My 95' Rc36 Cafe Racer Project

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Hello to everybody,

I joined up this forum because of Apexandy's work, that I discovered after beginning mine on this wonderfull 95' VFR, with 108000 kms ! And you will understand why my project can be related to his !

So here's how she was when I had it :

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Yes, it was in a really bad shape, the last owner was using it everyday to go to work, and didn't loose much time taking care of it...

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But what the hell did I want to do ? Photoshop got the answer :

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Departing with that idea, I bought everything that was needed, CBR 954 front fork, Ducati Monster seat and tail light, Koso DB02R tachometer, Hornet 600 headlight, and a lot of cleaning work....

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I can say thanks to my brother for the subframe !

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Some racing techniques for my rear brake reservoir :

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And a friend of mine riding a nice BMW S1000RR can give me 2 two silencers that he doesn't need anymore thanks to his full Akra exhaust. So which one do you like the most, Akrapovic or Arrow ?

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It's all for now ! Today I started to work on wiring, there is plenty of stuff to cut/re-route or delete...

Like that Arrow can ....

I like both but the Akra more.

Where did you source the Hornet 600 headlight? 7 inch? Looks light you have a HID bulb installed. I am doing a Hawk GT cafe racer project myself. Been thinking about going to an LED headlight.

Good looking project cant wait to see more.

Nice project.

I like that Arrow can, the Acra is to modern for this bike.

I got the Hornet headlight on ebay UK and yes it is a 7 inch, but bulbs are totally classics ones (it's just the flash that make them blue). I was also looking for a LED headlight but there is not plenty of it in 7 inches and I definitely prefer 7 instead of 6 inches ;)

VFRBert

Nice project.

I like that Arrow can, the Acra is to modern for this bike.

True, I agree that the Akra is more modern looking but the rest of the bike doesn't exactly scream "classic" cafe racer with aluminum wheels, monoshock suspension and USD forks. If it had spoke wheels and a more traditional cafe' racer look, I would say Arrow. Also depends on how each of them sound as well!

deltaboxii

True, I agree that the Akra is more modern looking but the rest of the bike doesn't exactly scream "classic" cafe racer with aluminum wheels, monoshock suspension and USD forks. If it had spoke wheels and a more traditional cafe' racer look, I would say Arrow. Also depends on how each of them sound as well!

That's it, in fact S1000RR has a big catalyzer that plays the silencer role, so the muffler is just an eye candy... So to keep an ear friendly noise level may be the arrow will be the best one thanks to its dB-killer that the Akra doesn't have...

I like the Akra, in that it doesn't cover as much of the rear wheel

zefarton44

deltaboxii

True, I agree that the Akra is more modern looking but the rest of the bike doesn't exactly scream "classic" cafe racer with aluminum wheels, monoshock suspension and USD forks. If it had spoke wheels and a more traditional cafe' racer look, I would say Arrow. Also depends on how each of them sound as well!

That's it, in fact S1000RR has a big catalyzer that plays the silencer role, so the muffler is just an eye candy... So to keep an ear friendly noise level may be the arrow will be the best one thanks to its dB-killer that the Akra doesn't have...

Sorry but IMHO if you are going to ride a "cafe' racer" why would you want an ear friendly noise level??? I would go Akra even more if it had a deeper growl.

Welcome, nice project you have there.

deltaboxii

Sorry but IMHO if you are going to ride a "cafe' racer" why would you want an ear friendly noise level??? I would go Akra even more if it had a deeper growl.

Well, in France police has 0 tolerance about motorcycles mods, and a really noisy can is the best way to get in trouble with them...

I'm already outlaw by having the fork swapped with the CBR one and all others things, but here they only check if we don't make to much noise, if we have mirrors, and if our plates are big enough for their speed radars... I could ride without any brakes if I was at the appropriate speed (I should say accurate, because even 5km/h above the limit and you're a criminal...) and if I did that in silence :dry:

France, country of human rights (and the main one is the right of shutting the fuck up when it's about our freedom....)

Hey Zefarton - looking on your build keenly as well , as I make progress on my 95 750 project as well.
Good luck with it !

As for the can - its all personal preference mate.
My old adage - "whatever works best"

:wheel:

Great start! It's giving me ideas... terrible, terrible, expensive ideas for my own naked 4th gen. Can't wait to see (and hear) your end result.

In the picture of your brother welding the subframe, it looks like he's welding aluminum with a stick welder! I respect that. Just curious, did you guys have to preheat the sections to get a good weld?

Arrow, 1000 times Arrow.

but im just sick of the little wedge shaped stubby pipes in general so theres that to consider.

