Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Watching the ditsy and very sexy Katee Sackhoff kickstarting the XR I very nearly became a random muppet with a Kleenex.
Ex UK, now in Adelaide. LC250/350. DT175. Shed full of sh1t in the vague form of dismantled rusty RD’s and RZ’s.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
I guess what we're experiencing is the sorry affair of old bikes we'd like to restore or preserve being hacked to pieces or simply chopped around to match a checklist that this craze, right now, regards as cool. In the process my fear is that a lot of these bikes will suddenly be lost forever. Maybe that was going to happen anyway.
Anyway, back to work, hoop instead of rear subframe - check. Brown leather plank seat - check. Really crap tyres - check. Chuck front mudguard - check. Chuck away carefully designed airbox and fit almost or non functional filters - check. Chuck rare sidepanels and tailpiece in the bin - check.
Anyway, back to work, hoop instead of rear subframe - check. Brown leather plank seat - check. Really crap tyres - check. Chuck front mudguard - check. Chuck away carefully designed airbox and fit almost or non functional filters - check. Chuck rare sidepanels and tailpiece in the bin - check.
Ex UK, now in Adelaide. LC250/350. DT175. Shed full of sh1t in the vague form of dismantled rusty RD’s and RZ’s.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
I was quietly happy when they were fixated by asthmatic old beemers and obscure honda commuters that I had no interest in - but now nothing is safe, or sacred.
Yamaha two strokes are sacred.
Correction - Two Strokes are sacred. Back off Hipster.
Yamaha two strokes are sacred.
Correction - Two Strokes are sacred. Back off Hipster.
Ex UK, now in Adelaide. LC250/350. DT175. Shed full of sh1t in the vague form of dismantled rusty RD’s and RZ’s.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
[quote="BRG1200"
Correction - Two Strokes are sacred. Back off Hipster.[/quote]
Haha. Indeed.
I wasn't aware of a lot of that background JW and interesting enough from a business perspective. Having worked for myself for 13 years I've been insanely jealous of their stellar marketing success versus my my own complete mediocraty in similar endeavours. Building the sort of brand recognition theyve established is no mean feat.
I haven't really followed their evolution to any extent but I have watched the RMWAAG's coming out of the woodwork in their wake. That in itself is a worry, but my real issue (when it comes down to it) is that I've done 35 years on 2 wheels and the last 25 of those years as a vintage nut, (plenty of quick moderns along the way as well) reading Classic Bike, Classic Racer, The Classic Motorcycle etc etc I have a very traditional view of what a Cafe Racer should be. And it's more than painting the rims black and ditching the side covers.
I think that at least part of my concern with the current evolution of the hipster cafe racer thing is that it has somehow morphed into or out of, the last Internet craze, Steampunks..... Remember them? The first vintage bike posted above is very definitely influenced by that movement. FFS! It's a motorcycle! not some inanimate, random artwork. Virtually any monocycle can seriously kick your arse if you don't grant it the respect it deserves.
This picture is from the same bike show as the 2 above. It shows there are at least some people out there who think like I do.
Just a gratuitous attempt at stuffing a TR3 in there really! (Doh! It's a TZ....)
Correction - Two Strokes are sacred. Back off Hipster.[/quote]
Haha. Indeed.
I wasn't aware of a lot of that background JW and interesting enough from a business perspective. Having worked for myself for 13 years I've been insanely jealous of their stellar marketing success versus my my own complete mediocraty in similar endeavours. Building the sort of brand recognition theyve established is no mean feat.
I haven't really followed their evolution to any extent but I have watched the RMWAAG's coming out of the woodwork in their wake. That in itself is a worry, but my real issue (when it comes down to it) is that I've done 35 years on 2 wheels and the last 25 of those years as a vintage nut, (plenty of quick moderns along the way as well) reading Classic Bike, Classic Racer, The Classic Motorcycle etc etc I have a very traditional view of what a Cafe Racer should be. And it's more than painting the rims black and ditching the side covers.
I think that at least part of my concern with the current evolution of the hipster cafe racer thing is that it has somehow morphed into or out of, the last Internet craze, Steampunks..... Remember them? The first vintage bike posted above is very definitely influenced by that movement. FFS! It's a motorcycle! not some inanimate, random artwork. Virtually any monocycle can seriously kick your arse if you don't grant it the respect it deserves.
This picture is from the same bike show as the 2 above. It shows there are at least some people out there who think like I do.
Just a gratuitous attempt at stuffing a TR3 in there really! (Doh! It's a TZ....)
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Brass. Steampunk. Yup.
I went to art college as a teenager, then on to a degree in industrial design. A couple of anecdotes that made me shudder at the time, and still horrify me. First was in the late eighties, I was a teenage art student, in a group of teenage art dtudents. We were going to do some freeform sculpture. The tutors brought in the "found materials" - which mostly consisted of vintage bakelite telephones, beautiful cast iron Singer sewing machines, and so on. Industrial art you might call it now. They then handed out the hammers and safety glasses.
