Chopped, welded and cafed.

[triumphtriple]

Kinda my intro too... Very photo heavy!

The backstory on this bike is that I picked it up about 8 years ago so I could teach my friends to ride. I bought it for $200, it was cosmetically beat up and wouldn't start. I took it home and charged the battery and it fired up. That was great luck considering at that time I knew very little about bikes and just started riding two years before.

I bought it for my best friend who was interested at the time but still to this day doesn't have his license but still talks about getting it. I taught about 5 people to ride. I rode it occasionally but it was beat up from being dropped so much.

I decided to do some fiberglass work and paint it. Unfortunately this was the first thing I ever painted. I used black primer and neon blue base, this caused the blue to become barney purple. So still ugly and the bike sat for years.

I got married and my wife is slightly interested in riding and liked the look of cafe racers. If she decided not to ride I would have a fun around town bike, win win. I love idea of a cafe racer, I was living with my parents and had a 1969 CB350. I tried to rebuild it but didn't have skills, disaster of a garage, and proper tools. I sold it out of frustration about 6 years ago. I regretted selling it and never finishing it.

I bought a house with a 2 door garage with a loft above the garage. It was the first thing I started working on. Now I have the space and slowly all the tools I needed. This build took about 3 months.

I still all that is left to do it finely tune the carbs but the roads are covered in snow right now. I just bought a powder coating gun and media blasting cabinet and will do most of the parts this winter. Picking up the oven tomorrow. I will do just about everything metal part on the bike myself except the frame since I won't have a big enough oven. My rattle epoxy rattle can paint job is fine for now as a temp paintjob.




Here is the link for entire build, the details and the shop. I am slowly loading them off photobucket.


Dropbox link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6if6yhca56b9ccd/7QjVREwMXC


The start.










Lots of battery acid damage



Stripped




Primed with self etching primer. Once again this is a temporary paintjob and wanted to make sure everything fit together before I do a powder coating.


High Temp engine paint with a clear.
[URL=http://s839.photobucket.com/user/675triumphtriple/media/EX250%20Cafe%20Racer/18-Painting-EnginePaintedandCleared_zpsfe978c95.jpg.html]

Epoxy Paint




Valve Cover


Forks- Epoxy painted and Cleared


Radiator and fan painted. Carbs installed





Rusty exhaust. I removed the rust and painted with a 1200 degree paint. Then wrapped it in titanium exhaust wrap.




Painted the front and rear wheel. I rebuilt both calipers and painted them with caliper paint.



Centerstand painted and new spring



I decided to cut off all the tabs that hand off the rear of the bike. I then took about 6 inches off the rear subframe.


I welded the rear subframe back together and slightly change the angle.

[URL=http://s839.photobucket.com/user/675triumphtriple/media/EX250%20Cafe%20Racer/31-WeldedandJoined_zps9dc2ba6c.jpg.html]



Now I wanted to round the rear out. The tube pictures was my first one and did a new one with a thicker more suited tube. I don't have a pipe bender so I made small cuts and slowly bent into the correct shape. Then welded and polished it out.




I didn't like the gaps in this picture so I later went with a larger tube which you will see later.


Since cafe racers don't have airboxes I removed that. I then fabricated a new battery box. I made it hold the ecu, rectifier and rear brake reservoir. It has a horrible paintjob but I will redo it in a couple weeks once I get the powder coating going. Don't judge lol.




Then I welded something for the new seat paint to sit on, the gaps were filled in later. I also made a frame for the seat cowl. I used a square tube and sliced and bent like the previous pipe.

[CC Cowboy]

I went through all the pictures and think you did an awesome job turning a Kawasaki 250 into a Triumph. Looks great.

[triumphtriple]

The seat pan gets chopped and altered. The Rear cowl mounts get fitted. Then the cowl is built.












The bike gets a round single headlight and aluminum fork ears with turn signals. Also barend mirrors.




Almost done. Now I need to get the seat upholstered in Naugahyde.



Back from the upholster and it is not 100% since there was a language barrier but I will do some tweaks later. Thats it. The bike is done.













