Aussieflyer's Cafe Racer - part 1

[Aussieflyer]

Hi folks - the following is part 1 of a 'brief' description of the customisation of my CB1100. The aim was to create an 'old school' style cafe racer from this modern retro bike. You see I love the styling of vintage japanese 4cyl cafe racers however I also wanted the convenience and reliability of a modern bike ... that's where the Honda CB1100 fits in! Clearly this all about my taste in machinery and is not trying to please anyone else. My bike is not a very complex specimen and it is built with practicality and economy in mind. Never any intention to be a 'no holds barred' custom bike but rather just something that would give me pleasure and satisfaction in owning and riding a bike built to my taste. It's not finished yet, probably about 95% of stage 1 of the transformation but more about that later. Here goes my story ...

In Australia the CB1100 was not a big selling bike, it was way overpriced in comparison to other bikes from the Honda camp. Further, in Australia the modern retro bike scene was very well supplied by triumph with their Thruxton and Bonnieville models leading the popularity race. I test rode the Thruxton and although it is a beautiful bike it just didn't have the 'wow' factor for me and the power plant wasn't very 'punchy'. In the middle of 2013 Honda decided to 'run out' the CB1100 so they reduced the cost of a new bike by about 30% which made them very good value for money. Now that the cost was low enough it was worth investigating the potential for this bike as a platform for what I wanted it to be and that's where my evaluation began.
The positives were:
1. Engine - magnificent aircooled stump pulling 1970's style work of art. It's so torquey and I love that slightly lumpy idle that reminds me of '70s CB750 plus very pleasing to ear especially with the 4 into 1 system.
2. simple and classic chassis with basic suspension just begging for some aftermarket rear shocks and a for brace.
3. Honda reliability, enough said!
The negatives were:
1. Fuel tank is not the right shape for a 70's style cafe racer ... damn, why didn't they just remake the 1970 CB750 tank!
2. Comstar style wheels not my taste, I would much prefer the wire wheels of the 2014 model (anyone want to swap?)
3. Weight, this bike is heavy and I can only dream how nice a 170Kg (370Lb) would feel in comparison.

So now to the decision was made to buy the bike and within a couple of weeks the project kicked off with my good friends Mick and Wayne. Mick knows bikes inside out and is a very accomplished fibreglasser and painter, Wayne is a very handy engineer and competent mechanic, and I am the 'ideas guy' who is good at pouring drinks and moderately handy with electrics ... that's the whole team (aka three stooges). Here's what we did to my new CB over a two-three month period fueled by several bottles of bourbon ...

Bike on the show room floor. The last one and I had the pleasure of personally putting the 'SOLD' sticker on it!


Seat removed and Michael crafting up a fibreglass base frame for the rear deck.


Making an inner rim for the base frame so it can hang below the frame rails creating a horrizontal appearance.



Foam blocks glued together ready for shaping a rear deck then glassing


End of part 1

[the Ferret]

This is awesome

[lola_imp]

This is awesome

thanks for sharing and indeed a unique take on a cafe racer seat that is not in the market. But I wish it was then I would have probably bought that instead of the K&H.

[davidsargee_imp]

The sky is the limit when good bourbon is involved.

Thanks for sharing this, it's great!

[Aussieflyer]

thanks for the encouragement guys