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CX500 Cafe Racer Recent Conversion

3K views 17 replies 6 participants last post by  Brian Sams 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all. My father and I used to share this bike, but he stopped ridding due to medical issues last year. I figured that I'd post my progress so far. I've been slowly modifying this into a cafe racer, but stopped short of making any actual modifications to the frame, forks or shocks. I'm going to keep the geometry stock, but will most likely swap our the shocks.
 

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#7 ·
Yep. Original pipes and no modifications to the geometry. I've been jonesing over a MAC 2-into-1 with a Cherry Bomb Exhaust though... I'm putting that off until winter when I'm working on the carbs though.

I'll be upgrading to progressive front fork springs and Ohlins rear shocks when funds permit. Currently I'm replacing the stock speedo/tac with an Acewell 2853. Other than that, I can't think of anything else I want to do.
 
#8 ·
I did the 2-1 cherry bomb. It looks good, but I need to add baffles to get less noise more power. Do your research first.
 
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#13 ·
Sure. The whole taillight assembly took more than all of the other parts combined... Most of which is because I didn't fully conceptualize the finished product and found myself re-doing parts over. It needs to be repainted, but I got tired of working on it and wanted to ride. I'll have to come back & paint it right. For brevity, I'll save you the failures & show you what worked. I've done much of the work on this bike piece meal... I.E., I've actually never stopped ridding it. I'll take it down for a month or so, but then put it back together & ride it again. I anticipated this would take me a month, but it took me all winter.

First... I utilized the rear mudguard as a mold for the bottom of the trunk. Wrapped the entire bike in pallet wrap to protect it from epoxy. I used duct tape as mold release and used 4 layers of BID fiberglass. You'll also notice that I 'duct-tape-molded' the side of the frame and laid up 4 layers of glass. The whole trunk assembly hugs the frame like a glove.
Automotive exterior Plastic wrap Bumper Automotive design Auto part


Plastic wrap


Once the bottom part was completed, I carved the top out of foam. I was going for a 50's era sports car... with the rounded trunk & side panels. I found a pretty good pic of a Ford Cobra that I liked and used it as inspiration while carving. For what it's worth, I tried both Bondo & Spray Glue to attach the foam pieces. To my surprise the Spray Glue works much better. I used a hacksaw for the rough cuts & a large metal file for the final carving.

Gas Machine
Floor Car
Tire Automotive tire Vehicle Motorcycle Motor vehicle
 
#14 ·
Um... Okay. I had to show one of the failures. I put the taillight and blinkers on the trunk and instantly realized that it looked like a cow... Seriously fuggly. I purchased smaller blinkers that rectified the issue. Automotive design Personal protective equipment Headgear Costume Mask


I failed to take any construction pictures over the next few phases... Basically I added some carbon fiber fins to the side. I didn't like the way the arched rear part of the seat exposed the catch release... Looked kind of scabby. I used carbon fiber so it wouldn't flap or vibrate. I hollowed out the entire thing, then cut the trunk lid except for the edges. So basically the trunk was 95% cut out... Then I used duct tape as a mold release on the trunk door and laid up the base of the trunk from the inside. I wanted to use 'C-hinges' but they occupied too much of the interior of the trunk... So I basically used small piano hinges. I molded some fiberglass around the piano hinges so that it looks similar to the exterior hinges on the 40's era Ford's & Chrysler's.
Helmet Automotive design Fuel tank Motorcycle accessories Fender
Land vehicle Motorcycle Vehicle Motor vehicle Fuel tank
Scooter Fuel tank Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive tire
Motor vehicle Vehicle Fender
Auto part
 
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