Here are some pictures of my shop and my other bike.

Welding area: Lincoln Mig welder. 2 grinders. Bench grinder. Scrap metal. Oxy/Ace torches




My gear and winch operated loft stairs.



Pegboard Lots of pegboard. I hate a dirty unorganized garage. My parents garage was unorganized and promised I wouldn't work like that.



My couch for staring at my bikes or thinking of fun projects. My new sand blasting cabinets. I have air lines throughout my garage.


Helmets and more gear. Wall mounted shopvac which is great! I even have a roomba in my garage. Just about the only garage that you can walk barefooted in. Magnets on the roomba to pick up the metal bits.


My 675 and garage buddy




Hope you enjoyed. Let me know if you have questions. This forum really helped me get some great ideas on the bike. I hope this helps anyone else with their builds.

[c-dog]

What a great thread for pictures and the actual build. Nice 250! Looks great. You really get creative when you need to do something even if you don't have a certain tool. Bravo!

Your garage setup is amazing. I am in awe.

[Motofool]

[csmith12]

[Mocha Man]

Dang, that is one majestic beast

[Jono]

Very nice!

[Racer x]

Good job. Looks great.

[DEFY]

Siskel and Ebert give it two thumbs up

[JohnnyBravo]

I like the bike... I love the garage
Roomba... With magnets??? Hmmmmm

[triumphtriple]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBravo

I like the bike... I love the garage
Roomba... With magnets??? Hmmmmm

Thanks everyone. It was a blast to build! Let me know if you have questions.

Roomba- Robot vacuum cleaner. It automatically vacuums the garage at night for me. It wasn't getting use in the house. I put magnets on the front of it so it doesn't suck up metal bits, screws and small shards of metal. Yeah its odd for a garage but it keeps it just a little bit nicer.

[JohnnyBravo]

Originally Posted by triumphtriple

Thanks everyone. It was a blast to build! Let me know if you have questions.

Roomba- Robot vacuum cleaner. It automatically vacuums the garage at night for me. It wasn't getting use in the house. I put magnets on the front of it so it doesn't suck up metal bits, screws and small shards of metal. Yeah its odd for a garage but it keeps it just a little bit nicer.

That is cool

[fry1024]

nice work.

[Mountain Dew]

Where's the front fender..?

[triumphtriple]

I don't plan on putting one on, unless I am getting things shot at my face. If I do have a problem then I will fabricate a smaller and sleeker looking one. Fabricating a good looking one won't be hard at all. I will know in the spring or if it we get some warm days. I think it looks better without one.


This bike will not be rode if there is any chance of rain. I would ride my other bike.

[Mountain Dew]

But a fender is more than just a fender, it's a brace.

[the big mike]

whow, I want that garage and your skills when I'm older!!!

[azian4lifz]

Did you rip your couch and put it on your bike's seat? (same color)
ha ha ..

All jokes aside, I like what you have created. the new gauges, the seat transformation, precisely cutting the frame and the black paint with brown seat. It has that original cafe look to it. Not sure if you kept the seat brown or changed it to black because of the pics but the black has that finished look in my opinion. Nicely done.

[Alex]

Love these threads. Nice work.

[greenaero]

very nice work !!!

[Think47]

Bike looks awesome!

Currently working on mine. How did you go about getting the rust off the headers?

Any more pictures of the battery box? Trying to get an idea on how to do mine.

Thanks

[fr1dayn1ght]

love it
also love the triumph!

[TnNinjaGirl]

What are the details on the speedometer and tachometer? Stock with covers, aftermarket.. Whatcha got going on there?

[triumphtriple]

Just checking back.

The headers I used a grinding wheel with a bristle wheel. Then used 1200 degree paint. Then wrapped it.

I will have more pictures of the battery box up in the next couple weeks. I picked up a powder coating system and just got the kinks worked out. I will be powder coating almost every part. That will likely be the first part.

The gauges are some cheap ebay ones. I like the speedo but the tach is terrible. I am looking for a replacement.


