xs360 cafe build

[Unclefacts]

while I do apreciate the hard work you have done and admire the cafe look, what inspired you to take a really nice looking stocker with a nice paint job and paint it that god awful orange, and the tank had a really nice color too.

they were all stock at one time

[daveyg]

Ya it looks sweet! And the cop pulled you over for the light on the plate being too bright? Really? So in other words he wanted to just pull you over to check out your fine piece of craftsmanship? Kinda like me getting pulled over in my '66 Chevelle SS back in the day because I had not scraped the windows all the way into the corners... Keep us posted on the last finishing details.

[T99Ford]

Garth,

Thanks for the compliment! I am glad my little bit of chopping didn't detract from it too much. This is the end result I was going for, so I was a little taken aback when a few unloaded on me earlier. Pretty much it is all the side panel and seat tabs, and the rear hoop over the rear tire that is altered. There are some more gussets and brackets, as well, but you could never tell. Hopefully I can get some better pics of the final product on here this weekend.

My wife is pretty excited to start learning, now that she can envision the bike!

[GARTHXS]

nice work

T

Garth,
I don't know if you saw, but there are a few on here that wonder the same thing! I just can't really stand the look of the stock bike, and really love the caff racer style. I like to do these projects, and when I saw this one for a good price, I couldn't pass it up. The tank is not finished, and believe me, the paint will be better on it than on the stock tank (quality, finish, etc). You are just looking at the base coat right now, no clear or finish colors (more orange) Another reason was, that my wife (who the bike is for) did not like the stock look either, and wanted a racer. As to the color: I dunno, it just sort of happened

Thanks, DG! Hopefully more parts come today, and I can about wrap it up by the weekend! i will be about ready, as there are over 100 hours in this already. This is the fun part, though!

The end result looks good and you actually did not chop it up, maybe I'm just jealous

[kta]

Bike is looking real good.

The xs360 and xs400 twins are a couple of the best looking stock bikes out there (imho) - but you cut it up for a good cause. Hope it gets ridden!

[T99Ford]

Got the chain today! A nice chrome sided o-ring job. I got it installed, and then did a little finish work to the bike. Filled it with gas and cranked it up! I rode it around, and then fixed a few bugs. Then, happy with the whole thing, I left the shop for home. I was delayed a little on the way by the super friendly MT Highway Patrol. He pulled me over since my license plate light was shining to brightly on the license plate. I told him that it was supposed to do that, and he had to agree. I think he was actually just checking up on the crazy guy riding a shiny cafe bike at 25 degrees in the dark on Feb. 23. But after we had that all cleared up, we had a nice conversation about the bike (which he liked) and we parted ways. It was kind of fun to have the whole bike lit up on the side of a major highway, too.

This thing runs and handles really well. I had her to about 75 with no problems, and lots of throttle/ handling to spare. It sounds kind of mean, too with pods and those long twin pipes. I will be taking some formal pics this weekend, so stay tuned...

[T99Ford]

I got a little paint work done today, and a whole lot of other things, too! It was a good long day. Meet "Isadora":











There is not a whole lot left to do. I am waiting for some parts yet, but they should be here this week. I will keep posting as progress occurs! Thanks for bearing with me

[daveyg]

Gonna look badarse when you get it done, keep up the great work! I love the cafe look too.

[joceiphus]

That bike looks great, you're doing a really good job!

[T99Ford]

Garth,
I don't know if you saw, but there are a few on here that wonder the same thing! I just can't really stand the look of the stock bike, and really love the caff racer style. I like to do these projects, and when I saw this one for a good price, I couldn't pass it up. The tank is not finished, and believe me, the paint will be better on it than on the stock tank (quality, finish, etc). You are just looking at the base coat right now, no clear or finish colors (more orange) Another reason was, that my wife (who the bike is for) did not like the stock look either, and wanted a racer. As to the color: I dunno, it just sort of happened

Thanks, DG! Hopefully more parts come today, and I can about wrap it up by the weekend! i will be about ready, as there are over 100 hours in this already. This is the fun part, though!

[DGXSER]

Patiently awaiting the further paint progress. But Fred should like it just fine!

Looks like your on the way out of the hole now. Good progress.

[GARTHXS]

hmmm

while I do apreciate the hard work you have done and admire the cafe look, what inspired you to take a really nice looking stocker with a nice paint job and paint it that god awful orange, and the tank had a really nice color too.

[T99Ford]

Finally! Progress

At last I got my frame back from the powder coater. So, since I have been doing all of the busy work while it was away, I got started with assembly:





The frame is not yellow, it is actually quite orange, but the flouresent lights don't let it look that way.

After I got a little further, I just set the tank on, to see how it was going to all come together:





Hopefully, the HOK orange for the tank shows tomorrow, so that I can finish painting the seat and tank and make it look a little better. The tank will actually be full gloss black, what you see is just the base coat. It was nice to finally make some real progress!

[T99Ford]

Tonight I finished the seat upholstry. Here in MT it is hard to find an upholster that is not so taken with himself that he will work on your stuff in a timely manner. So instead of shipping out of state, I undertook to do it myself. The reslults are not all that I hoped for, but I think passable. The thick pad was per the wife's request. There is mounting tab the will stick out the front, so the front is not quite done, and hence looks a little odd for now, until it is mounted.

[T99Ford]

New lamp cluster

The OEM lamp cluster was in nice shape, but did not fit the attitude of the build. Here is the new one I made: