The evolution of my SH into an overweight cafe styled monster

[Catmaigne]

Picked this bike up on Craigslist for $681... It had been sitting in a barn for 16 years and really needed some work. 1981 Special with a big ugly king/queen seat but all original otherwise. The seller could get the bike to turn over with the choke on and some starting fluid but it wasn't at all roadworthy. Some of the bike was incomplete/apart but I wasn't opposed to a project. I couldn't really afford anything finished at the time so this was it. The most bike for the least coin.

Took the bike home... cleaned up all 3 seized brake calipers, 2 master cylinders, cleaned the carbs, replaced some float needles, and brought it back to life.



I also installed some poorly fitting ebay fork gaiters while waiting on parts and polished a bunch things in my spare time. A few weeks of tinkering with the carbs and it seemed to run alright. Then it was time for a test drive. Here's a pic from my maiden voyage down the street. It was finally roadworthy.



Next mod was bars because the stock Specials looked ludicrous. I had some junkyard Suzuki GS bars I stuck on for a few days. Those were eventually replaced with these euro bars and gran turismo grips. I rode the bike like this around town for a few hundred miles.



I replaced the dry rotted dunlop tires with white wall shinkos and painted the wheels black because I planned turning it into a bobber early on. Took it on two trips to the Jersey shore and it didn't skip a beat. Ran better than my friend's CB360 he paid twice as much for. I also replaced the dented/rusty stock mufflers with some Emgo taper tips and rejetted.



I was having a really difficult time finding a finished looking bobber seat for the bike. I also wasn't super crazy about the bobbed XS11s I saw on the web. Some of the cafe styled bikes were looking really sharp for what they were, however. The cafe style had been growing on me for the past few years so I decided to change direction.

Got some bar risers, clubmans, bar ends, swapped the final drive for a different ratio, and installed a Mac 4-2 a little while before tucking the bike away for winter in 2012.



It sat like this for about a year and a half. I completely missed the 2013 riding season due to other priorities.

My project just started back up a few months ago and I've made a ton of progress. Added the Roc City Interceptor seat, dropped the headlight, dropped the gauges, removed the chrome caps from the rear shocks, stripped out a ton of crap, replaced the gaiters, added a tarozzi fork brace, and made a battery box from an old 30 cal ammo box.



Swapped the clubmans for clip ons, painted the seat, installed bullet signals, and threw this tail light on temporarily. It's finally starting to take shape.





I still have a bunch of parts coming in the mail (including my seat pad + replacement tail light) and a checklist of things to do (touch up, maintenance, paint, small fixes). But it seems like people are really starting to notice it now because it's more than just a banged up 33 year old rat. I've put a ton of hours into making it unique and it's been nothing but compliments so far.

I have a build thread over on DTT.

My friends said I couldn't do it! It was too big, ugly, fat, shaft driven, etc. Now it looks good and goes like stink.

[jjz28]

looking good

[jwhughes3]

Nice - I like the WW tires - just wish there was a fat tire front option for you to even them out- that would look cool.

Keep posting the pics!

John

[cajun31]

I am

a purist at heart as you can probably see from my "My MNS" post, however each to his own. The main thing is the bike becomes what you want it to be. My only caution would be safety and as long as that remains then by all means go for it. These bikes are way to powerful to cut corners where safety is concerned.

[Garagamus]

I like it. Sorta wished that the bullet box for the battery idea had popped up sooner, (as it took a while to cram all the 'lectrics under the bump seat on mine). Just finished the paint on my seat and tank yesterday and luckily tried the key and found out that everything seems wired up right. I know what you mean about the cheap ebay gaiters, think I have the same ones. Its awesome when you can pick up one of these under a grand and make it into something totally custom. Good work.

[Catmaigne]

Thanks!

I figured that the bike was too high mileage and beat up to even bother restoring to factory spec considering it's not really valuable and I'm not too keen on the look of a factory Special. Was just another forgotten superbike that was someone's ****kicker until it got left in a barn to rot for 16 years. Even if it was a valuable/desirable bike, I'd probably tinker with it anyway. It's an addiction of mine lol.

I can't say I was really into this sort of bike from the beginning. I always thought of these things as weird looking brutes with a gigantic 1.1 liter party piece... a one trick pony for use in a straight line. Impressive as machines, but they never really caught my eye as I've always been more of a bobbed Sportster kind of guy but lacked the funding. The plan early on was to channel a bit of that HD mojo into my ratty barn find XS so I could ride with my Harley owning friends without getting too many weird looks. Didn't have much luck with that and it seemed like everywhere we went my bike was still the ugly duckling. The rat with a BFH of a motor as it's only claim to fame.

That's when I realized I could beat them at a different game and the cafe racer look totally grew on me. Definitely not a real corner carving cafe bike, but a straight line rocket. The torque this thing puts out is absolutely brutal which I think makes it pretty special, it just needed a facelift. I really had nothing to lose considering the amount I paid for the bike. Chopped some bits, stripped some parts out, fabbed up a few things, and kept tweaking the look. I think it's finally starting to take shape even though I still have a long way to go.

