Honda CB750 Cafe Bikes

About 11 years ago, before you had to own skinny jeans to ride a cafe style bike, I bought an old ratty 750 and made it into a sweet cafe racer.

When I got it the poor thing had been covered in leather everywhere...the seats, fenders, even the turn signals!

With a bit of work I turned it into this:

I added an early tank, fairing, Kirker 4-1 exhaust and had it painted up really nice in British racing green. I rode it around college for a few years. My girlfriend (now wife) thought I was hot E36 M3 on that thing. I sold it to fund another project about 9 years ago and have regretted it ever since.

I was telling a coworker about it last week and he told me his uncle has an old 750 that he is looking to sell. Needs a little work, but the price is right.

The igntion switch is bypassed because it's gummed up, it has a later style tank which is a bit longer and doesn't fit with the stock seat. Starts right up and runs great though. It even has new tires.

Add a cafe seat and some paint and she'll be good to go!

Now I just have to work on the wife....

Anybody else on here cafe or SOHC CB750 fans?

Sort of... This winter I took this:

and made it into this:

I really like your CB- I was surprised how much fun this was as a project. I've always prepped competition vehicles, it was awesome to do something with no rules... and these old Japanese bikes are so easy to work on!

That is one hot CB.

Thanks! Looks like they make a bolt on cafe style seat for these now.

Almost too easy!

What do you guys think of the later style tank with the cafe seat (like the black bike above)?

I think I've sold the wife Look for a build thread soon.

Big guy on a little bike. '74 CB360. Experimenting with seat options at the moment, the homebrew fiberglass bump is in the shed.

In reply to JohnInKansas:

Where did you score the rear sets you have on there?

In reply to bgkast:

Ebay. I think they're late '80s-vintage CBR 600.

In reply to JohnInKansas:

Is your seat a skateboard? Major GRM points there

bgkast wrote: What do you guys think of the later style tank with the cafe seat (like the black bike above)?

The tank/seat combo is pretty good, but maybe the seat needs some trimming at the bottom edge? I feel like it looks too "heavy" with that tank and the full amount of fiberglass.

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

I love the flat track look!

I really like the looks of the black bike, but I like the longer tail, the modern swingarm, and the slightly taller rear end. Many traditional cafe racers have a tail section is too short and too low for my own aesthetic preferences.

I built this Atlas cafe in the late 70s. The tank is off aoa 650 Mercury. The seat was a Giuliari made for an RD350 which I adapted. An upholstered brick. It does illustrate how compact the bike was. I put the Commando disc front end and Koni shocks on it. The pipes are Dunstall style, but without the crossover pipe. I was wanting Gold Star style mufflers but in those days, I was unable to find them, hence the shortys. Rear fender was off a '70 Bonneville. Front fender was off a '72 Commando. The fairing was from Graham's Sheet Metal. I really liked it. Most available had a depression with the headlight recessed, which is the opposite of aerodynamic. I thought this one looked racy. In this iteration, its running stock Atlas pistons, cam, and a single Mikuni. It wasn't fast. Previously, I had used a Combat cam, and a Commando top end and it was very fast for its time. That engine wore out its main bearings, and I put this one in to ride it while I was rebuilding the other one. Photo is taken at the fire station on the Ortega. I used to sit there and wait for a clot of sport bikes to chase after (in the mid 80's). Few fast straights going East from there. It handled pretty well, and weighed only 390 lbs wet. No tach, no speedometer, no turn signals. I could run with the usual sport bikes in the tighter stuff in those days. air cooled FZ600s, Interceptors, that old stuff. Featherbed frames still worked pretty well in those days, relative to the frames of many bikes out there att he time.

[URL=http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/Super-Seven/media/Lake%20Elsinore/ZoomedAtlas1.jpg.html][/URL]

The longest trip was to Sedona and back from Orange County. Horrible vibration, stiff suspension and a narrow hard seat compromised comfort considerably.

That BRG Honda looks great. One of the nicest looking SOCH 750 Hondas I've seen photos of.

I love cafe's. The ingenuity and creativity of taking an unwanted bike and making it into something uber cool really appeals to me. As I owe my love for motorcycles to my dad, I'm taking an old monster dirt bike of his and turning it cafe.

I started a build thread for the new 750 here: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/cb750-cafe-ricer/98749/page1/

I'm still working on it, but this is what it looks like today:

Lots of neat bikes,if its ok I thought I'd share my old CB900F.Stock engine so not exactly a powerhouse but it was a cool old bike that rode well and attracted attention for it being different.

Wish I could be like Leno and keep all my stuff forever but it was sold to move into a newer bike.

[URL=http://s117.photobucket.com/user/kevlarcorolla/media/100_0773.jpg.html][/URL]

Love the green bike.

I owned this for 19 years:

I cafe'd a CB400F back in 1992 or so, but it was kind of a hack job before hack jobs were cool. I gave it to a friend and it's still sitting in his shop, covered in Kydex dust. I don't think he's ever ridden it. The title's probably still in my name.

Well I guess this is a show and tell. My main and current in a 77 Yamaha XS400. Still needs lots of work but runs and rides just fine.

Just have to love the look of a cafe bike!