I later learned that the mashed up looking greek marbles which acted as a sort of picture rail in the lobby hall of our building were the remains of a once extensive set of castings of ghe Elgin Marbles. They had been smashed to pieces by an enthusiastic modern art tutor in the 1970's.
You probably understand my feelings about RMWAAGs at this point.
I
I went to art college as a teenager, then on to a degree in industrial design. A couple of anecdotes that made me shudder at the time, and still horrify me. First was in the late eighties, I was a teenage art student, in a group of teenage art dtudents. We were going to do some freeform sculpture. The tutors brought in the "found materials" - which mostly consisted of vintage bakelite telephones, beautiful cast iron Singer sewing machines, and so on. Industrial art you might call it now. They then handed out the hammers and safety glasses.
I later learned that the mashed up looking greek marbles which acted as a sort of picture rail in the lobby hall of our building were the remains of a once extensive set of castings of ghe Elgin Marbles. They had been smashed to pieces by an enthusiastic modern art tutor in the 1970's.
You probably understand my feelings about RMWAAGs at this point.
I
Ex UK, now in Adelaide. LC250/350. DT175. Shed full of sh1t in the vague form of dismantled rusty RD’s and RZ’s.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Maybe we should take heart, it seems you know when a thing is running its course is when there is a TV show about it... and yes there is a steampunk show on tv now, Steampunk'd. Its amusing in places, but yes its all about mostly inanimate objects that ape working things, sad really. A Steampunk bike would be useless I fear, just covering the engine cases in old watch gears would delight the followers, but be useless in daily use etc.
What I would say is that generally I love all bikes. I just like some more than others and so does everyone else, thats what makes us tick. I had a visit from LB the other week. We chatted about my modded LC. He said if i die he would like it, it was one of those conversations lol. I said he would have to change it to suit him and he said 'no, its perfect!'. I gave him a look and he relented, of course he would change things, he hates my rearsets if nothing else. And, good on him for that too. It would be weird if those if us who build bikes liked everything others did, we all have our own ideas and we should be proud of them. Naturally I find very few bikes I would want to take home and just keep, even with minimal mods... and Ive a very short list of builders that I admire, which gets shorter the more I build my own bikes and find my own way... even after 25years of modding bikes (much more actually riding them) Im still learning... and I love it, especially the hard stuff we need to do to make bits work that were never designed to be there.
So.... back on track (perhaps... as I really think this thread is more about epic 2T bike build fails, especially LCs and RZs) as BRG says, even artists can screw things up... personally ive no love for the bike pictured below, or how it was built (even the pro work looked ify to me), or what its built from (Hyousong sp?!), but someone here is bound to say Im wrong... or will they? im not not looking for agreement, just critique and whether we think its a fail or not. You all know where i stand on that... LOL. I should add that normally I like simons' art, I have his contemporaries on my walls, but he should stick to canvas etc. Please, leave the bikes to others!
What I would say is that generally I love all bikes. I just like some more than others and so does everyone else, thats what makes us tick. I had a visit from LB the other week. We chatted about my modded LC. He said if i die he would like it, it was one of those conversations lol. I said he would have to change it to suit him and he said 'no, its perfect!'. I gave him a look and he relented, of course he would change things, he hates my rearsets if nothing else. And, good on him for that too. It would be weird if those if us who build bikes liked everything others did, we all have our own ideas and we should be proud of them. Naturally I find very few bikes I would want to take home and just keep, even with minimal mods... and Ive a very short list of builders that I admire, which gets shorter the more I build my own bikes and find my own way... even after 25years of modding bikes (much more actually riding them) Im still learning... and I love it, especially the hard stuff we need to do to make bits work that were never designed to be there.
So.... back on track (perhaps... as I really think this thread is more about epic 2T bike build fails, especially LCs and RZs) as BRG says, even artists can screw things up... personally ive no love for the bike pictured below, or how it was built (even the pro work looked ify to me), or what its built from (Hyousong sp?!), but someone here is bound to say Im wrong... or will they? im not not looking for agreement, just critique and whether we think its a fail or not. You all know where i stand on that... LOL. I should add that normally I like simons' art, I have his contemporaries on my walls, but he should stick to canvas etc. Please, leave the bikes to others!
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Not just a pretty face then BRG, are you? Art students are always special!
JW. Again, we are very much on the same track, just looking from different angles.
I had a quick look through a couple of your projects and man, some great stuff there. I love your big bore/stroked LC! Sexy!
And I would make the point that your projects follow the same sort of sense of purpose that I'm trying to convey. They incorporate modifications that are entirely sensible in terms of upgrading the performance of a 30+ year old motorcycle and also manage to maintain the original character of the machine. All very nicely done. I'm impressed.
The machine above? Personally, I'm not a fan..... All due respect to its fine builder!, but it misses on one front. The LC tank. As you've pointed out previously, the LC tank tends not to lend itself to any sort of CR treatment and in that particular application even more so because it lacks proportion to the other elements. The seat/tail unit dwarfs the tank and swallows the whole look. An entirely subjective view point obviously. If it's builder is happy with it, then ultimately it's successfull.
