Enfield Cafe Racer

[500modder]

I have a love-hate relationship with Enfields. They're still the best Indian bike around. Thy're great to ride and they sound beautiful in full-flow. But they're 50's technology - slow, lumpy and unimproved in 60 years. This is my quest for something faster and sleeker.

It's been 5 months since I started my Enfield cafe racer project. I started off this this bike:



I modified this bike for a friend 4 years ago. As you can see it, was a rust-bucket when I got it back from him, but I didn't mind because I knew one day it would be totally revamped. The good thing about this bike is the head was shaved and ported, and it had an 18T front sprocket.

My goal is to turn it into a cafe racer, something more along the lines of this:



Unlike some of you out there, I wanted to minimise the mount of fabrication so I sourced the following products:

From Royal Motors, delhi: fork top yoke with smith meter, Gold star silencer, Bend pipe for 500cc with 70 degree bend (which works with gold star silencer), Cafe racer tank (unpainted), Cafe racer tank (chrome plated, fork rubber bellows. Cafe racer seat.

From Thunderbird: rear subframe, rear fender, front fender, front fork with disc brake assembly, headlamp complete.

From CMW, USA: 30mm Kiehin type Performance Flat-Slide Carb

Lamington Road, Mumbai: IRC 100/19 tyre (to be used on rear) unless I find a 110 for it.

Of all the parts I got the tank and the carb really stand out. Both are beautifully made - can't wait to see them on the bike. Here are pictures of some of the parts:






Unfortunately, because the tank is a full 4 inches longer than stock, I could not use the cafe racer seat and ended up having to fabricate my own. I also removed the tool boxes and made a unit that fit within the frame. The box will be accessed by turning a key under the seat which realeases a catch, allowing the seat to be removed. The circular recesses in the toolbox are where I'll put the emblem below that a friend designed for me. The Ace Cafe is of course the birth place of cafe racers:






As you can see the bike looks like a total mess. After these pictures were taken we dismantled the bike. The frame and black bits, including the new tool box have been powder coated, bits have been chromed and buffed too. Once we start to assemble the bike I'll post more pictures.

I'm still looking for a good Clubman handlebar and rear-sets. Would appreciate any help you all could give me. Cheers.

[Technocrat]

Welcome to Team-Bhp 500Modder

You may want to look at a similar project undertaken by one of our Mods

Enfield Cafe Racer (My Enfield Cafe Racer!! Project Complete and I'm back.)

Another one

Enfield Cafe Racer 2 (Enfield Cafe Racer Project #2 by me, gordon and v12)

Please keep us posted on the project as it goes

[Gordon]

Firstly, all the best for sourcing great parts and making a cafe racer. Glad to see lots of people joining the cafe style.

This is going to be a very interesting read. The images you attached are the parts you have already acquired from Royal Motorcycles?! That tank is very impressive. I've seen that yoke with Smith's guage personally. And its a must-have for my next project.

Would love to see a pictorial as you go along this project.

• Why not go for clip-ons?! The Continental you attached had clip-ons.
• How far back do you want your rearsets?! Our chrome ECR's rearsets are around 6 inches rearset, while the red ECR is much more behind. Both are quite comfortable but we are looking to tweak the red ECR rearsets and bring them to 6 inches rearset.
• Aren't you planning for a seat/cowl?!
• And shorter mudguards or stock?!
• Try getting the bike in top shape in each and every aspect. It may take time, but try doing that. An overall good looking bike really stands out than one with parts just added onto an old bike.

Since you are sourcing these parts and not fabricating them, what are the prices that Royal Motorcycles have quoted for the parts?!

We have been looking forward to make parts since a long time and its coming true finally. By next week we should have two seat/cowls ready alongwith two clubman bars. We'll be trying our best to make universal rearsets that can be installed easily.

Do you have a closeup pic of your bike. I'd like to see what mounting points are present for potential rearsets.

[desideep]

nice one i really love the tank and would you mind posting the costs please it would be help full to a lots of enthusiasts like us.

