[Gordon]

That rear frame is from the Thunderbird?!

[500modder]

Originally Posted by 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

Thanks Rehan. Haven't actually met Gordon et al, but this thread is definitely inspired by their meticulous documentation of the process of doing their bikes up. I hope to get lots of feedback like they did.

[500modder]

Originally Posted by manson

Nice log, will be keeping an eye for updates.



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.

Thanks dude. I found lots of mirrors on eBay that could work for me - none in singapore or Hong Kong - don't mind paying the extra shipping from the US/UK, but is that the only difference? What's the scene on import duty? Do they hold your goods at customs?

[Gordon]

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.

If you put a 100/90-19 in the front, the mudguard won't fit. You'll need to modify the mudguard to fit it.

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.

Good you got the whole setup. Disc is quite beneficial, I tried riding the older bullets with drum brakes. Almost all of them were very weak. I generally use 75/25 ratio for braking.

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.

Thats a good idea. Remember cutting from the front can lead to muck/water flying into your face too.

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:

Attachment 126044

Love that head yoke. Will match the look very well.

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.

Attachment 126043

Looks good, if it doesn't work out then settle for Thunderbird lamp.

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:

Attachment 126050

1. With that tank, get another seat with cowl. You can mount in when going solo.
2. Did you find a source for the clubman handlebar?!
3. Try retaining the original tyre in the front. Don't cut your current front mudguard. Get an older or used or some painted one. Do whatever work you wish to do and then chromeplate it.
4. Get the older switchgear. Have heard a lot of complaints about the newer ones, although they are easier to use.
5. Rearsets are in the process. Its going good, using bearings and stuff for the lever. Wish us luck!

Waiting for number 8

[500modder]

Originally Posted by 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.

Thanks for the advice. I an using the 6 plate clutch from the T-bird. I hope the clutch springs that come with the assembly are stiff enough to handle the load. Will let you know. The headlight was tough to find - only one guy in chor bazar actually keeps stuff from old Brit bikes. Wish someone would manufacture stuff like this.

The carb is a Keihin-type 30mm flat slide made by JRC. Got it from CMW in the US for $200. The verdict isn't in on this carb yet. A friend hwo ordered it with me is saying it gets very lean even with the biggest jets at high revs. Could be the jets or a float bowl problem. Will keep you posted.

Originally Posted by Gordon

That rear frame is from the Thunderbird?!

Yup! It's from the T-bird. Liked the way it disappears under the seat. The attachment points needed some alteration for use with my stock frame. PS: how is your bike??? Read about your fender bender - glad you're ok dude.

Originally Posted by Gordon

If you put a 100/90-19 in the front, the mudguard won't fit. You'll need to modify the mudguard to fit it.

1. With that tank, get another seat with cowl. You can mount in when going solo.
2. Did you find a source for the clubman handlebar?!
3. Try retaining the original tyre in the front. Don't cut your current front mudguard. Get an older or used or some painted one. Do whatever work you wish to do and then chromeplate it.
4. Get the older switchgear. Have heard a lot of complaints about the newer ones, although they are easier to use.
5. Rearsets are in the process. Its going good, using bearings and stuff for the lever. Wish us luck!

Thanks for the advice on the tyre - visually it looks like it might fit on the front, but if it doesn't, I guess I'll have to cut the fender. The tyre looks too skinny to be left on the back.
I've found a source for the Clubman handle in the US, but it would take a month to get here. Alternatively Manson just suggested I try eBay - I might just do that.
I am getting the older circular switchgear from the Enfield parts bin. It looks more minimal, which is what I want.
As for the cowl, I will definitely make a proper clubman seat with a fixed cowl - the system I have lets me remove the seat really easily. This won't be my primary seat as I will be doing a fair amount of two-up riding.
Hey man all the best for the rearsets. How are you making them? Does one of you have a machine shop? Took a closer look at what you have on the ECR you made and it looks really clean. All the best and let me know if you need any help with that.

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[Gordon]

Yup, the bike is in perfect condition now. Clicked these a few days ago.

