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DR350 cafe racer build. (pic heavy)

elless1

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I've started another project this time it has two wheels. Bought a dr350
road trail and i'm converting it into a vintage looking cafe racer/street bike.

I looked for bike forums but couldnt settle on a descent one so i thought
i'd put the build up here on JC.

Bike is stock,with low km's, shocks rebuilt and rebuilt rims. Plans are to
change the tank to a big old steel one, change the seat to a flat vintage style,put
18" rims front and back (back is already 18" i believe) And vintage tires.
Different mirrors,lights,indicators,exhaust,different rear swing arm,dual rear
springs in the back (hence the swingarm), lower front shock accordingly.

I know nothing about bikes and dont have a license for one but i thought that
i want to ride while i still can, with my back in the condition it's in. Hopefully
i dont come off. haha. Its been a long time coming and now it's time to pull
my finger out and do it.

I'm doing lessons and have a test at the end of the month. Hoping the bike is
done by then or close to it. That;s the aim anyway.

I wanted a Triumph Bonneville or Thruxton but the price range and engine
capacity are a bit out of my budget and license restrictions.should be a fun bike
and a good learning experience anyway.

Heres some pics of what ive been doing-

Here's the bike as i got it. It's a 99 model,last of the air cooled engines.
IMG_1967.jpg


I managed to get a tank from an old yamaha xs650 from the wrecker for cheap
so i pulled the plastics and seat from the bike and started playing. I thought the tank looked
best pushed right up to the front but the handlebars would smash the tank. So i marked
the handlebars with paint so i could see where they touched the tank on lock, and went
about massaging the tank into shape to accommodate the bars.

The third pic below shows some of the bog i found. Ended up stripping the tank back with a flap disk.

IMG_1971.jpg

IMG_1972.jpg

IMG_1974.jpg

IMG_1981.jpg


And a shot of it on the bike. Looks pretty stupid on there at the moment.haha.

IMG_1976.jpg


Managed to get a new oldschool aftermarket headlight,and after a bit of stuffing around
moving the speedo back and modding the light so i could fit the wiring loom in it, i got it on.
Looks pretty silly on there at the moment but it's staying on till the bikes done. Pulled the gators
off the front shocks and decided to crank the bike down with the ratchet straps to get
an idea of stance. The bike will be way lower anyway but just wanted to have a look.

IMG_1990.jpg

IMG_1986.jpg




Then i set about doing some metal work on the bare tank to try and straighten it out a bit.
Ended up welding nails to the tank and making a dent puller/slide hammer out of a set of vice grips to
pull some of the dents out.Then the areas got ground back,rewelded if need be,tinned
with solder and lead wiped. Then it got sanded down again and the remaining low spots
filled with a skim coat of filler.

IMG_1992.jpg

IMG_1993.jpg

IMG_1999.jpg

IMG_2003.jpg

IMG_2008.jpg

IMG_2012.jpg


Kept getting that feeling like someone was watching me.
IMG_2005.jpg


The tank got a coat of primer then sanded,still needs a bit of work.The tank came with dual
taps on the bottom and after seeing the taps on ebay for a lot of money i decided to solder
in some brass tubing and go with an inline tap. The tubing looks way better and fits the vintage
theme. Mad a bracket out of some sheet and an old bolt to hold the tank on too.

IMG_2016.jpg

IMG_2017.jpg

IMG_2018.jpg






Got loads of parts coming over the next few weeks.
Thanks for looking.
 

elless1

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Wasnt happy with the muffler on the bike at the moment, sounded "tinny" so i made another
one out of crap i had lying around. the muffler isnt really part of the cafe racer conversion but
i thought id throw up a few pics anyway.

IMG_2022.jpg

IMG_2024.jpg

IMG_2026.jpg

IMG_2031.jpg

IMG_2033.jpg

IMG_2034.jpg


For anyone that doesnt know what a cafe racer looks like heres a pic of a bike in a very similar style to what ill be aiming for.
So far no-one has done one out of a dirtbike that i can find,probably for good reason. Should be fun.

cb-cafe-racer-5.jpg


The front forks got a tidy up today as well, i'll post more pics tomorrow.

Cheers.
 

Sandman

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You certainly don't muck around do you mate. Great so see some different projects on here.
Here's some inspiration for you, these are a couple of bikes a mate's built. I also know nothing about bikes, I just take the photos haha.
12801356_570218326471135_4905060420751886244_n.jpg

10659450_491689004324068_5835693564146469928_n.jpg
 

sleepa

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Nice work so far.
I got most of the way through building a "rat fighter" a few years back out of a late 80s Honda CBR1000F, just couldn't get the seat right.

Have fun building it, it's nearly more fun then riding them. lol.
 

elless1

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They are some nice bikes. Well beyond my money and ability.Haha

Very nice indeed.

Ive seen that ktm and a few other cafe's made from dirtbikes but all of them (although sweet)
have a square swing arm and or frame. Since i got it in my head that i didnt like it,it's all i
look for and first thing i look at.

