Wife's Bike 'Isadora' is done!!

[T99Ford]

She signed up for the MSF course today. I think she was the first one of the season, since signups started today. The upside of the one here is that they provide the bikes, so dropping them is not a big deal.

It took extra patience the other day with her, but we were both able to enjoy her first lesson.

The snap seat is kind of a classic cafe racer idea. The bike is stored inside and only ridden when dry, so corrosion will be minimal, I think.

Thanks for all the helpful ideas!

[Geezer]

If you don't install a front fender, a fork brace will restore the front end rigidity lost from removing the original one.

I don't know about MT, but here in OR, you will be ticketed for no front fender. The cafe and chopper guys will use the smallest ones they can get away with. For these kind of bikes I will mount a tiny front fender to a fork brace to get the best of both...

Geezer

[T99Ford]

I understand the functionality of the fender, but it would destroy the look I am going for. MT has very few motorcycle laws and does not require fenders (although I did find out the hard way you have to have a mirror). Cafe bikes are by definition as stripped as possible, as weight savings and handling give them their edge, vs larger performance motors. The fender that was on it was made of plastic with a thin metal mounting bracket, and had pretty negligible structural value. Especially after I dropped the front, and having ridden it, I don't think that fork flex is the issue that it is on the XS1100.
I just can't bring myself to add one out front. The rear one is a necessary evil to keep stuff out of the air filters until the mud dries. Then it is coming off for the rest of the season as well. This is a fair weather bike for sure, but that was kind of the intent. It is kind of a study in "form before function", and does not make much practical sense at all. But it does look kind of neat.

Thanks for your input and concern, though. I do appreciate it

[Geezer]

I remember even the OMRRA required front fenders on race bikes back in the early 80's when I was into racing. You'd be surprised how much a fork brace will do even for a little bike like this... I started building Cafe bikes around 1977 and I still think a Cafe bike with no front fender looks odd.

It's just me I guess and around here you never know when you're going to hit ran. Some years ago I was out and about on a Cafe BSA 650 and I got caught in the rain. That little front fender was near useless.

Geezer

[DGXSER]

+1 on the fender issue. Honestly, all I willl say is this, look at the fenders on a bike that has been riden for a few years, even ones only ridden in the sun and fun days. Then think of everything under that fender hitting your lady in the face, head, and body. Because, that fender stops alot of gravel, sand, and dirt that is still on those dry roads from making it up to the rider.

But then, being an engineer type, form ALWAYS FOLLOWS function.

[T99Ford]

Actually, road debris from the front really does not end up on the rider so much as from the rear. It tends to come over the Thruxton seat a lot worse. The bigger problem is having to clean the engine all the time

Geezer: Show me some pics of your cafe bikes! This is a style that I am really intersted in, and will be building quite a few more, so I am always looking for another one.


but i'm still not gonna put a fender on it!!LOL!

[draketrumpet]

that smile says it all! i would be lucky to get my wife to SIT on the bike, let alone ride it!

*sigh* Maybe one day our wives will understand.

[fredintoon]

The weather is your enemy

- - - - I just can't bring myself to add one out front. The rear one is a necessary evil to keep stuff out of the air filters until the mud dries. Then it is coming off for the rest of the season as well. This is a fair weather bike for sure, but that was kind of the intent. It is kind of a study in "form before function", and does not make much practical sense at all. But it does look kind of neat. - - -

Hi t71,
you are putting looks ahead of function. It's nowhere near as bad as removing the front disks and calipers "because they looked so ugly" but it shows the same mindset.
You say it's only a dry weather bike.
Yeah, right.
You can choose not to start a ride if it looks like rain but what you gonna do if it unexpectedly starts to rain when you are out?
Then the fenderless front wheel throws up a vertical water fan right in front of you so you can't see where you are going or who may be driving straight at you.
Not what a rider, especially a beginner, more especially one you are fond of, should have to cope with.

[T99Ford]

You guys are all absoultely correct, of course. But, if she and I wanted this:



...then I would not have done what I did. The reality is, and this has been stated before, that the X360 prolly will not make it too far from home. We both take a little comfort that we can steer when it goes out to the forseeable 4-6 hours and avoid the rain. Not a perfect plan, but it works most of the time. The rest of the time we might just have to wait...Mostly it will be used around town, anyway, which is why I left the back seat and the fenders on my 1100

[Geezer]

I don't know if I still have pix of the 2 cafe bikes I built in the old days. One was a BSA A65 650 twin and the other was a Yamaha R5 2 stoke 350 twin... I did far more work on the R5 than the BSA... I had to go with stock seats because of my long legs, the tail sections of racing seats cut to deep into my seating area...

Geezer

[Larrym]

Risky Bidness...

Hi t71,
you are putting looks ahead of function. It's nowhere near as bad as removing the front disks and calipers "because they looked so ugly" but it shows the same mindset.
You say it's only a dry weather bike.
Yeah, right.
You can choose not to start a ride if it looks like rain but what you gonna do if it unexpectedly starts to rain when you are out?
Then the fenderless front wheel throws up a vertical water fan right in front of you so you can't see where you are going or who may be driving straight at you.
Not what a rider, especially a beginner, more especially one you are fond of, should have to cope with.

I'm right there with ya Fred!

Well...most of the time. It's just that sometimes combining motorcycle safety+riding visibility+rain+ergonomics+aerodynamics+women equals a less than ideal situation.



Coloring inside the lines all-the-time is a sure sign of maturity and sure does get the respect of the fairer sex.

[xs11lover]

They like to pick at you, anything that isn't a stock iron horse road bike is wrong. She has a choice not to ride in the rain.
I think I missed the part about front brake....please say you left them on.

[T99Ford]

For all to know!!!

I did leave the brakes alone and stock!! Don't get started on that rumor, Fred was alluding to someone else!

All of the safety and roadability items of the stock bike are still there. Just stock cosmetics and boring parts are not.

[cywelchjr]

I did leave the brakes alone and stock!! Don't get started on that rumor, Fred was alluding to someone else!

All of the safety and roadability items of the stock bike are still there. Just stock cosmetics and boring parts are not.

Not that those drum brakes on that thing are worth much. I know, I have a 400 (only diff is the engine size, and most of the lower engine parts are the same) and those drum brakes are just barely able to stop the bike if everything is PERFECT!

[Geezer]

If she decides that she'd like mags and disk brakes, the front end and wheels from the TX500 and XS500 are bolt on items.

Also the TX and XS 500's had a cylinder head cracking problem and most of them were scraped leaving a nice chassis for parts for other small bikes.

Geezer