Nice Cafe Racer

[chrisr65ls]

Saw this R65LS conversion at our local bike show. Very nice!

[steve hawkins]

I hope it looks better in the flesh.

I am afraid it does nothing for me at all.

I hate seeing exhausts turned upside down.

No clip-ons or rear sets.  So what makes it a café racer?  A seat change?

I am afraid the owner must be given a 'must try harder' award.

Sorry that the only response was a bit of a thumbs down...But that in itself tells a story

Rev Light

[Julio A.]

I'd say the bike looks good, but it does not strike me as a cafe racer. It looks too... Modern.

I'm interested on how the owner did the footpegs. Its looks deceptively stock yet it has this streched out position I'm looking for.

"What makes a cafe racer" is one deep question for me. What does make a bike a cafe racer?

[steve hawkins]

As a 'Brit', I think a café racer is a 'racer' for the road, built out of a road bike by its rider.  

The emphasis being on a stripped down look.  Where everything that does not needed for its primary purpose is removed.  

A crouched riding position, for stream lining, requires clip-ons or 'Ace Bars' and rear sets.

Its not necessarily about how much money you can chuck at a bike either.  Its about targeting limited resources and removing what is not necessary, not adding some garish 'bolt on bits'.  Its is still a road bike, but one that is more focused.  But it makes then almost less useful as they become less of an all-rounder.

I get the impression sometimes, some BMW riders think that by putting a set of Euro bars on and removing their panniers, that they have suddenly got a Café Racer.

And I am sorry but the exhausts, just look wrong - its a standard set of pipes, incorrectly fitted.  And I would prefer to see those wheels on a standard LS where they belong.  They are a product of their time.  Spokes wheels are the best, but snowflakes will do for now.

We are moving in the right direction, but have some ways to go yet.

The owner will, no doubt turn up and be hurt by my comments, but if you are going to call it a Café Racer, then make it look like one.

Harsh I know.

Sorry

Rev. Light

[steve hawkins]

Of course, over here, there are those that state with as vehemence as I, that Café Racer's can only be built from British singles and twins from the 60's.  But hey, as long as it has a steel frame and been on a diet.....

Cheers

Steve H

[chrisr65ls]

The owner was an older guy so I think he needed the higher bars. The tank looked like it was covered in that vinyl product you see some cars covered in. The foot pegs were set back slightly.
All up it was nicely presented but i agree about the pipes.

[Luca]

I gotta go with Steve on this one.

This thing looks clunkier than a stock LS.  The tail section looks heavier and the mufflers don't look like an "improvement", they just look like they are on backwards.  The grab handle now calls attention to itself.  In proper cafe form, it would remain blacked out... or more properly, be cut off.

The paint is too disjointed for my taste.  I can't tell what color the bike is supposed to be.

The owner went with a bit more vintage on the peanut shaped valve covers, yet the headlight bracket has a very modern look.  They clash

I've got a personal stake in this... I like my LS for what it is, and it pains me to see them modified to the point that the only thing LS about them is the wheels.  The wheels clash with the peanut valve covers too.  There is no more two-tone paint on the tank, and that adds to the visual gravity.

At least we know his floats are good.  He left the fuel tap on.

P.S. Julio, I think he got the stock look on the rearsets by keeping rubber on them.

[marcmax]

I agree with Steve's description of a cafe racer. In my book it should be stripped of anything not essential to make it run and/or allow it to be on the street.

When I decided to modify my LS I didn't want to go to that extreme. I also wanted to use as much as I could oem parts (not necessarily BMW oem), period correct accessories or make the part myself. I also wanted to spend as little as possible.

I don't consider my R65LS a cafe racer although people keep telling me what a nice one it is. To me it is a custom from my head that is "cafe-like". It does have clip-ons and rearsets but it also has a lot that doesn't make it go faster. But I like the way it looks and that is what matters to me.

[steve hawkins]

Anyway,

I hope he enjoys it for what it is, or isn't.  There's a lovely bike under there.

Rev. Light

[nhmaf]

marcmax's bike looks MUCH more unified and thought out.  I can fully appreciate that one man's feast is another man's snack, but I also tend to agree that the rather oddly modified LS at the start of the post doesn't seem to do it for me, or mesh with my vision of a cafe bike.   That tank striping style is like what is found, though in reverse, on the later model R100RS bikes (usually blue on white).   It doesn't go with the rest of the bodywork / color scheme.  
Sorry.   On the other hand, there have certainly been many bikes which were built by hoity-toity custom bike builders which looked very much half-baked, to me.