Cafe 750 twin

Hello there, I just recently purchased this 750 twin for $40 off of Craigslist. I've been wanting to build a cafe out of a japper for a long time and this twin just spoke to me(actually it was the $40 part that spoke to me, but whatever). Loading it into the van I realized what an absolute lard-ass this bike is. Thats just not gonna cut it, especially when I looked it up online and found out what the meager power output of this old sewing machine was. Sooo, I got right to stripping it down and making her a little less embarrassed on the scale. The most unbelievable thing was removing that headlight assembly and the wiring harness attached to it. Thats a ton of weight right there! A lot of steel brackets were cut off of the frame, and so was the last 16 inches of the frame under the seat.
Its going to get the works equipment wise, and will eventually have alloy rims, but I need to save up some cash for that.
I'll make most of the parts for her, as thats just what I love to do. I'm working on the rearsets right now. The GS1100 swingarm I just added and am waiting on the GS rear axle to make it all work. I was stoked when I got that package in the mail. That swingarm feels so much lighter than the steel one!











Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/02/11 23:32

Looking good man! Its all about the cafe

The 76-79 750 twin uses the wheels/suspension off the 77-78 KZ1000, I suspect that's where a good portion of the weight comes from.

And the motor alone weighs close to 200 lbs.

Get rid of that electric starter, that will shed some more weight, and it's almost useless anyway.

You ought to be able to get the weight down to less than 400 lbs wet.

Nice work. Lotsa potential with where you're going....
How easy did that gs1100 swingarm fit in there?

steell wrote:

...Get rid of that electric starter, that will shed some more weight, and it's almost useless anyway...

Hmm... it might be more important if that rear-set is in the way of the kicker...

I'm diggin' it!

I can't tell from the picture, did you use clevis shocks or adapt the swingarm to use eye to eye shocks?

You gusseted the ass end of the frame after you cut off the excess, right?

You did that much, ya would atleast sprayed the frame. Not making a fuss , but man you did alot of that work and the frame is still like.....$40. Good work though!

Robjb84- Thanks!

Steell- yup, the kickstarter WILL be the only thing used to start the bike, so the starters on the chopping block. 400lbs is my weight goal

Biquetoast- thanks! The gs swingarm slots right in place of the stock one. It even uses the same pivot bolt! The swingarm uses a 20mm axle that is about an inch and a half longer. I'm using the GS axle as well and will have to cut some extra spacers. Oh yeah, the rearset on the brake side folds up out of the way of the kicker!

Guitargeek- Thanks! I'm adapting the gs swingarm to use eye to eye shocks by removing the bushing from the shock mounts on the swingarm and using a shoulder bolt arrangement. I'm using longer Progressive shocks and making new shock mounts further forward on the frame.
I'm going to brace the entire frame, ass end included.

KZwolfsr- ha ha, thats funny, the bike is still in mockup. I can't spray the frame until I've done all the welding that I need to do! She'll be done right whhen the time comes, don't you worry!

I'm keenly interested to see that shoulder bolt arrangement...

What color will the frame be?

guitargeek wrote:

I'm keenly interested to see that shoulder bolt arrangement...

What color will the frame be?

Me too! I'll be sure to show it to you when I come up with it!

It'll probably be gloss black. I'll more than likely thin some POR-15 and shoot it myself.

nice project.whats the chances of me getting you to measure the distance from the center of shock bolt mounting on the swingarm to the outside edge of swingarm?or the dimensions of the clevis on bottem o shock? thanks;)