe he says he'll get round to flogging one day. I was hoping he'd wanna sort it and keep it. Could be an awesome bike
[media]20210109_144037 by Graham Vincent, on Flickr [/media]

My favourite cafe racers were 2 bikes I used to see regularly back in the early 2000s at the Ace. Both were Norton featherbed frames, one had a 94 Fireblade engine and the other a GSXR 11 engine. Had modern swingarms and forks, polished tanks and open straight through pipes. They weren't mint and were very oily rag looking and used a lot. I used to go to the Ace 2-3 time a week and they were there probably same amount as me in all weathers. I love a Cafe Racer

This was listed as a Seely Suzuki 492 so I guess its a GT 500?

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:13 pm

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:45 pm

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:36 pm

Effin' love that!

Must admit looking at it now I'm tempted to give him call and see if he wants to sell it to me.

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

Just messaged him, he still has it....

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:20 pm

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:13 pm

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 12:45 pm

Must admit looking at it now I'm tempted to give him call and see if he wants to sell it to me.

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

Just messaged him, he still has it....

Well that's exciting. How long since you've seen it? Will he sell it and at what you'd want to pay for it?

Supermofo wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 2:51 pm My favourite cafe racers were 2 bikes I used to see regularly back in the early 2000s at the Ace. Both were Norton featherbed frames, one had a 94 Fireblade engine and the other a GSXR 11 engine. Had modern swingarms and forks, polished tanks and open straight through pipes. They weren't mint and were very oily rag looking and used a lot. I used to go to the Ace 2-3 time a week and they were there probably same amount as me in all weathers. I love a Cafe Racer

There used to be at least 4 of those bikes, I remember seeing them all parked uo together at Brighton one year. At least 3 of the ones I saw were Suzuki engined.
I think the general consensus was that they'd be a bit of a handful, the Featherbed isn't THAT strong.....

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:34 pm

v8-powered wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 3:20 pm

Taipan wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 1:13 pm

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

Just messaged him, he still has it....

Well that's exciting. How long since you've seen it? Will he sell it and at what you'd want to pay for it?

Not wanting to sell it, sitting with his BMW 1200 GT, RSV1000R, GPZ900 CBR954, R1 and ex-IOM TT ZX10-R.
I've planted the seed with him that it's on my watch list though

Rockburner wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:47 pm
I think the general consensus was that they'd be a bit of a handful

Are such things decided by a consensus among people who haven’t sat on the bikes?

JackyJoll wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:56 pm

Rockburner wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:47 pm
I think the general consensus was that they'd be a bit of a handful

Are such things decided by a consensus among people who haven’t sat on the bikes?

I'm guessing you've been on the wrong end of unsolicited advice in the past....

Rockburner wrote: Sat Jan 09, 2021 5:57 pm I'm guessing you've been on the wrong end of unsolicited advice in the past....

The classic bike bores always go on about “handling” of Nortons. I’m just a road rider: my Norton (Triton) is steadier on the road than various other old bikes I messed about on, but I couldn’t say it steers or corners better than my previous “full power” old model Suzuki GS500 or Honda CB500 twin. The Suzuki had comparable engine performance to a 650 Triton; the Honda was significantly faster.

To be honest, a Fireblade engine in a Norton frame does sound like a recipe for a bike far inferior to a Fireblade.

Could possibly be a Historic registration cheat bike, but you’re risking a claims nightmare if you’ve deceived your insurer.

It'd just be rude to not post this...

She just has to be French.