As long as it doesn't have Firestone crossplys, I can't be too critical!
JW. Again, we are very much on the same track, just looking from different angles.
I had a quick look through a couple of your projects and man, some great stuff there. I love your big bore/stroked LC! Sexy!
And I would make the point that your projects follow the same sort of sense of purpose that I'm trying to convey. They incorporate modifications that are entirely sensible in terms of upgrading the performance of a 30+ year old motorcycle and also manage to maintain the original character of the machine. All very nicely done. I'm impressed.
The machine above? Personally, I'm not a fan..... All due respect to its fine builder!, but it misses on one front. The LC tank. As you've pointed out previously, the LC tank tends not to lend itself to any sort of CR treatment and in that particular application even more so because it lacks proportion to the other elements. The seat/tail unit dwarfs the tank and swallows the whole look. An entirely subjective view point obviously. If it's builder is happy with it, then ultimately it's successfull.
As long as it doesn't have Firestone crossplys, I can't be too critical!
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Saw many pics of that bike on facebook when it was coming together.
It's not my cup of tea - the seat unit is too big for the bike.
The angle of that picture is it's best angle IMO, where the seat unit doesn't dominate the picture so badly.
Anyway, as has been mentioned, there's only one opinion that matters and that is the owner.
I built my LC over 10 years ago. If I did it again now I would definitely do some things different, so even our own tastes (and abilities) can change over time.
There would also be plenty of people who hate me for "destroying" a very clean RZ500 to build my replica, but I don't regret it and I don't think I ever will.
It's not my cup of tea - the seat unit is too big for the bike.
The angle of that picture is it's best angle IMO, where the seat unit doesn't dominate the picture so badly.
Anyway, as has been mentioned, there's only one opinion that matters and that is the owner.
I built my LC over 10 years ago. If I did it again now I would definitely do some things different, so even our own tastes (and abilities) can change over time.
There would also be plenty of people who hate me for "destroying" a very clean RZ500 to build my replica, but I don't regret it and I don't think I ever will.
RD350LC- RGV Mods, PWK28's
RZ500 - YZR Replica, PWK28's
RZ500 - YZR Replica, PWK28's
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Thanks for the kind words Ged, I was sure you would approve from what youve said here.
No Jeff, your 500 is lovely. There are a load of standard 500s out there, yours is special and I woudnt think too many would be haters once theyve seen it close up.
Agreed, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I know I dont build bikes for accolades, I do them cos I want to. I actually find restoring bikes to be harder work in some ways now. Id much rather have people say they didnt like it than make snide remarks that my decals are 3mm off on one side, or that they noticed a part of a bike held on with stainless bolts and not OEM fixings etc. I also think time spend solutioning the fit of a part is better for you than tracking down a rare nos thing on the net, which is usually a part we all chucked away back in the day. But there is a need for both, and I can do either, I just like modding best
No Jeff, your 500 is lovely. There are a load of standard 500s out there, yours is special and I woudnt think too many would be haters once theyve seen it close up.
Agreed, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I know I dont build bikes for accolades, I do them cos I want to. I actually find restoring bikes to be harder work in some ways now. Id much rather have people say they didnt like it than make snide remarks that my decals are 3mm off on one side, or that they noticed a part of a bike held on with stainless bolts and not OEM fixings etc. I also think time spend solutioning the fit of a part is better for you than tracking down a rare nos thing on the net, which is usually a part we all chucked away back in the day. But there is a need for both, and I can do either, I just like modding best
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Ok, and now for something completely different...
An LC quad... wtf?!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/331674328878?
Its actually not as badly done as I thought, but a waste of an LC for sure, the extra weight wont be useful, but might be good if youve got leg issues, disabled etc.
An LC quad... wtf?!
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/331674328878?
Its actually not as badly done as I thought, but a waste of an LC for sure, the extra weight wont be useful, but might be good if youve got leg issues, disabled etc.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Is that a locked rear end? It won't like corners.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
I was thinking its off road so ok, but those tyres are not off road... lol!
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
Hmm, I think he's knocked them off from the Mrs's Magna.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
WHY?!?!?
Ex UK, now in Adelaide. LC250/350. DT175. Shed full of sh1t in the vague form of dismantled rusty RD’s and RZ’s.
Re: Cafe Racer Epic Fails
The challenge. Not so much of building it, but controlling it!BRG1200 wrote:WHY?!?!?
Does anyone remember the Balloon tyred Honda trike with the locked rear end that came out in the late seventies? To steer them you had to (counter intuitively) lean outward to lift the inside rear tyre. Or else you just ploughed straight ahead, into the fence...... Ask me how I know. They'd banned them by the mid eighties.
I think the cornering technique on the LC quad might be to keep it in the powerband so the rear end is constantly lit up. Put a helmet on though and it's a good thing you don't need to do reverse parks on the farm.