[manson]

Also, I would suggest an all chrome headlamp instead of the chrome ring and black surface.

Originally Posted by 500modder

Thanks dude. I found lots of mirrors on eBay that could work for me - none in singapore or Hong Kong - don't mind paying the extra shipping from the US/UK, but is that the only difference? What's the scene on import duty? Do they hold your goods at customs?

UK shipping isn't too expensive. Quality wise, I've observed that quite a few vendors in Canada & US outsource their sales to the Asian countries.
Expect your goods to reach you in some 15 days odd, see if you can order form a vendor who will provide you a tracking number for the shipment. The custom house usually does not hold back packages this side of 5K INR, so you should be good.

manson.

[Gordon]

How much does the rear Thunderbird frame cost?!

[500modder]

Nothing new to add today. The headlamp is being chromed and powder coated. I'm getting my seat made too. Hopefully should have pics to show at the end of this week.

In the mean time my friend and co-modder found a cool engine mod for changing the valve timing - it's supposed to boost power, without reducing ride-ability. check it out here:
another cam option.
Any thoughts on whether this should be attempted?

Originally Posted by Rehaan

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

Here's where I get the pic from - it doesn't get better than this site for cafe racer fans - lots of cool articles and pics http://caferacersociety.blogspot.com...lie-royal.html

Originally Posted by manson

Also, I would suggest an all chrome headlamp instead of the chrome ring and black surface. UK shipping isn't too expensive. Quality wise, I've observed that quite a few vendors in Canada & US outsource their sales to the Asian countries.
Expect your goods to reach you in some 15 days odd, see if you can order form a vendor who will provide you a tracking number for the shipment. The custom house usually does not hold back packages this side of 5K INR, so you should be good.manson.

Thanks for the info and suggestions. You may be right about the headlamp - I just felt that there as already way too much shiny chrome. Going to try it this way first and see how it looks.

Originally Posted by Gordon

How much does the rear Thunderbird frame cost?!

Think it cost around Rs.550-600. As I mentioned, fitting it onto the stock 500 frame requires some welding. Also it's shorter than the old sub-frame, so you'll have to mod your seat.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by 500modder

In the mean time my friend and co-modder found a cool engine mod for changing the valve timing - it's supposed to boost power, without reducing ride-ability. check it out here:
another cam option.
Any thoughts on whether this should be attempted?

I did a similar thing with my 350. I didn't have the adjustable cam pinion from hitchcocks but instead retarded the inlet cam by one tooth in relation to the exhaust cam. This induced some valve overlap into the engine and the bike made more power at the top of the revv range, but low end was affected a bit. Compression was upped and the end result was good power wise. In this setup my bike was able to outrun a carbed and piped 500. Such a thing on the 500 would yield good results. So in short playing with valve timing may provide +ve result.

[500modder]

Hey guys really don't know why the attachments didn't load correctly but here goes again:

Originally Posted by 500modder

The last two weeks I've been mostly out of town so the slowed down. Now I'm back and there's finally some movement on the bike. To begin with, my headlight came back. It's powder-coated, but I think I might have made a mistake - the headstock is glossy black and this is a mat finish. I could get it redone, but I really want to start riding the bike around, so it might have to wait.



The Goldie exhaust is on too and It's looking pretty good. Haven't fired it up yet but I'm itching.




I've decided to order a really nice clubman handle from the states. But it's going to take a while. So I got this temporary handle made. This way I can try it out and see if I like it. Two issues - 1) it's iron and rusty - sending it for chroming, but the quality of chrome we get in this city doesn't last more than a year. 2) the bars only drop about 2 inches from the horizontal - a real clubman has a drop of around 6 inches. Maybe this will be more comfortable - a blessing in disguise.



I've got some really simple switchgear for the bike - standard enfield India stuff. Maybe at some point I'll go in for vintage levers. Saw this beautiful bar end mirror made by Stadium in England (pic below). It comes in a more squarish shape too. I'm going to try to source one of them.







So this is how it looks put together with the tank in place.





Now the handle is being chromed. I'm going to get the seat done this weekend. So if all goes well I should be able to fire her up this Sunday!!! As always send in your comments/suggestions dudes.

