1978 Cafe Racer build

[Rev]

Please help I have a few questions.

I want to remove the fuel tank below the seat and open up that area. I will be replacing the dummy tank. Any typical issues I should be aware of when doing this?

Where can the battery be relocated to in order to have a clean area between the rear tire and the motor?

When adding shorter cafe racer handlebars do I need to replace all the control lines with shorter cables?

Thanks in advance for answering. I look forward to getting started.

IMG_3133.JPG (132.87 KiB) Viewed 640 times

[Track T 2411]

First, welcome to NGW. Simple questions, but complex answers, too complex for one post. Yes, one typically shortens the cables with shorter bars, or does some creative routing. Replacing the faux tank sounds easy, but there is a lot of frame under there, as well as most of the electrical components, and the air cleaner. There are smaller batteries available that can be placed in any position. There are numerous threads chock full of different solutions, and tons of photos in the customizing forum, so my suggestion would be to start browsing! Enjoy the ride!

[Rat]

Welcome to the 'Wingdom.

Take a look at the Gallery and seach for info .... there's a lot here ....

But every build is different .... that's the idea .... isn't it ?

Gord

[Beetleman]

Wow that's a sharp bike.
Here's some pics of my 78 with a set of clubmans. If you use clubmans you have to add some spacers on the handel bar stops so your bar end don't hit your tank. If you put the stops in then you wont be able to turn the bars far enough to the left to be able to use the handel bar lock feature thats on your ignition switch. I didn't change out any of the cables, I just let em hang where they fell, my bikes Not Nice so it didn't really bother me that much. It probably had a little harder of a cable pull because of the way the clutch called was ran but not that big of a deal.

[ericheath]

Not many tanks fit without frame modifications. I'd suggest Lucky13 as a build to see one way to narrow the upper frame. Your limiting factor will likely be air filter housing. It comes up quite a ways. If you put just one frame member in the center or two narrow, how will you get the air filter out? Changing air plenum will cause performance issues with these bikes. Some jetting changes are likely. Meanstreak, roughly 2002-2007 will fit without frame changes, but will reqire air filter box mods. See Chartoo's Downunder build. I copied Chartoo on mine. Plus: a 4.5g tank. Minus: it's a wide tank, and you may end up with a big turning radius so your bars don't hit the tank. Some Valkyrie tanks can also be made to work. I don't recall anyone detailing how the Valkyrie fits but there are a few pics floating around. The Valkyrie tanks are taller and hold a bit more fuel.

[warhead_71]

Another option: get a cafe seat and put a fuel tank inside the rear hump (with the filler cap on the rear hump) and under the seat pan if you have room. You might be able to find a plastic tank or two and plumb them together. For that matter, you could put another plastic tank in the glovebox that plumbs to the auxillary under the seat hump then to the carbs... you might get 3-4 gallons this way.

For reference, check out the auxiliary tank under the seat of this KTM: http://www.radegarage.com/parts/ktm-990-tank/

You can easily fit a small Lipo battery (or a couple in parallel) under the faux tank side-covers.

[gregforesi]

Where can the battery be relocated to in order to have a clean area between the rear tire and the motor?

If you put a largesh "bum stop - rear tail section" on, you may be able to hide the battery inside.

When adding shorter cafe racer handlebars do I need to replace all the control lines with shorter cables?

I didn't replace the throttle cable (no "push" cable), but it routes differently with the Webers.
My clutch cable is a -6". Routing the clutch cable is important, or it will certainly bind.
If the brake lines are original, they need to be replaced anyway, so getting a shorter upper line made is a piece of cake. I used a length of 1/8" solder and routed it like I wanted the upper brake line, then straightened it out and measured the length.
With drag bars, I had to put a notch in the choke cable bracket (on the triple tree) to route the clutch cable through. Just wasn't anywhere else to put it. With the clubman bars, it goes behind the headlight bucket. Either way, it's a -6.
Like Beetleman says...drag or clubman, you have to shorten the swing of the front end. I tried JB welding a couple of shims onto the stops, but that didn't hold up. Ended up drilling and tapping holes into the lower triple tree stops and use #8 machine screws as jack screws (with lock nuts) make a good adjustable fix. I need a lot of room to do a u-turn and yes, the fork lock doesn't work. (For that matter, neither do I.)