[500modder]

Hey Guys. Thanks for the suggestions and info. All in all I had some good dealings with Royal Motors. I was in touch with the owner, Ashish Nayyar - he answered my questions and even helped me to source parts he doesn't stock. The parts aren't cheap, but they're well finished:

The prices are as follows:
1) Headlight yoke (painted black) with smith replica meter : Rs 4000.00
This also comes in a chrome finish (don't have cost).
2) Gold star silencer: Rs 650.00
3) Bend pipe for 500cc bike with 70 degree bend : Rs.1000.00
4) Cafe racer tank (Primered & unpainted) : Rs 5000.00
5) Cafe racer tank (chrome plated) Rs 7000.00
6) Phantom tail light : Rs 250.00
7) Cafe Seat R-019 : Rs 2500.00 (rexine), Rs. 3000 (leather)
8) Courier charges Delhi - Mumbai approx Rs.1000.00

The silencer is a 'straight-through' and it's apparently quite loud - a friend of mine checked it out of his Enfield. I looked inside it and the baffle seems to have very small holes in it - doubt it would do much silencing. But looks cool and I won't mind if it's on the louder side.

I thought about clip ons for a while, but since the tank is so long, a very low handle would cause me to sit stretched over the bike. I thought a Clubman would be a little easier on long journeys as it attaches to the top of the yoke, not the fork legs.

Thanks for your help with the rear-sets Gordon. I have included a close up pic of my bike below. How far back do you think they should go? I have marked the possible attachment points. Given how far back my seat is I guess the Red ECR's rearsets might work better. Please advise:



To answer your questions, I am not going to put on a Cowl - I expect to do a lot of two-up riding and a seat like the one on the Continental seems like a good compromise. The rear mudguard is shorter than the stock T-bird - it has been rotated forward so there is less over-hang from the back. I have yet to put on the Front Mudgaurd to see how it looks. I will be posting pics after this weekend of bike as it gets assembled. Again thanks for your help man.

I have a problem with finding a place to put the ammeter. Royal Motors had a headlight mounting which I didn't like so much. Also it has a light switch built into it which I don't need (pictured below):



I wanted a headlight mounting more like the one in this picture.Anyone know who can fabricate it? Also love Biltwel's cool clubman bars in this pic:



One more question: anyone know where I can get bar-end mirrors like this?



Well that's all for now. It's going to take a while before I can perfect this bike. Any comments, suggestion and help from you all is greatly appreciated.

[Gordon]

The prices are as follows:
1) Headlight yoke (painted black) with smith replica meter : Rs 4000.00
This also comes in a chrome finish (don't have cost).
2) Gold star silencer: Rs 650.00
3) Bend pipe for 500cc bike with 70 degree bend : Rs.1000.00
4) Cafe racer tank (Primered & unpainted) : Rs 5000.00
5) Cafe racer tank (chrome plated) Rs 7000.00
6) Phantom tail light : Rs 250.00
7) Cafe Seat R-019 : Rs 2500.00 (rexine), Rs. 3000 (leather)
8) Courier charges Delhi - Mumbai approx Rs.1000.00

Prices are quite decent.



Thats exactly what the chrome ECR sports. And your bike has the same mounting points present on the chrome ECR.

You're right about the clip ons being uncomfortable with a long tank for longer rides. Clubmans are best.

I have yet to put on the Front Mudgaurd to see how it looks. I will be posting pics after this weekend of bike as it gets assembled.

We all shall be waiting

About bar-end mirrors, you can get the from abroad. Don't think its available here.

[500modder]

Ok so here's the update. The parts are back all buffed and powder coated. We've started to assemble the bike and It's a pleasure to look already. This is the tool box that I got made. I wasn't at all happy with the craftsmanship of this piece, but for the time being at least I am stuck with it. After painting powder-coating it, it does look usable.



The new cast iron top yoke fit onto the fork legs snug and seems to be a well-cast piece. (the handlebar is just a temp until I get my clubman).