Bike is a tank with tons of character. I love it.

Today's adventure was to French Creek State Park. What a ride (except for 23 between Phoenixville and Valley Forge -- construction/potholes galore).







^^^ Probably the best cell phone pic I've ever taken.

[Catmaigne]

I like it. Sorta wished that the bullet box for the battery idea had popped up sooner, (as it took a while to cram all the 'lectrics under the bump seat on mine). Just finished the paint on my seat and tank yesterday and luckily tried the key and found out that everything seems wired up right. I know what you mean about the cheap ebay gaiters, think I have the same ones. Its awesome when you can pick up one of these under a grand and make it into something totally custom. Good work.

The first iteration of my battery box was made out of a PC power supply case. Ended up being too flimsy and was a tad undersized for the "14" battery so I ditched it instead of downsizing the battery. The fit of the ammo box is nearly perfect! I had to flip it on it's side and chop it up but it came out well in the end. There's a little bit of a gap lengthways but I just use that extra space to stuff other wires in.

[cajun31]

Cat

Do you have any pictures of the other side of the bike? Bike is looking good. Paint on the tank doesn't show the dent as bad or did you get that fixed?

[Catmaigne]

All of the dents are still there and I'm afraid to try fixing them. The tank was lined by the previous owner and I feel like popping the dents out could cause the liner to stretch or flake around the creases. There are 3 dents -- one on the top and 2 on opposite corners up front. I've been on the hunt for a decent RUST FREE Special tank that doesn't cost an arm and a leg but have had little luck.



This pic is from about a week ago. The signals weren't really hooked up (you can see the little red wire poking out from under the seat) and the silver final drive sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm going to be painting that low gloss black along with the cylinder sleeves, valve cover, calipers, front master cylinder, and triple tree. I feel like I have too much white/chrome eye candy right now and could use a good black out.

Anyone have suggestions on what paint to use? The rustoleum high performance enamel looked great on the triple tree for about a week but it's flaking where the keys on my keychain touch it. I've also used Duplicolor engine enamel which seems better but chips (although not as easily as the other stuff). I was thinking appliance enamel paint on non-hot parts? Need something low gloss.

[DiverRay]

Bike is looking good! I have a special tank, but I'm not sure of the condition. I do know it has NOT been coated, so working on it would be easy, and you could take your time to get what you want for looks. PM me if you want some pics, and we can talk.

[jwhughes3]

Anyone have suggestions on what paint to use? The rustoleum high performance enamel looked great on the triple tree for about a week but it's flaking where the keys on my keychain touch it. I've also used Duplicolor engine enamel which seems better but chips (although not as easily as the other stuff). I was thinking appliance enamel paint on non-hot parts? Need something low gloss.

Try the Duplicolor Truck Bed Liner Paint - its textured black and tough as nails for the area under the keys - I have it on my truck's brush guard I painted 10 years ago and has held up to road debris great for 80k miles.

John

[cajun31]

cat

I PMed you on something I think you should follow up on.

[Catmaigne]

Try the Duplicolor Truck Bed Liner Paint - its textured black and tough as nails for the area under the keys - I have it on my truck's brush guard I painted 10 years ago and has held up to road debris great for 80k miles.

John

Good suggestion! The lower tree has a flat black/textured kind of look to it so it will probably match nicely.

My tail light came in today. It looks like this:



I hooked it up to my battery to test it out and the thing is much brighter than what it's replacing. I'm pretty happy with it. Now I just need to fab up a plate mount and I'll be set.

My solution for the lack of mirrors should be here tomorrow. The bar ends I was using with my clubmans wouldn't fit into my clip ons because the ID was smaller than a typical 7/8" handlebar. I ordered some Emgo "broomstick" drag bars to cut up with a pipe cutter and slide into the clip ons.

I also purchased some ARP stainless bolts for replace the 12.9 hardware store ones that are on there now. Those will be going on with some anti seize.

No word from Roc City yet on my seat pad... It's been 4 days. Not a single email, tracking number, etc. I really hope it's in the mail, my butt needs it.

Probably gonna tear into it this weekend if the weather holds. Do some painting, swap some parts, etc.

[Garagamus]

I'm partial to regular old Tremclad for the engine myself. For the body, its still rattle can all the way. As I said, yours looks very much like mine at the moment. Still need to get a seat pad made, hook up the tail and signal lights, and finally build some sort of fender to keep water and crud from being thrown into the pods.


Haven't decided on what to do with the front fender yet.

[jdwm]

Wow! Thank god for this site! I love cafe racers. They're so raw and menacing! All the bikes on this thread are incredible. I'm saving for my first bike which I should be able to buy around next May, and I'm trying to do as much research as possible in the mean time. I hope it can be an xs11. Would anyone mind throwing out some ballpark measurements/ comfortability on these xs models so I can gauge ride comfort for myself? I'm about 5'11 & 190. Also, do you guys recommend an xs11 as a first bike? Or, something less aggressive like an xs750? I know my skill level will develop as I learn, I just would like the power to be there when I've ultimately developed my riding skill..