Polish your Cafe Racer

Today I decided to post a little tip for polishing your cafe racer engines. These older engines are often covered in oxidation, and other nastyness from being left out in the elements. Besides taking your engine apart and polishing it on a wheel, the best way I have found to clean them up is to use Mothers brand mag and aluminum polish. Simply dip a clean rag into the polish and start scrubbing your engine cases, covers, carb tops, wheels, and whatever else needs shined up. Let it sit for a few seconds and wipe it off with a different clean rag. Be warned, it takes a few times and quite a bit of elbow grease to get good results, but its well worth the sore arm. Start scrubbing.

A Must See Cafe Racer Website

So I decided to change it up a little today. As you may know HONAHA has never dedicated an entire post to another website. Well I decided that this particular site, and the man behind it are worthy of a HONAHA post. Steve “Carpy” Carpenter is a veteran in the cafe racer game. This guy has probably built more top quality cafe racers than every reader on this blog combined. My point is that this guy is a serious stud when it comes to CB750 cafe racers. If you think I’m just hyping this up, see for yourself at his website where you can find pictures, parts for sale, and much much more. Make sure you take a minute to scroll through all the bikes hes built and admire their originality and craftsmanship. Trust me on this one, it is well worth your time. Thanks for the inspiration Carpy.

Avon tires for CB and XS cafe racers

The Avon Roadrider tire is a great choice for your cafe racer. These tires have a great reputation, and seem to be very affordable compared to Dunlops and Pirellis. I just bought a set of these tires for my cb550 and love them. They are much better quality then oem cafe racer tires, and they look so much cleaner and more modern thanks to the crotch rocket style tread pattern. Oh yeah did I mention that they come in all the weird sizes that these old bikes require……and that I know where to get them for the best possible price. No need to thank me, Im just doing my best to help the readers out. Get them fast and cheap at Tires Unlimited. You wont regret this purchase.

Wild Custom Cafe Racer Project

This is one wild custom. There really isn’t much I can say about this thing, but wow. Personally, I still can’t decide if I really like it. But what I do know is that it’s clean, unique, and very hard to build. This thing is like a cross between a Hayabusa and a Norton. I expect to get some comments back on this one, I want to know what you guys think. Start Thinking.

Benelli Modern Cafe Racer

For today’s post I decided to take a closer look at one of the coolest modern day “cafe racers” money can buy. They call this thing a cafe racer, but I’ll leave that up to you to make your own conclusions. Either way, this thing is nice. Check out the details. This monster is rumored to be one of the fastest, and best handling bikes out there. If you want to learn a little more check out the website here. If you are anything like me….this bike is a little out of your price range, but if you keep working that 9 to 5 and sell your house….you might be able to drive away on one of these. Keep dreaming.

CB XS cafe racer turn signals

All right people, I know I’ve done a post in the past about mini signals for cafe racers, but if you recall they were LED and arrow shaped.  This time I chose something more classic looking.  These little babies are as clean as they come.  Check out the fresh aluminum casing, and classic shape.  But wait, the BEST PART is the fact that these aren’t LED.  I know you are wondering why thats good, so bear with me.  The fact that these are dual filament bulbs…..just like your originals…. they can be installed in a matter of minutes worrying about resistors, burnt out indicator bulbs, and other electrical problems LED signals bring about.  Did I mention they are half the price of aluminum LED’s.  sportingforless has nice ones on Ebay.  Jump.

Yamaha XS 650 cafe racer

Here is a little more Yamaha love.  Its been a while since HONAHA has posted anything for the Yammy fans.  This bike is seriously ill.  Check the long tank, the subtle bubble seat, and the super clean 2 into 1.  This bike has a ton of work put into it.  It’s bikes like this one that make me think about switching sides, and being a yamaha guy.  Look over this bike closely, there is much to be soaked in.  Really though…. i’ll always be partial to Honda.  Close to converting this time though.  You Yamaha guys keep it fresh like this, and you may convince me one day.  Until then….see more at 650motorcycles.

Kawasaki KH750 triple cafe racer

I know its been a while, so I decided to change it up a little bit and post something you don’t see often.  These old two-strokes are pretty sweet when they are done right.  The gold wheels and custom fabricated exhaust…..enough said.  This is a sick KH, clean, and classy.  No fluff just a dope street machine.  Look into one of these for your next project.  Nice.

Honda CL350

This post is for my dudes T and P Scott, they reminded me that there are some other very cool vintage Honda street bikes out there that aren’t cb’s. The CL350 is the real deal. You can’t tell me that scrambler pipe doesn’t look official. These little bikes are a ton of fun to ride, and can still be found relatively inexpensive. Plus, there are quite a few after market parts out there if you decide to ditch the James Dean stock look and piece together a nice little cafe racer. Best start searching through barns and garages so you can get your hands on one of these before they are all gone. Believe that.

Cafe Racer Rear Sets

Rear sets are another great way to make your cafe racer more serious. Sets like these will allow for a much more comfortable riding position if you plan to lay low around those corners. As cool as these rear sets are, I wouldn’t recommend them for anyone who doesn’t want to race there bike because they can be a bit uncomfortable for your everyday rider. This decision is up to you. If you think you can handle laying down on your bike…. get yourself a pair of rear sets. Click here for all the info you need on rear sets. Grab yourself some rear sets speed racer.