Also, wicked nice bike

Hey Zef

Before you decide completely on which exhaust, might I suggest that you photoshop in the Arrow exhaust and see what it looks like with the rest of your plan, just like your pic of the Akro exhaust in your earlier post. FWIW, the Two Brothers exhaust on Apex's bike sounds amazing and is not overly loud. It has a very deep throated growl but the snarl under full acceleration is not really loud. I've never been a huge fan of street fighters but after seeing Apex's bike in person, and having the chance to use all of my senses whilst examining the vision Apex created, the idea is beginning to grow on me.

Maybe my wife will allow me to give her bike to Apex for a winter and see what transpires. LOL

Good looking project so far. One more vote for the Akrapovic as well. Seems more fitting for the street fighter/café theme, plus is shows off the rear wheel better.

FSAE

In the picture of your brother welding the subframe, it looks like he's welding aluminum with a stick welder! I respect that. Just curious, did you guys have to preheat the sections to get a good weld?

No this is good old steel ! In fact it's the old subframe reshaped and bent to get the new seat shape. So the welding was done by departing from a normal temperature surface. In fact my brother who was a former plumber didn't weld since 2 or 3 years (he's also in the french navy now, working on Falcon 50 maintenance), so the result is stiff, but not really eye friendly :laugh:

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zoomzoom

Hey Zef

Before you decide completely on which exhaust, might I suggest that you photoshop in the Arrow exhaust and see what it looks like with the rest of your plan.

I did that I just forgot to post it here !

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While you're in there and have an upgraded front end, go upgrade that rear shock too! 929 shocks are cheap enough.

I very excited to see this take shape man! Good choices so far :)

I like the looks of the Akra can... it works very well with the lines on the bike. The arrow might work too... but I think it needs about 10"+ cut out of the link pipe to bring it closer to the centre of the bike. Just my 2 cents

Very cool - and welcome to VFRD!! Guys that do these complete teardowns are coupled with great skills - keep going!

I like the Arrow exhaust but only with a high mount mid pipe. I would prefer to see the wheel exposed as the Ak can allows.

Good start on the project. If your brothers welds are deep enough you can grind the surface for a better look before powder coating or painting the sub frame.

Welcome aboard!

I like the Arrow ...

The noise level is more and more an issue in the Netherlands. Fines up to more than 1000 euro and they will suspend youre registration and force you to put a silent can on it within a short time, or the registration will be terminated permanently. I don't know how the gendarmerie reacts, but on my holiday's in France i have seen some very angry gendarmes.

VFRBert

The noise level is more and more an issue in the Netherlands. Fines up to more than 1000 euro and they will suspend youre registration and force you to put a silent can on it within a short time, or the registration will be terminated permanently. I don't know how the gendarmerie reacts, but on my holiday's in France i have seen some very angry gendarmes.

At you or someone else ?

Some french guy turned from the wrong direction into a one way street, nearly colliding with a little blue colored Renault Clio. In it 2 man in uniform. Never seen someone leaving his car so quickly, waving with his arms, face turned red. That poor Frenchmen that drove the wrong direction, must have had a shitty day.

In France never try to collide with these cars:

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Good to know !!!!

I dont want too loud a note with my bike when its finished.

I like to hear these motors, as its suuuuuch a sweet sound.

Definantly the Akro silencer for the look. In my humble opinion. But I'd put on the quietest one for riding. Stealth is best, as you have already dicussed.

It's only a matter of time till the feds totally cut us off from most aftermarket pipe options in the US. as it is, they are already putting a lot of pressure on exhaust system importers to only sell DOT legal pipes. I think they are not accepting the "For competition use only" excuse to be able to sell louder/freer flowing pipes to the general public....

VFRBert

Some french guy turned from the wrong direction into a one way street, nearly colliding with a little blue colored Renault Clio. In it 2 man in uniform. Never seen someone leaving his car so quickly, waving with his arms, face turned red. That poor Frenchmen that drove the wrong direction, must have had a shitty day.

In France never try to collide with these cars:

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Dang!,...that's a bad excuse for a police car...., At least from an American's (Land of the wild police chase reality shows) perspective...

Even Colombo's old Peugeot might have been faster than that little blue econobox.....

Beck

Dang!,...that's a bad excuse for a police car...., At least from an American's (Land of the wild police chase reality shows) perspective...

Even Colombo's old Peugeot might have been faster than that little blue econobox.....

That all depends on the engine inside....

When my wife moved to NL in the 90's, she took her Clio 1.8i 135HP with her. Weighing under 1,000kg.

In NL, people pretty much only knew the 1.2 58HP version.

Manier VW Golf/Rabbit driver was left thinking "WTF was THAT???" :goofy:

Hi ! Happy new year ! I hope everyone here had a good Xmas !

