I'm doing research into building a cafe racer. I'd like the bike to be light and fairly small, something that can be easily tossed around through turns. I'm thinking something in the 350cc range. I'm looking to keep the budget between $1500 and $2000.
I like the CB350/360 and the RD350. Obviously, I would need to decide if I would prefer 2 or 4 stroke.
So, I'm looking for input on 2 vs. 4 stroke and what bike you guys think would be a good cafe if I've forgotten any other bikes.
2-stroke will give you a fair bit more ooomph at that displacement. But, you'll have to add oil, or make sure the oil injection works (if it had it).
4-stroke is probably easier to find (bike and parts) and the Honda CBs are well known.
At your budget, try pricing out the stuff you will likely need to replace (carb kit, pipes, tires, brake bits) and see if there is a difference.
Personally, I really want to cafe/scamble/restocustomify a really small Honda - CB125 or so.
I looked at CB125 type bikes too but since it would probably see some interstate use as well I'd like something a little bigger.
I've been looking around pricing things. I haven't put together an official price list.
It does look like an RD would be a little harder to find than a CB though.
You could look at the Suzuki GT 2-strokes as well. I had a GT250 that was a lot of fun. The vibrate a lot so they aren't too comfortable on the interstate but that can be fixed with some rubber engine mounts. They also seem to be easier to find and less expensive than the RD series.
I traded a Celica GTS shell to a friend for an old kawasaki 100 or 125 cc 2 stroke streetbike. I need to go pick it up (it's been over a year!). Supposedly he has a title. After the moped rally we had a couple weekends back, I'm almost excited about a "big" (relative to mopeds) 2 stroke bike. I'm thinking "functionally stylish" around town bike...
Clem
After looking around at GTs it seems like there was one on here for sale about a year or so ago.
RD-350 with a one piece tank-seat-tail section will set yo free. =~0
That's my cb360t project. I bought the bike non-running for $250, IIRC. Rebuilt engine, cafe seat, clip-ons, front drum wheel, rear-sets, etc.. I now have about $900 in it. Still needs tires, a chain, and brake shoes though. And a battery... It goes on and on. I should be working on it, but I started another cafe project instead.
An inherited GL1100, did a frame up on it, and just finishing it up now. Should run today! Then I need to order tires, a battery, and brake pads.
It runs! but the #4 float bowl is leaking, time to pull the carbs...again.
Don't get a GL, everything is 10x harder.
RD's are probably a bit harder to find, but running they typically go from $1200 in okay shape to $2500 mostly stock with a few mods on Craigslist. hvccycle is where I get most of my parts new from; some parts can still be purchased new, but a lot of the rubber is reproduction nowadays, therefore, a bit expensive.
Here's a picture of my favorite RD400 cafe:
That is hot, my only change would be spoked wheels. 2-smoker street bikes are cool 
my only change would be clubman bars. I don't understand their popularity when even pictures from the 60's show most cafe racers had clip ons.
Hondas are getting up in price, especially the small ones. Don't overlook the XS series or early 4 stroke Suzukis.
Are they functionally equivalent? Because if so...that would explain their popularity. It seems clip ons are moronically expensive. Bars (including clubmans) are trivially cheap.
I've not ridden with either...just guessing and inferring...
Clem
Hmmm......somehow I overlooked the XS400.
Looking at early Suzukis now.
xci_ed6 wrote: That is hot, my only change would be spoked wheels. 2-smoker street bikes are cool
Agreed, but spoked rear hubs for the RD400 (which uses a disc vs. the RD350's drum) go for about $500 because they are omgrare.
PHeller wrote: my only change would be clubman bars. I don't understand their popularity when even pictures from the 60's show most cafe racers had clip ons.
ClemSparks wrote: Are they functionally equivalent? Because if so...that would explain their popularity. It seems clip ons are moronically expensive. Bars (including clubmans) are trivially cheap. I've not ridden with either...just guessing and inferring... Clem
I started riding in the late 1960s, and of the few bikes I saw that had been cafe-ized back then I would say clubman bars (or even flipped stock bars) were more common than clip ons. As mentioned they're a lot less expensive plus they're easier to install. Also, remember that in the US cafe bikes were pretty uncommon - most of the pictures floating around today are of european or British bikes; most people here were more into the Easy Rider look.
Maybe a motocross hub laced to a different rim? I hang out on customfighters.com too much. They make everything seem easy, haha. I switched the front on my cb from a disc to a drum, so now it's twin drum brakes.
Is that rear disc bigger than the front? And a single front disc? Wierd stuff.
One of the guys' cafe/fighter build...
Have you checked out dotheton.com ? There are a ton of project and how-to threads to get ideas.
xci_ed6 wrote: Have you checked out dotheton.com ? There are a ton of project and how-to threads to get ideas.
Lots of cool bikes over there. There's a real cool 250 Nighthawk. Never thought of starting with a Nighthawk.
any more info on the bike xci_ed6?
I'd also like more info on the CB360. I saw it over on the readers bikes thread a while back and wondered about it.
xci_ed6 wrote: One of the guys' cafe/fighter build...
From the looks of it, that's a DOHC CB750 with a modern-ish swinger and front end. Rear looks like CBR F2/F3, front looks like 954. Just guessing.
xci_ed6 wrote: Have you checked out dotheton.com ? There are a ton of project and how-to threads to get ideas.
Awesome website. Thanks for the heads up!
Don't 2-smokes require alot more maintenance and relatively frequent rebuilds compared to 4-strokes? Or is that a misconception?
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