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Cafe Racer first ride

G

guzzirider

Cruisin' Guzzisti
Joined
Nov 2, 2008
Messages
160
Yes at last she is legal and on the road! Took her this morning to Holme Valley Autos in Honley who are very bike friendly and gave her a nice MOT certificate. I was a bit nervous taking her out for the first time but she felt pretty good straight away- apart from all the oil pissing on my boot from the leaking l/h rocker cover.

After getting her taxed, I headed home, popped in a new rocker gasket, and then took her for a wet ride over the local moors, and then for a cup of tea at the Moonraker floating tearoom in Slaithwaite.

Yes the tank badge is wonky- looked straight in the garage in winter, but needs refixing, and the rear shocks need less dampening, but apart from that she is fully sorted. I also noticed the rev counter on the Motogadget was under reading so recalibrated it on the move and she now works fine.


Steering is ever so sweet, much sportier than any other Tonti I have ridden, and the big clip ons helped me muscle her around a few hairpins nicely.

Yes it was all worthwhile!

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Very Nice! Can I ask who's tank and seat you're using? What shocks did you fit? I have an SP1000 that I plan on doing similar to what you've done...

Regards,
vivo
 
vivo said:
Very Nice! Can I ask who's tank and seat you're using? What shocks did you fit? I have an SP1000 that I plan on doing similar to what you've done...

Regards,
vivo
Click to expand...

Tank and seat unit made by the Tank Shop in Scotland.
Shocks are Hagon Nitros- comfy if not that sporty.

Cheers

Guy
 
Great bike guzzirider !! Does your bike have a left hand side ?? :D :D

Cheers
 
Interesting looking minimalist tail/brake light. It doesn't look bright enough to attract the attention of the half-inebriated driver on your tail, or did you find LED's that actually live up to the hype?

Yeah, nice bike. Turns my head.
 
Well done

Can you tell me what you had to do to the front forks? How much did you lower them by? Also any other tips you might have. I plan on converting my 2001 California this coming winter to something a little more sporty using body work and misc parts from a donor SP1000.
 
Hi there

I simply stripped the paint off the forks, gave them a basic polish on the bench wheel, and then took them to Maxton Engineering.

Maxton are used to working on Marzocchi forks and basically took out all the standard internals, and replaced them with their own higher quality items, tailoured to my own weight and riding style, together with adjusters on each leg for pre load and rebound- the forks were previously non-adjustable.

Because of the fact this was the first set of forks from a Cali they had done for this purpose, I emailed a picture of the rolling chassis and Maxton slightly shortened the forks to make them less cruiser and more cafe racer.

I am happy with the end result- at first I found the ride a little harsh but when I backed off the adjusters they were just right for the bumpy roads around Huddersfield.

I am now looking to get more ride height at the rear, and am getting the Hagon nitros modified over the winter so that I can have an extra 30mm of adjustable ride height.

The bike is going very well now- have just returned from a European camping trip- built for go not for show!

Still havent figured how exactly to calibrate the rev counter, the £40 seat is falling apart after getting wet too often and she needs a narrower higher profile tyre but she is 90% there now.

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I forgot to add that if you are using parts from an SP1000 on the Cali frame, you will be able to make it all fit together but some bits will need modifying- the headstock is higher on the Cali frame (I think!) so the tank wont look right without some modding probably, and of course will need to have all the EFI fitments welded on.

If you use a gel battery you can move the electrics and rear brake master cyclinder inwards which means the side panels can be mounted evenly and make the bike look sleeker.

If you want rear sets you will struggle to find any that will fit the Cali lower frame rails straight off the shelf. I have a spare set of LM1000 frame rails if you wanted to use Tarozzi or Agostini rear sets. I had some custom made rear sets made up by Bruce Rawsthorne and they work very well.
 
Thanks for the info

I should be able to use the lower frame rails from the SP along with The Tarrozzi I have on it as well. So I guess the fork tubes will have to raised or lowered in the triple tree yokes.
 
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