Some news of my work !

Subframe has been painted, but due to the low temperature here the paint isn't really stiff....

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Had my new brake hose mounted :

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And then came the hard part : harness changes !

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The front part isn't finished yet, i'm waiting for my resistors to have the Koso correctly working. But for the rear part now it's done !

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I also purchased a VTR 1000 F clutch master cylinder which have a better design than the VTR one :

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LED rear brake lite looks AWESOME ..

A bit of news that need no comments, pictures talk by themselves !

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Wow 68km\h !!!

Switchblade

Wow 68km\h !!!

while standing still!! :wheel:

awesome!! :tongue2:

Yeah without front tyre and without rear wheel :P

That's just the plastic protection, I can't wait to see this clock displaying for real !

looks great . .. since my projects are on the back burner, I'm checking out yours :beer:

taglicious

looks great . .. since my projects are on the back burner, I'm checking out yours :beer:

LOL The way you ride your stuff is already burning....lol...

Some rapid news after a while !

With my brother we started the paintjob, which doesn't looks too bad ! And the wheels will be polished front and rear :

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That color looks familiar.

Also, that is the first time I have seen someone use a beer bottle to mask for paint.

SEBSPEED

That color looks familiar.

Also, that is the first time I have seen someone use a beer bottle to mask for paint.

LOL, me too. Australia servicemen were in France in WW2, you might want to look into your ancestry :goofy:

The paint looks ace and polished wheels will really set it off. I polished mine in 1998 and the 4th Gen rear wheel is an absolute work of art when polished.

SEBSPEED

That color looks familiar.

Also, that is the first time I have seen someone use a beer bottle to mask for paint.

Kronenbourg 1664!!!!

:beer:

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Almost finished !!!!!

She's bak on her wheels after a while ! The tach is now all connected, I'll have to adjust it when the engine will run.
The rear wheel is not yet polished, and the exhaust is not attached to the rear buckle. But the hardest part (the wiring) is now done !!

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Joe Bar would love to ride that one!!! :beer:

Amazing!

Wow! Nice work there, definitely captured that cafe bike feel. :fing02:

That is simply beautiful, great job!!!!!!

Awesomeness :fing02:

Any plans to make some side covers?

Beautiful! :fing02:

got the matching helmet for it??? :goofy:

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No I ain't go the helmet, and I think that I'll keep my shark RACE-R for now :laugh:

And for the side covers I don't think so, I'm not really good for work with fiber, and by the way from my point of view it wouldn't match the cafe racer style :smile2:

Awesome Job ....

Little photoshop, to see how she'd look like with side covers and chrome decals on the tank and seat cover, and also heat wrap and the exhaust :

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^ YES!

That chrome decal work is a must... never thought it possible to get an old school cafe racer look going with a VFR, but you've done it. I LOVE this bike!

Hmmm.... wire wheels would really make it pop...

I reckon this bike should go on BikeEXIF when you're finished.

wow, that's very nice, congrats!!

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Very well done! Looks fantastic. Enjoy riding it!!!

Thanks to all for your comments !

About the wire rims I'd love it, but to adapt a 1200 GS on the vfr is not that easy I think, and to find a front one that can support 330mm discs neither....
And by the way even if I find used ones, prices are just too expensive and would cost me at least half of the bike...

Here I calculated, bike cost me 1500€, and I added 1500 more euros of spare parts, which is not that bad !

That's a VFR1200X Crosstourer wheel but yes swapping to wired wheels would not be cheap no matter how you did it.

I'd like to thank moderators to give my topic the honor of the front page, but now would it be possible to move it back in the third gen section ?

Wow! You've got talent.

And after a looooooooooooooooong time, she's running !!!

The tach is now fully operationnal, I just have to connect the speed indicator. Now to be done : lateral covers, chrome covering, rear rim polishing,and she'll be clear to go !

zefarton44

Almost finished !!!!!

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Superb....get this thing photographed and on EXIF.... :thumb:

It's so awesome when it starts and things work isn't it :) Looking great!

One question, when you were revving the bike in the video were you slowly letting the throttle off after revving it up, or just blipping the throttle and right away returning it to the stop. If you were returning the throttle to the stop immediately, in my opinion it sound like your idle might be hanging, which I believe is a lean condition in the idle mixture.

There was a problem with the throttle cable which didn't come back to the neutral position due to a bad routing through the back of the light. Now she's running smooth ;)

zefarton44

There was a problem with the throttle cable which didn't come back to the neutral position

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:goofy:

zefarton44

I'd like to thank moderators to give my topic the honor of the front page, but now would it be possible to move it back in the third gen section ?

Why move it to the 3rd gen section, it is a 4th gen VFR?