Here are the front and rear wheels. I decided not to go with period rubber and instead shod the bike with something better handling - the IRC 100/90-19 that you see on the rear will eventually go on the front. I'm looking for a 110/90-19 for the rear.





Here are the brand new forks with the gaitors on them. I am getting the headlight mounting from the 535 Citibike (the only part of that bike I like), which will slip onto the top part of the forks.




I also got the front mudguard of the Tbird. I will have to modify this peice as it is too long in the front and rear for my bike. I'm looking at cutting approx 2 inches off the front and 2 off the back.



Now for the revealer! I went to see the bike at the mechaincs again last night and got some grainy pictures of it in an even more assembled state. Almost didn't want to show these to you as they are such poor quality pictures, but anyway here goes. To begin with, here's the bike with a shop rag stuffed into the headyoke:



The box fits really well under the frame. The only problem is I've had to re-route the wiring from the wiring harness to go around the box - seems to be working pretty well though.



This is how the bike looks from the top. The cable running over the rear fender is the release for the seat - the entire seat will flip up to provide access to the box. The tank looks pretty good from this angle.




Lat, but not least, I found a headlight for the bike in chor bazar. It's an old BSA light with a place on the top of it for mount an ammeter. Originally I didn't want this kind of light, but it's kind of grown on me. Of course it still needs to be powder coated, the bezel will be chromed and the headlight will be mounted using the citibike's brackets.



Now I have the following to do 1) make the seat. 2) get the clubman handle 3) slap on the tyres 4) buy switchgear 5) get rearsets (Gordon pl help!) 6) mount the 30mm flat-slide car and 8) start her up! This is my poor artists impression of how she'll look:




Well that's it for now. As always any suggestions / comments are welcome.

[Nitin]

Nice..looks like the project's coming along well. Way to go!
Another couple of months to finish everything?

[dockap]

nice work but whats a cafe racer and where are you going to race it?

[badboyscad]

Originally Posted by dockap

nice work but whats a cafe racer and where are you going to race it?

Café_racer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Rehaan]

Man! Another sweet cafe racer project!

Do you know Gordon, Alan and gang? Or is this just a coincedence?

Great to see a timelapse of the work all happen in one page of the thread. Left me feeling very satisfied
Loved the "revealer" pic as well!

Do you have a higher resolution version of the 2nd picture in your 1st post?

Goodluck & keep us updated!
cya
R

[manson]

Nice log, will be keeping an eye for updates.

Originally Posted by 500modder

One more question: anyone know where I can get bar-end mirrors like this?

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices
You will come across many links from Hongkong & Singapore, I bought a pair of O.E.M. replacements for my 954 that cost me 1500 INR inclusive shipping. The fit and finish is definitely on the better side, and they are superb bang for the buck compared to the 6K quote I got for a pair of O.E.M. mirrors.

manson.

[TuffRyder]

500modder: Thats a lovely looking bike. Can you please tell how much the 30mm Kiehin type Performance Flat-Slide Carb and the filter costed you with the shipping and any other additional costs if any? Also are you keeping the stock sprokets and clutch? I hope you are working on them too. With such a good carb, the response with these stock wouldn't really do justice.

That is a pretty good headlight you got there and there are quite a few guys who look out for one like this. It actually looks very similar to the actual model that has your speedo yoke. Check out this picture. Gives you bike a very nice retro look.

Congrats and all the best.

[Gordon]

Very well done. I quite like the outcome of the toolbox on the bike.

[500modder]

Originally Posted by Nitin

Nice..looks like the project's coming along well. Way to go!
Another couple of months to finish everything?

Hey Nitin, I sincerely hope so. Originally, I thought this whole thing would be done by January - man was I wrong! What took really long was the fabrication of the box (actually trying to get the fabricator not to screw up too much). Once the bike is together I'm still going to have to play with the carb to set it right - so your guess of another month or two sounds pretty close.