I'll be cleaning/painting the carbs. They'll also have to be rejetted since I will not be using the airbox any longer (I'm going to K&N Pods for more power).
Lots left to do yet. I'll be welding up my own exhaust, rewiring all the electrics with only what is needed to make it run (all the electrics will be hidden under the tank). Fabricating a new tail light/license plate mount and buying shorter cables and new controls.
After everything is fitted the way I want it, I'll tear everything down to sandblast and paint everything.
As for the suspension, I'll probably keep it as is right now, only upgrade the springs in the forks. After a while I may graft on a gsxr front end if I can find one cheap enough.
The idea behind Cafe Racers was started in the UK in the late 60's early 70's. This was back before there were any sport bikes. Basically the idea is to take a cheap, plentiful standard bike, hack off all the bits that aren't necessary to save weight (shaved about 100 lbs off of mine), and get the most power out of the motor as possible. Upgrade brakes, suspension, anything to get it to go faster, stop better and handle.
Cafe Racers were the grand daddys of the sport bike. Many components and design ideas of the cafe racer were incorporated in sport bikes that started making the scene in the early '80s
Here's a nicely done cafe to give you an idea what I'm shooting for (his also started out life as a gs550):
Last edited by Colorado CJ; 04-01-2011 at 07:49 PM.