Great looking bike!

CornerCarver

zefarton44

I'd like to thank moderators to give my topic the honor of the front page, but now would it be possible to move it back in the third gen section ?

Why move it to the 3rd gen section, it is a 4th gen VFR?

Great looking bike!

well carver are you SURE you pay attention here? :goofy:

look on forums it says " Third and Fourth Generation VFR's" :wink:

gll429

CornerCarver

zefarton44

I'd like to thank moderators to give my topic the honor of the front page, but now would it be possible to move it back in the third gen section ?

Why move it to the 3rd gen section, it is a 4th gen VFR?

Great looking bike!

well carver are you SURE you pay attention here? :goofy:

look on forums it says " Third and Fourth Generation VFR's" :wink:

Exactly ;)

Thank's to all for comments !

zefarton44

gll429

CornerCarver

zefarton44

I'd like to thank moderators to give my topic the honor of the front page, but now would it be possible to move it back in the third gen section ?

Why move it to the 3rd gen section, it is a 4th gen VFR?

Great looking bike!

well carver are you SURE you pay attention here? :goofy:

look on forums it says " Third and Fourth Generation VFR's" :wink:

Exactly ;)

Thank's to all for comments !

Ahh...so it was placed in the "Featured" forum instead...I get it now.

I am not about labels so much but I do pay attention to great looking bikes with tasteful, performance enhancing mods....that leaves out most of the Harleys that you are forced to work on at your DC area shop.

:wink:

Harley what ?

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i think he means one like this that built.....

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This is an incredibly well put together cafe. Very well done, and a great deal of vision. Beautiful job!

:cheerleader:

Wow it turned out amazing!

I'm currently working on a 90 RC36. I bought the bike last November with 76,000km's and concentrated on the rear portion of the bike. Love what you did with yours.

Inspiring build.

What yokes did you use to mount the USD forks?

The yokes comme from china, it was on ebay if I remember well, around 50 bucks.

Some news, I still hadn't the time to ride it, but some pics in a good weather are always better ! I wrapped the exhaust with thermic fabric. The cooler tank isn't really nice, but at the moment I have no other place to fix it. I also finally managed to fix my clutch problem, the master cylinder had a leak due to dust in the piston, after a good cleaning it's now working perfectly !

Still to do :

- side covers for the rear buckle

- and mount a 30'000kms rear shock from a CBR929 !

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that's awesome

Use a black bottle or paint it black with a thin vertical strip left unpainted so you can still see the level?

Now,

get your azz out of that fighter jet and ride your bike.

Or you need me to come down and ride it for you? :unsure: :goofy:

Great job on the bike mate.
It looks .... "The Bidness" !!!

Some good news folks !

My pilot formation is going well and I should move to the US at the end of september ! And the bike is running well, I rode 100kms this weekend and it's a real pleasure, the V4 is running smoothly and the sound is amazing ! Some pictures with my father 800 FI :

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What kind of headlight mount did you use? I have a 599 headlight just like yours and I'm curious what your setup was

Edit: Gorgeous pics btw :cheerleader:

It's a Hornet light with chinese brackets from ebay. ;)

Hello everybody ! Here is my last post from France, I'm coming to the US next tuesday !

So I rode my VFR for the last time (coming home in only one year and a half) and took some good pics ! I also fitted a CBR929 rear shock absorber, so much better than the stock one with 60'000 miles...

Enjoy !

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Joe Bar lives!!!!!!!!!!!

:offtopic:

Should you not be flying out east the bring some "good news" to the bad guys?? :unsure:

Enjoy the USA and stay safe!

Dutchy

Joe Bar lives!!!!!!!!!!!

:offtopic:

Should you not be flying out east the bring some "good news" to the bad guys?? :unsure:

Enjoy the USA and stay safe!

Well I'm still too young for that, I'm only student pilot mate !

Until now I was flying a TB30 Epsilon, 300hp for 1'300kg, +5G/-2G, with 280 knot of maximum speed, and very manoeuvering ! (It's me on the picture !)

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And in Meridian MS, I'll be experiencing the jet engine, on a T45 and I'll try to learn how to land on a ship... :wacko: (google picture)

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And in Meridian MS, I'll be experiencing the jet engine, on a T45 and I'll try to learn how to land on a ship... :wacko: (google picture)

[image: T-45A_Goshawk_04.jpg]

They do touch and go's at TYS airport.

Love those Goshawks. We've seen them fly over our house coming out of McGeeTyson. They really move along.

You have something to be really proud of in your Cafe VFR! It looks fantastic!

What a bike, given me a lot of ideas :)

johnlondon

What a bike, given me a lot of ideas :)

hey Johnny !!!!!!

hey bro!