[Gordon]

That tank is amazing. Suits the bike.

Clubman you've made may indeed be proper since if the bars are too low or drop like drag bars, its going to be seriously inconvinient.

See you've already cut-short your front mudguard. The outcome seems good.

We're currently on a café project, and were considering the Thunderbird frame. One guy claims heavy modifications are required, while the other says its a direct fit. Likewise, one claims it costs Rs 600 and the other says Rs 900. On another note, we're planning to do away with the rear mudguard and frame altogether and fit the café seat directly onto the bike, with the taillight and plate unit attached to the seat (similar to what we did on the YCR!).

No plans on upswepting Goldstar?

[500modder]

Originally Posted by Sankar

I did a similar thing with my 350. I didn't have the adjustable cam pinion from hitchcocks but instead retarded the inlet cam by one tooth in relation to the exhaust cam. This induced some valve overlap into the engine and the bike made more power at the top of the revv range, but low end was affected a bit. Compression was upped and the end result was good power wise. In this setup my bike was able to outrun a carbed and piped 500. Such a thing on the 500 would yield good results. So in short playing with valve timing may provide +ve result.

Hey Sankar. Cool that you tried it. A quick calculation tells me retarding the inlet by one tooth means 19 degrees. So both valves will be closed longer together in the compression stroke. Sounds good. The only issues is I've heard the cam timing on every bike is a bit different, so I guess I'll have to check to see if it's set right to begin with. It's supposed to result in a small loss of low-end torque, but a gain of 3hp on the top end and about 500 rpm more. Nabble - Royal Enfield - Cam timing

Originally Posted by Gordon

That tank is amazing. Suits the bike.

We're currently on a café project, and were considering the Thunderbird frame. One guy claims heavy modifications are required, while the other says its a direct fit. Likewise, one claims it costs Rs 600 and the other says Rs 900. On another note, we're planning to do away with the rear mudguard and frame altogether and fit the café seat directly onto the bike, with the taillight and plate unit attached to the seat (similar to what we did on the YCR!).

No plans on upswepting Goldstar?

Hey Gordon. I can't remember exactly what the sub-frame cost. I did have to modify it by cutting the attachment points in front and doing some welding.



But I think your other idea of getting rid of the subframe altogether sounds more interesting. Your cafe seat could bold directly to the rear shock attachment point. The Hitchcock kit has something like this (although I think their cafe seat isn't very nice - the one you guys made last time looked way better).



If only we had unlimited amounts of cash and great workshops around here we could build our own frames - check out how it's done on the Egli Super bullet. Would love to have a reinforced frame with a less flexible headstock, it would do wonders for handling.



Maybe one day...

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by 500modder

Hey Sankar. Cool that you tried it. A quick calculation tells me retarding the inlet by one tooth means 19 degrees. So both valves will be closed longer together in the compression stroke. Sounds good. The only issues is I've heard the cam timing on every bike is a bit different, so I guess I'll have to check to see if it's set right to begin with. It's supposed to result in a small loss of low-end torque, but a gain of 3hp on the top end and about 500 rpm more. Nabble - Royal Enfield - Cam

I wouldn't talk bout numbers till the bike is put on a dyno. 3HP i doubt, by just changing cam timing is not possible imo. Low end will be lost a bit, the bike will become a revv machine. Not very good for engine life. If cams and the timing pinion etc are genuine RE items then cam timing will not be off from stock. Enfield is not that bad

[v12]

A friend of yours met me today, Mehdi. Was asking me for a clubman and rearsets for his Machismo 500 LB. I said it'll take sometime since I have my post-grad papers coming up.

But I think your other idea of getting rid of the subframe altogether sounds more interesting. Your cafe seat could bold directly to the rear shock attachment point. The Hitchcock kit has something like this (although I think their cafe seat isn't very nice - the one you guys made last time looked way better).

Yes thats exactly what we plan to do. The cowl is ready, soon it shall go for painting.

P.S. Possible to tuck in the headlight a bit more and lower it too?!