cafe racers

[milkman]

Following on from that other posted link:

I LOVE the cafe racers (and pretty much everything else)

I bought this beemer SPECIFICALLY TO NOT CAFE IT ie I have two cafe racers (one has to go) and I wanted something to get on and go the distance

BUT

quiet days at work a forcing me to trawl through such great sites as teh ace cafe in london where the picture attached was (if that didn't work heres the link http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/php/f2_4za.php?part=28 )

That is a lovely airhead....

I'm getting so many ideas already

[Jon_P]

i am going to do a mild cafe treatment on mine. i want to find a set of valve covers like that and i might have to fab up some frame stiffener bars if i can find a set to buy. i want the kind you can bolt on and off, where you have to weld a mount on the frame. and a set of rear sets for sure, oh the list goes on. i think i am going to use a set up where i can still use the stock seat but it gives it that cafe seat look. just wait. i'll get it together by spring. i any have two-three months left before riding season starts again.

and love that picture, at bmw cafe in front a sr-71 in the orginal set up with out the heat/radar absorant paint

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

>...in front [of] a sr-71 in the orginal set up with out the heat/radar absorant paint...<

Is that a training version, or did they all have that not-very-aerodynamic-looking 2nd cockpit?  Looks like an afterthought to me (a non-pilot, non-served-in-military ignoramus)

As far as rearsets go, as soon as I put some on, I would meet the love of my life.
Hmmm, might be worth the expense.  I could always put the stockers back on, and save the rearsets for when she gets her own bike!  
But if I think like that, it would blow the whole deal, wouldn't it?

[Justin B.]

I was wondering about that, too.  I built a fairly detailed model of a Blackbird a few years back and it was definately "sleeker" without it...

[SCJJR65]

That second cockpit was probably built for some senator who wanted to be able to go for a joy ride in a very fast plane and had enough pull to make it happen....  

[msbuck]

You can still get the old style valve covers from BMW.  Believe it or not.  I'll look for the part number...

[nhmaf]

Yes indeed, that is an SR71-B, or possibly the one-of-a-kind Sr71-C in the photo.
The aft cockpit was for the training instructor, here is a web link, if interested:
http://www.sr-71.org/photogallery/blackbird/17956/

It does indeed look much less pretty than the single cockpit version.

Some cafe treatments look much nicer than others - one item that has always
posed an interesting point for me is to see how the cafe builder treats the
starter-cover/airbox alterations on the airheads, as that can often be an area that
looks very "odd" depending on what is done..

[Jon_P]

i feel that a bmw starter cover and the metal air box flows much better than the plastic air box. i have a metal air box and i think it flows nice. the plastic air box would need to go if i had that style.


what kind of fairing do you like? i would like something with a little wind protection without laying down on the tank. i was looking a givi a760, it has a new style compared to a parabellem scout or say a r90 cafe style. i had a r90 cafe style and hated it because it dumped all the air in my face which makes long rides impossible without a sore neck. cum on guys help me out!

[milkman]

For the cafe racer I love the naked or small flyscreen look BUT looks are all they provide. I modified a ducati monster screen for my SR and it deflected a fair amount of wind off my chest.

I love the bullet fairings (whether you can get one on a BMW I don't know), and also I have seen teh Ducati SS style fairing modified on a number of bikes that look really good.

Hard to find one that doesn't have you laying down low AND knocks a lot of wind away.

[milkman]

Any ideas people on where the tank in that picture came from? Really nice.

Hears some other favourites:

[milkman]

and the other side"

[SCJJR65]

Hey, Milkman!

That red R100 cafe racer you posted the pics of above belongs to Fred Zust, one of the members of our local BMW club in Greenville, SC.  He happens to be the Sales Manager for Touring Sport BMW, and was lucky enough to have the expertise of the staff of technicians and mechanics at the dealership who assisted him in creating this absolutely bee-u-tee-ful cafe racer!  He's shown it at the dealership during recent "open houses" and let me tell you, it is an impeccable example of a properly restored cafe racer, in every detail.  The red paint job on this bike is so bright and lustrous in person, you almost need to wear sunglasses to look at it!  8-)

(And get this.... He recently picked up a R65 "basket case" and is going to make it into a cafe racer for his wife, Carla, who also rides!  Can't wait to see how that bike turns out!)  

[milkman]

Well, if you see him, tell him he has a fan in Aust.
I still like the top one the best, that seat is brilliant.......