Café from the heart of Europe (intro & build)

[LuckyEight]

Hi everyone,
My name is Boris and I live in Czech republic (Europe) - country well known for its pilsen brewing. Btw sorry for my poor English.
At first - this is a great forum and I'd like to thank all of you for many useful informations and inspiration.
I think this is the time to start my build thread. I own XS 400 (2A2) from Germany with 50k+ km (as you can see on the pics). I got my licence plate and stripped her down.


As you can see in my thread title I will try to transform her into café racer with modern front end (popular RS125 forks - thanks CadXS).

I know You like the pics so here are some from the process with some details:

 

[LuckyEight]

chemically stripped wheels, tank, frame and anodized forks (newly in gold) and wheels painted in gloss black:

 

[LuckyEight]

New parts (gaskets, bearings, filter, manifolds, swingarm bushings, piston rings with some sweet present etc.). Bits zinc coated and blasted engine (before and after)

Now I have to choose new tyres. BT45 or Metzeler Lasertec (I like the look of the rear one)?

 

[drewpy]

looking great so far L8.

also loving that CZ too

 

[LuckyEight]

she is not mine unfortunately as well as the Caterham. But it's pretty background for my frame It's my friend's garage full of treasures - Jag E-type, Maserati Mistral, 911 T and this '74 CZ 250 Enduro (exported to US, then she was found in some british museum and now she's back home)

 

[LuckyEight]

I can't wait to see it on the bike


Brembo caliper from Cagiva Mito

 

[drewpy]

she is not mine unfortunately as well as the Caterham. But it's pretty background for my frame It's my friend's garage full of treasures - Jag E-type, Maserati Mistral, 911 T and this '74 CZ 250 Enduro (exported to US, then she was found in some british museum and now she's back home)

nice vehicles, British Museum was from the Combe Martin Motorcycle collection maybe?

 

[LuckyEight]

Don't know but I can check it next time (there are some Utah stickers and UK license plate apparently)

Btw what about your Gilera? Where we can find more pics? Another build blog? It's Gilera Strada, right? If so, very nice little bike and also quite rare and valuable

 

[drewpy]

its a Gilera Touring 4v 1973 and all of 50cc

I'm fitting a cb360 tls front end on it and a 22mm carb

little build thread here

http://yamahaclub.com/forums/topic/31586-gilera-4v-project/

 

[LuckyEight]

What can I say? It will be stunning bike drew!!! Is it hard to find new parts? (piston, rings etc)

 

[ondrej91]

hi boris! nice to see you there! Iam from czech rep too, do you know cafe-racer.cz forum?

nice xs, I have 4g5, with rear 18" and now Iam worki'n on seat in wrenchmonkees style.

if you are looking for some parts or something, you can try this site: http://www.motorradbay.de they are fast

 

[LuckyEight]

Hi Ondra I think that in this case it's not necessary to write in English, so...

Díky za odkaz, neznal jsem ho...nakupoval jsem na wemoto.cz a cmsnl.com

cafe-racer.cz forum znám, mám tam i účet, ale prakticky tam nechodím, pro mě jsou momentálně důležitý informace ohledně XS a těch tam zas tolik nenajdu. A dělit se s nima o dojmy z mojí stavby mě taky neláká, určitě by se to setkalo s kritikou už jen kvůli přední vidli

P.S: wrenchmonkees je velice dobra inspirace!

 

[LuckyEight]

Hey guys, I'm looking for adjustable clip-ons for my Aprilia forks (50 mm ID) for reasonable price. Do you have any ideas? I found these http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/guzzino_2209_48291481

 

[drewpy]

What can I say? It will be stunning bike drew!!! Is it hard to find new parts? (piston, rings etc)

no. Bob Wright in the UK is the specialist and the small frame Vespas share engine parts too.

there's a shop in Sweden that has a lot of stuff too.

http://modandrocker.jetshop.se/ehr-motor/gilera-touring/tix-elsystem-c-279-1.aspx

 

[LuckyEight]

Frame will be red? If so, it will look great! Btw are you satisfied with Ballistic batteries?

To the point of clip-ons:

I also found these http://www.discovolantemoto.co.uk/tarozzi-adjustable-clipons-semi-high-454-p.asp


Btw I tried to put my sidestand back on the frame and I am little bit confused. When I brought her home, the stand was wobbly. I stripped her down (took a photos of almost everything, but no pics of sidestand obviously) So the first Q is:
The side stand didn't stay down so I had to hold it there till the stand hit the ground. Is it normal? XS is my first oldschool bike so this is a dumb question maybe. I'm used to use my sidestand on R1 which stays locked (obviosly she has sidestand switch).
2nd Q: There were two identical springs on it and I wasn't able to put it back and work properly. so I did my google research and found sidestands with only one spring. So what is a standard setup? Pics will be appreciated

 

[bcware]

This is my side stand on my 1978 2e

Mine stays down when I withdraw it like any other motorcycle I've ever ridden. There is only one spring.

 

[drewpy]

german market side stands have 2 springs, must be a TUV thing. All mine have 1.

 

[LuckyEight]

Bcware: thanks man, can You take a shot from the other side? I'd like to see how is the spring connected to the frame. Thanks again

Drew: german precision

 

[LuckyEight]

some engine parts painted

 

[LuckyEight]

I've tried to mock-up the engine. Head and cylinders are not painted yet because I'm waiting for new pistons and bore. From the begining I was determined to paint them black BUT now I hesitate... black/silver? I wanna know your opinions guys!!!