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DR350 cafe racer build. (pic heavy)

R

Risky

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Lol I didn't know you started another project. Granted that it's not a run of the mill cafe racers but I really like this.

My parents rode motorcycles for years even before they had me. Back in those days you could pick them up for £5 The most expensive bike they bought was a 1948 Vincent Black Shadow they bought for £50 & considering the average weekly wage in the UK at the time was between £8-12 that's a sizeable chunk. My parents had the classic British motorcycles, BSA, Ariel, Triumph & Norton. Dad (besides loving his Vincent) loved Triumph while mum was into Ariel. My grandfather owned numerous motorbikes, Scott, James, Vincent & his Brough Superior SS80. Before my parents migrated to Australia, dad pulled the Vincent apart & had it in wooden boxes & a year after when I was born it was shipped to Sydney. Dad put it all back together & had it until 1989 when due to medical circumstances he had to sell it. I wish it was kept. I took 2 unofficial rides on the Black Shadow & got grounded both times. I rode dirt bikes during my teen years & my first girlfriend & I had matching Vespas. I still remember the days of dad & I tinkering about with various bikes.

One of the guys who repainted my ute recently got his L's & bought a Harley-Davidson Street 500. It's not a bad looking bike for it's price. He took off the exhaust & modified a hotdog from a recent model WRX. It's pretty loud. I took it for a spin up & down the street & even though I'm not a Harley lover (except for the Harley-Davidson WLA), it's not bad.

At least you'll have room for it in the ute for your cafe racer. I think you should start up your own paint/body shop elless1.
 

elless1

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Thanks risky,thats an awesome story by the way. Makes you wonder if,after a bit of digging,you could find the bike again and
buy it back. Theres a few cool videos on the net of people getting reunited with vehicles. Being such a rare
bike there's a good chance someone has kept it and looked after it. Might be sitting in a shed somewhere.

Ive always had a soft spot for English bikes. Dad being English would harp on about norton commandos and
triumph bonnevilles but he was never allowed one and me and my brother have been much the same. My grt grt
grandfather apparently was in a fatal motorcycle accident,since that none of the men had bikes.
Dad always used to chat with the guy at bunnings who had a long beard and a yellow norton commando,
talking about the bike and i could see dad loved it. I was just a boy. It was just an unwritted thing
we where not allowed to have bikes.


I Just looked up the street 500,looks ok. Didnt even know it exsisted. The water cooled motor isnt doing it for me either.

My mate reckons i should open a body shop but i honestly dont think i know enough or
have enough experience to stand confidently and say "yeh i can do it,it will look mint, it will cost this much."

The other thing is having peoples stuff,if anything goes wrong or gets stolen. Could be doing
a tank on a bike and the bike goes missing or someone knocks it over,heaven forbid,
you need insurance for these things. Rent on a shop,liability,lack of experience,money to begin with,
advertising,dealing with people. I dont think i'm up to it. haha.

Saying that i am just starting to play with different paint effects/ideas so who knows what
could happen. I'm out of work now,pretty well for good so it would be nice to have something
i can make some money with.

I would lean towards the custom side of things and probably bikes now, rather than high volume and
repair side. My back just wont do that sort of work anymore. Plus it would be good to take my time
and make every job something to be proud of and something the customer would be happy with
for many years.

I'll get some new shots of the bike tomorrow. Was riding it around today and enjoying. Showed a few people,
they where pretty spun out with how it looks now.

Cheers.
 
R

Risky

Guest
I know the guy who has the Black Shadow. Dad sold it to him on the premise that if he ever was selling the bike that we would have first dibs. Prices for HRD Vincents are through the roof now.

I've always like cafe racers for their simplicity. It's such a simple concept. Buy a bike, strip it, lighten it & put it back together. There used to be a series on Foxtel about it. I don't ride anymore (for various reasons) but it doesn't stop me from appreciating the classic bikes I grew up with & the stories from the family. There's a ton to tell. I'm lucky that I'm only 90mins away from the National Motorcycle Museum in Nabiac where I can see the bikes that my family & myself have owned over the years. I'm actually organising a group trip with the guys from Holden Spares & the smash repairs to go down there.

