Regular readers of The Kneeslider have probably noticed how many custom bikes I’ve been highlighting recently from many different categories, the street trackers based on old Yamaha XS650s, sport touring bikes based on Honda GL1000s, cafe racers from old Kawasaki or Hondas, BMW based flat trackers and even road race bikes built from dirt bikes. What’s the common thread among them? It’s the idea of finding a motorcycle designed or built for one purpose and redesigning, rebuilding or optimizing it for your own use. This is certainly not a new idea but with a little time and creativity you can make a pretty nice machine, something you can’t easily buy new.
The really nice thing about re-purposed motorcycles is the bike you start with can be pretty inexpensive. Some of those old Yamahas can be scooped up for little money, same for many old Hondas and Kawasakis unless they’re in perfect condition and the owner is selling it as a collector’s item. The more work one of these requires to make it right for your purpose, the less you need a perfect start and that collectible isn’t what you want.
Your perfect custom motorcycle is always on sale, it’s just rarely for sale all in one place. First you need the donor bike, the raw material for the project. Even if the current owner did some really ghastly customizing, just make sure the basics are there, the engine or frame or whatever crucial pieces form the basis for your bike, and try to ignore the rest. If it looks really ugly, ride it home at night so no one sees you 🙂 then hide it in the garage until you can disassemble it. An enclosed trailer works, too. Then begin the work of making this bike something you’ll be proud of, something that will bring you fun and enjoyment for many years.
Another nice benefit of building your perfect bike is model years no longer matter. If you always have to have the latest thing, be prepared to spend huge dollars chasing it. Build a custom like we’re talking about here and no model year applies. It will still get plenty of attention years from now because it will be your special bike. Even if the base model year is recognizable, the work you do will be the key to having the bike that meets your needs like no showroom bike ever will.
Want more benefits? Think about how much you’ll learn. Fitting just the right aftermarket pieces and tweaking them to perfection for your height and weight and riding style will teach you a lot about how they work. Modern bikes have enough adjustments that almost anyone can turn an OK bike into an evil handling, uncomfortable monster in five minutes of mindless tampering. Learn first, experiment and make it perfect.
If the model you choose is at least a little popular, there may be some very nice examples of others who have gone this way before, giving you some good ideas. There may be aftermarket parts developed to improve on the stock pieces or you may have to put on the thinking cap and come up with something on your own. Just keep your goal in mind of the perfect bike and keep at it until you get there.
Over time, your bike will look better, handle better, fit your needs better and get more attention than anything you could have walked into your local showroom and written a check for. It just takes more time and effort and that’s why your bike will always be special and uncommon.
Remember, when you look at motorcycles for sale, think raw material. Perfection will come later.
RD350 says
I am very interested in these types of projects.
Your featuring them has made your blog a daily stop for me.
We recently built just such a re-purposed motorcycle .. a rather pedestrian SV650 which we turned into a custom/street-fighter/naked sport bike utilizing a variety of parts from various higher end bikes as well as fabricated parts.
We turned this budget commuter into a show winner .. in fact, we won the NYC Cycle World Custom Sport bike show and the overall national competition where we went up against all the national winners from all the other CW Motorcycle Shows.
Our humble little bike, beating an army of chromed and slammed R1s and Busas, demonstrates that there is a vast interest in non-typical customs or traditional customs among true enthusiasts. (Does anyone actually like chromed & stretched sport bikes?)
I would be happy to email some photos to your blog if you are interested in seeing our work.
Lawrence
Richard says
Here’s a link to one picture of the bike Lawrence mentioned. It looks tres cool, though I wonder about the heat and noise that would come out of that exhaust muffler up front.
http://cms.advanstar.com/cms/data/articlestandard/motorcycleshows/042007/399742/Kolb650.JPG
Charles Perkins says
This is why I watch this site too. I’ve been following the above advice, taking a neglected ’86 Suzuki Savage (how more humble can you get?) and throwing out most of it, then bolting on what I think looks good. I spent more on the new tank than I did on the entire donor bike!
I like the cafe racer look so this is what I ended up with:
http://memetech.com/newseat1.JPG
RH says
(Does anyone actually like chromed & stretched sport bikes?)
NO!!!!!!
They are about as tribal (and useful) as a bone through the nose.
aaron says
I like the savage, charles! that motor always looked sweet, and was/is on my short list for single cylinder projects. that motor seemed like a bit of a pig, and aftermarket performance parts seem hard to come by – but it looks like you’ve lost quite a few pounds compared to a stock savage. how does it go? (compared to other singles, of course…)
Chris says
Being new to bikes, I too took hold of the old bikes for the reasons you stated: style, cost, ability, etc. I heavily modified a 1969 Honda CL350 frame and built a café racer, which I rode for the first time last weekend. I bought the bike for $500 and recouped the cost on eBay. Since then, I invested $500. Not bad for the results—my opinion of course.
http://www.fiaccone.com/CafeRacer/Cafe.html
Once the café project gets sorted, I’m going to built an ultralight single with a trellis frame. This will be done from scratch and to a much higher standard than the café racer.