So right now I am getting quotes to upgrade the electricity in my garage. The sub panel will be extended from 12 to 48 slots. I will be adding two 220 dedicated lines and upgrading my service to 200 amps. Should be getting that done in 2 weeks.

The reason for doing that is to power a 5hp 80 gallon compressor to do my sandblasting and run a oven for powder coating. I am currently using a 1.5 hp 3 gallon for sandblasting which is tiring for me and the compressor. The countertop over is not be big enough for the wheels and other parts. The new oven will fit 22"x18" parts, which will work for every part except the frame.

All parts will be black except the valve cover, radiator tubes, rotors, sprocket, and some other parts. Those parts will be dark green, which will match the seat better.

I will update as I go.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Send the tach to me. Are you using your rear hump for storage?

[triumphtriple]

Originally Posted by TnNinjaGirl

Send the tach to me. Are you using your rear hump for storage?

I am pretty sure the tach is faulty. I didn't expect much for $20. I am not using the solo cowl for storage. This is more of a around the town bike. If I am going to carry something I usually have a collapsible backpack on me.

Like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Pack...sible+backpack

[triumphtriple]

Originally Posted by Think47

Bike looks awesome!

Currently working on mine. How did you go about getting the rust off the headers?

Any more pictures of the battery box? Trying to get an idea on how to do mine.

Thanks

Here are some more pictures of the battery box. I just sandblasted and powder coated it gloss black.

[TnNinjaGirl]

Im loving this bike more every time I see it.

[triumphtriple]

Originally Posted by TnNinjaGirl

Im loving this bike more every time I see it.

Thank you. I have the exhaust hangers, rearsets and rear brake lever in the blasting cabinet and about finished up. They will get gloss black.

After that the front and rear rotors are getting coated dark green or gloss black. Then the valve cover and metal radiator tubing is turning dark green.

I will keep updating as I finish the parts.

[CaptainPlatypus]

How much did the reupholster cost you? I'm trying to find out if it's worth getting mine professionally redone or if I should just try it myself.

[triumphtriple]

Originally Posted by CaptainPlatypus

How much did the reupholster cost you? I'm trying to find out if it's worth getting mine professionally redone or if I should just try it myself.

It was $65. I provided the material. I used Naugahyde, which is supposed to be a great option for a motorcycle seat. The material was about $20 a yard and that was around the most expensive one. There are lots of places online to buy from. Make sure you get a UV resistant material. With a yard of material you can try doing it yourself once and have plenty of extra.

Unless you have a lot of experience sewing, I would pay someone to do it. The upholsterer didn't just staple it on, he put many seems along certain edges. He said he had a very hard time with it. The guy I brought it to did a decent job but I would have brought it elsewhere if I did it again. That being said, it might be more or less than the price I got. It seemed like he didn't know what he was getting into.

It also depends on what you want to do. Previously I had a suede fabric on the seat since the original vinyl was trashed. It was a cheap and temporary fix. I put that on with some staples and spray adhesive. It looked good for about 6-12 months then it faded. Since its stretchy it was super easy to install.

It all depends on the fabric used and what your expectations are. There are thousands of different fabrics/vinyl/leathers, find one that suits your needs and go from there. For me Naugahyde looks like leather and wears like it. I wanted a vintage look but wanted it to wear very well and not fade.

This is where I bought mine. Just search around the site.
https://www.diyupholsterysupply.com/...ery-vinyl.html

[CaptainPlatypus]

Awesome, thanks. Lots of good info. If I do it myself I'll just be removing foam and reattaching the original cover (see here); it's in good condition, I just want to make it more comfortable. If I get it done professionally I'll be adding foam instead, since I don't need to worry about the original cover fitting.

[triumphtriple]

Powder coated more parts. I did all the accent colors today. Also not easily seen is the metal coolant hoses.

Also powdered the rearsets, rear brake lever and exhaust hangers in gloss black.

[sharky nrk]

Looking good, keep it up

[jcgss77]

I have never liked the cafe look.

However, I have to say yours is very nicely done. I particularly liked the look of the rear cowl with the tack welds. It looked very industrial/steampunk. Hmmmm....ideas for a project...