IMG_1965_1.jpg


This is the swing arm i bought. Round tube to match the frame. It's from a gs250 so i'll have
to play arouind with it to get it to fit. All being well it will all look very old
school but with the advantage of a modern reliable drivetrain and engine combo thats easy/cheap
to service,repair and get parts for. The suzuki has a bit of grunt and 6 gears so i'm going
to go up a tooth or two for a bit more top end as well.

Also bought a pipe bender and some 19mm tube,mainly for making the hoop that goes behind the seat
or parts for the frame if i start chopping the back off and redoing the back of the bike completely.

Here's the tube bender,you can see where i got the steel mesh for the muffler. Have to
make sure i dont put my hands near the compressor when it''s running. lol

IMG_2037.jpg



Heres a pic of front shocks a cleanup

IMG_2035.jpg


Took the bike for a little spin,the muffler sounds a lot deeper,still bloody loud,
but sounds good.

Looks like the riding test might be this week, after only two lessons i'm a bit weary
but i'll give it a crack. Worst case scenario i have to wait a week and do it again.

Cheers.
 

elless1

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The seat arrived today,being impatient and a bit stupid i started hacking away at the frame.
Pulled the rear mudguard off and pretty much everything around it. Chopped a bit of the frame rails at the back.
Haven't got the seat mounted yet as i ran out of gas for the welder but i'm just dummy fitting and
seeing what looks right.

Tack welded one of my hoops on the back to see how it's going to sit,need to get some gas
tomorrow and start atcually making mounts for the seat. Not the smartest thing ive done
considering the bike cant be ridden now till i sort it out but couldnt help myself. Hopefully
i'll have it tied up over the next couple of days and rideable again.

Here's some pics.

IMG_2045.jpg

IMG_2042.jpg

IMG_2043.jpg

IMG_2044.jpg



Thanks for looking.
 

elless1

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Ok, so, got my license yesterday. Still very excited about it and surprised i passed.
Not bad considering ive only had two lessons and was pretty decently shitting myself
before the test.

Ive been riding the bike around the last two days with just a temporary rear fender,
and a sink plug as the fuel cap. No wonder people think i'm mad. It actually fits
beaut,and is brass, and actually looks like it should be on there.haha. I threw
some polish on it for a laugh and drilled a little hole for gas to escape. If i hadnt of
ordered a new lockable one i'd leave it on there forever.I'll get some
better pics of it later.

Anyway,

The hoop got welded on where i was happy with it and i spent a day making a mount
for the front of the seat that clips in and having it bolt down at the rear. Messed around
and hacked up the old plastic rear fender just so i can ride it. Also had some
nice smaller indicators come today so i fitted them. Bike overall still needs
a big tidy up and a proper fender.

Here's some pics of how it sits at present.

IMG_2048.jpg

IMG_2049.jpg

IMG_2050.jpg

IMG_2051.jpg

IMG_2052.jpg


Spoke to the spoke guy regarding respoking my front rim. He's super busy but
next week sometime he should be able to squeeze me in. Getting the front redone
to an 18" same as the back and two matching vintage style tires.

The bike will be ridden around as is for a while. Dont really want to start painting the tank
yet, the fenders cant be done until the suspension is done and neither can the exhaust.
While the suns out i'm going to want to be riding it,so on the rainy days i can work on it.

For the suspension to be done it would have to be off the road for at least a week id say.


Thanks for looking.
 

elless1

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Decided to have a crack at the exhaust. I bought two triumph thruxton mufflers cheap,
and had one destined for the bike. The muffler on there that i made was to loud for my liking
so i got out the tools and started hacking.

Here's what i started with. The bent bit of tube with the flange on it, and various bent bits of tube
from the extractors off of my corolla. While getting the exhaust off one of the bolts snapped
off in the head. Not overly impressed with that effort and will need tending to at a later date.


IMG_2054.jpg

IMG_2055.jpg

IMG_2056.jpg

IMG_2058.jpg

da1735c4-7d8a-405b-aeb2-7305a36da6d9.jpg


And here it is on the bike,finished. Well kind of.

IMG_2062.jpg

IMG_2063.jpg

IMG_2064.jpg


Looks like i take the dumbo award for the year. Custom made the whole lot beautifully
to gel with everything,even took into account the snapped stud in the head and made
it so the exhaust mount bolts pull it into place,fitted it all up,painted and cleaned,
then i went to start the engine.

Woops. Bloody kickstart.

The kickstart will work a bit but smashes the muffler. If the bike had electric start, obviously it
wouldnt be a big drama,but it's kick only. Oh well,the whole lot will have to come off and be redone.
Shame really,sounds bloody great,looks good and has good power. Oh well. At least
i did a really accurate job of stuffing it up.haha

Also picked up a chrome fender so i can sort the rear fender out and do it properly.
It's raining on sunday so i'll pull it off the road then and start working on it. For now
time to ride. And smash the muffler everytime i want to start it..lol.

Cheers.
 

VS 5.0

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As I was scrolling through those pics, I was wondering how the clearance was going to work.....nek minut.

Keen to see how his turns out in the end.
 
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