–Chris
todd says
I love this sort of thing. Building my own bike is the only way I can get soemthing that I like (actually my GB500 is the only bike I feel no need to modify).
Charles, way to go with your savage! Here’s a pic I found a few years ago of another Savage cafe bike built on a BSA B50 chassis. The owner called it a BASOOKA. http://www.b50.org/bazuka.jpg
Here’s a few pictures of an XL350 Cafe Racer I built:
http://www.bikepics.com/members/toddhs1/76xl350/
And my BSA B50MX Cafe Racer project:
http://www.bikepics.com/members/toddhs1/71b50/
I’m building up a BMW R75/5 custom and I still ride around my modified Peugeot 103 moped and my XR650L Motard…
Unlike Chris, I don’t document my bikes very well. I hardly ever take pictures before I finish them or sell them. This is fun work and, unlike cars, most parts are reasonably interchangeable. With a little bit of fabrication you can fit just about any front end on any bike, wheels are pretty easy to adapt, and even motors generally fit in other bikes frames – you just need a simple plate or bracket or some spacers…
Now that ebay is here it makes this kind of endeavour much more simple and less expensive, not to mention all the time it saves. Bring it on.
-todd
Charles Perkins says
Chris: Very nice! Nothing but motorcycle. As it should be.
As for the savage motor, it is a bit of a pig. Or at least it was. I’ve got a re-ground cam in it and with a less restrictive exhaust and air filter and some re-jetting it goes much better. I can take it the 50 miles to work on the 5 freeway here in California (between Oceanside and Irvine) and I can keep up with the 80 mph traffic. I can do faster but it gets buzzy. I accidentally found out I can do 85 in 3rd gear… (the bike was an ’86 model and only has four gears.)
I probably should get another motor for when I push this one too far and it blows up in protest. The nice thing about these old cheap bikes is that even a whole ‘nother motor wouldn’t cost much. And they are so simple to work on, especially when you have discarded everything non-essential.
This is my first project. I wanted something I might actually succeed at before I tackle something big–for example, the BMW R1200C I rode into the ground and which is begging for some fixin’.
DucatiDave says
I have had the opportunity to build two custom Ducati singles in the last few years. Since I did not have the original bodywork, a custom seemed to be the way to go. I enjoy my newer stock bikes also, but get a lot more satisfaction out of riding my personalized Ducs!
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc189/lipsquid/DSC01316.jpg
RD350 says
We are a small army of like minded motorcyclists. The silent under represented enthusiast minority.
We all like the same stuff.
Who here doesnt like:
Most vintage bikes;
Most Japanese “cult bikes” … SR, SRX, GB, RD, RZ, Hawk GT, etc.;
Twin Cylinder Sportbikes … especially European;
Any Cafe Racer;
Any Vintage Racer;
Select Harleys … esp. cafe and sport bike types … but probably not cruisers, choppers or anything made in Orange County NJ;
Any 2-stroke … esp. RDs, RZ, Kawi Triples.
Did I forget anything?
hoyt says
Ducati Dave….excellent work. The bike’s exhaust design is fantastic & the fit and finish looks spot-on. What color red is that?
DucatiDave says
Thanks Hoyt!
House of Color Candy Apple Red with gold base. It is hard to capture the actual tint in photos, but it is an awesome color!
hoyt says
it looks awesome in the photos, so I can’t imagine what it looks like in person. I have seen the red one before (on a previous Kneeslider article, perhaps?).
I know it has been on the CW forum, but I remember more close-ups than what is there.
By the way, the wifey didn’t get the better of the 2. (not that her black one isn’t good)
Artie Bennett says
I am currently researching parts to build one of these. My doner bike is a 1978 Yamaha SR500. I picked it a couple of years ago from a neighbor who started to make it into an ice racer. He got all the street legal stuff stripped off and then it sat for many years in a corner of his garage. After several years of bugging him he sold it to me for $27.50 (not a typo! – it was the cost he had into it for carb parts) it has a bent front wheel, no muffler, dented tank, and lots of rust but the engine turns over, in fact he drove it over. A perfect doner bike if I do say so myself. These are neat bikes – I owned a ’79 for 10 years and put 53,000 miles on it so I know what I am getting into. I could use suggestions on what fits on this thing. I am looking closely at Yamha 600 radian parts and or parts along thoes lines – light weight and somewhat modern.
RD350 says
Try this page to get some ideas. With SR500s the sky is the limit.
http://www.thumperpage.com/pix/archive/Yamaha/Yamaha_pix.html
I am doing an SRX600 at the moment … the son of the SR500.
RD350 says
And of course, the Japanese have the nicest SR stuff imaginable:
http://www.omc-1981.co.jp/ (in Japanese … but click on links on the left for great pictures)
Artie Bennett says
Thanks!
aaron says
looks like there are quite a few of us working on sr/xt/tt/srx yamaha engined cafes. chris- if you feel like sharing any ideas on the trellis frame, let me know….. this is the biggest part of my project, I’m looking at a hybrid steel/aluminium similar to the mv agusta F4.