I don't wish to take over your thread but I found a couple of photos in my spare hard drive. The first one is grandfathers Scott motorcycle that was made in the '30's with an added enclosed sidecar. My grandfather loved tinkering with his bikes as you can see in the 2nd photo. I've tried to identify the bike as the photo was taken in the mid '50's. I think it's an Ariel but not so sure. The 3rd one is my great uncle Cliff on another unknown motorcycle taken during the war. Prior to WWII he was a train driver before being conscripted to the Royal Army Service Corp. He was with the BEF driving trains. During the German invasion of France, he & his mates got to St Nazaire & boarded the RMS Lancastria which was sunk by the Luftwaffe as it left port. He was one of the few survivors. During the rest of the war he drove war trains in Britain & once the western allies gained a foothold in 1944, he was supervising reconstruction of western Europe railways and also driving trains. After the war he was still stationed in Europe reconstructing the railways & participated in the Berlin Blockade. He wasn't demobbed until 1950 as Captain. After that he returned back to British Rail. From what I remember & from what I was told by the family, he always preferred motorcycles to cars & he had many of them. Lol mainly cos they were easy to smuggle back to the UK. My family has a history with the railways with mum being 3rd generation & me being 4th generation.

You've done great with the ute & you've done fantastic to your bike. I can't wait to see the next project you start on. Lol, you might want to try & make a VY or VZ panel van out of a wagon as I'm sure you could do it.

Keep it up :)



 

Not_An_Abba_Fan

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Bike looks great. I had a Hayabusa for a while. Went straight from a 250 to that after I did my time on my R-E license. My advice is to go straight to the capacity you want. Have had a few mates that step up in capacity a bit at a time and have found they had to learn different things at each step. Go big and learn that bike and the rest come easier if you ever step down.
 

elless1

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I went and sat on a new bonneville today, very nice. It was old stock and the last of the air cooled
models. It was about 14k, my mate reckoned i could build a few bikes for that and i reckon he's right.

My neigbor donated some stainless to the project ( i was running out of urinal) so i set about making
some side covers for the bike. The stainless is nice but i want to have a go at playing with paint,
should be fun. Going to have a play with some candy paint.

Anyway heres some pics of the side panels. I'm hoping they grow on me because i'm not
to keen on how they look at the moment,with some wicked paint on they should look better
though. Got some pizza box as a template and went to it.

IMG_2123_1.jpg

IMG_2135.jpg

IMG_2136.jpg

IMG_2138.jpg


My mate agreed to take of photo of me on the bike.

thumbnail_IMG_1120.jpg


Tomorrow will be painting the side covers.

cheers
 
Last edited:

SaUte

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Anyway heres some pics of the side panels. I'm hoping they grow on me because i'm not
to keen on how they look at the moment,with some wicked paint on they should look better
though. Got some pizza box as a template and went to it.

Maybe cut some gills into them mate,might break 'em up a bit.
 

elless1

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Thanks for the reply,

Some flutes would be different. I'm a bit fussy though and getting a result i'd be happy with,
with the tools i have would be difficult. The paint will be quite dark on the panels so
the will hopefully just blend in a bit and fill space.

The paint will be very different, it's going to be red and dark but with a new
technique i've picked up. Should make the bike a bit more unique.
I'll take some shots tomorrow when i'm laying down the paint.

Hopefully it comes up good. The candy paint is nearly 100 dolars
for half a liter. lol. I'm going to be using two different basecoat colors,
the candy and clearcoat.

Stay tuned...
 
R

Risky

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I reckon you could find an old Triumph & do that up if you've been looking at other motorcycle projects.

Triumphs do keep their value on the 2nd hand market (model depending).

Maybe have a go at doing a bitza racer & make it out of different bikes. I'm sure that could test your skills.
 

elless1

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I would love to do a triumph but i think i'll play with some smaller,cheaper bikes at the start.
And at least ones that aren't impossible to get parts for or too expensive. Old air cooled
jap bikes are what i'm looking at. Seem to be ok to work on and find parts for. And
if looked after, they're are reliable.

Painted the panels this morning. It was raining outside and a bit cold but i did them anyway.
After about ten different coats and some stuffing around,this is what i got.

IMG_2156.jpg

IMG_2157.jpg

IMG_2159.jpg


The camera struggles to pick up a decent photo.
I'll get some more when they're dry/ on the bike.

cheers.
 
R

Risky

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You'll have to get the missus posing on it.

Pretty nifty paint job there mate & it'll look great.

Cheaper old Jap bikes will be worth the go. Should be tons in the old trading post.
 
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