Moto Guzzi Cali Cafe Racer Build thread
Discussion
Now for something a bit different, this isn't one of my projects, but I do have an interest in it...Last year my mate Tim (who owns the local bike shop with the dyno), asked me to help him find a bike as the basis for a winter project. Since I have plenty of time on my hands these days, I agreed, though I was surprised when he told me what bike he was looking for... a Harley XL883, as they normally work on jap stuff. I tracked down a suitable bike, 883 with a 5speed box and chain drive, ran well and I knew the owner, all for a bargain price. Tim bought it put it to one side as he was too busy to work on it during last summer.
Since he runs a dyno, it was no surprise when Tim told me the engine was going to get a big bore kit, cams, carb and so on and added he didn't want to spend too much on it.. well, we'll see I thought to myself lol.. this is a rough idea of what he was aiming for...
By this time I'd got my old ironhead, and I joked that his 883 may end up more powerful than mine, but mine would be far cooler .. Tim must have been watching too much Discovery channel, as he suggested we should have our very own mini 'biker build off'.. hardly a fair match I said, you've got a fully equipped workshop and access to parts at wholesale prices.. but then again, why not...
With a change of tank and a RS125 seat, looks really different already..
It didn't take long for his budget to go out of the window, as he's just got a new alloy swing arm, gsxr K9 forks and a pair of remote reservoir progressive shocks. Then again he's changed his mind about the look, he's now going for a semi flat tracker / super motard styley.. with 17inch wheels..
Since he runs a dyno, it was no surprise when Tim told me the engine was going to get a big bore kit, cams, carb and so on and added he didn't want to spend too much on it.. well, we'll see I thought to myself lol.. this is a rough idea of what he was aiming for...
By this time I'd got my old ironhead, and I joked that his 883 may end up more powerful than mine, but mine would be far cooler .. Tim must have been watching too much Discovery channel, as he suggested we should have our very own mini 'biker build off'.. hardly a fair match I said, you've got a fully equipped workshop and access to parts at wholesale prices.. but then again, why not...
With a change of tank and a RS125 seat, looks really different already..
It didn't take long for his budget to go out of the window, as he's just got a new alloy swing arm, gsxr K9 forks and a pair of remote reservoir progressive shocks. Then again he's changed his mind about the look, he's now going for a semi flat tracker / super motard styley.. with 17inch wheels..
Edited by Merch131 on Sunday 4th August 22:58
This is how it looks now... One off yokes, GSXR USD forks, 17inch KTM front wheel, rear HD hub build up with another 17 inch rim, Metchemex swing arm, fancy shocks. It had a RSD exhaust but he didn't like it, so its getting a one off system which will take up some of the space where the oil tank lives, so that's being moved too. sorry for the crappy pic..
Not much progress with the Ironhead, almost finished the motor mount, just got to make the mount for the ignition key and polish it. In the meantime picked up this 2 inch SU carb with separate float bowl. They used to be ten a penny but they're getting rarer now, especially in good condition. This one needs a good clean but its hardly worn, so should be about the right size to feed the superchargered Evo 2ltr motor. I could go injected but that adds complexity that for now we don't need, at least until everything is running ok.
Time to sort out a stainless exhaust system. I know what I want, the problem is finding somewhere to make it to a good standard at a fair price. Another problem is getting the bike to the exhaust maker, wherever that may be. Fortunately my mate Tim was getting to the same stage with his HD XL scrambler, so we agreed I'd find somewhere and we'd take both bikes in his van.
I liked the work of OJZ engineering, but they were busy for a couple of months ahead, and quoted me approx. £700 to make the system I wanted. That's not too bad for a custom system, but I kept looking.
I'd seen a lovely system on a trick RD350, which came from a place in York. I called and was quoted £400 to make a system.. that's better....Northern prices! He asked me to email some pics of the bikes and what we wanted, which I did the same day. Never had a reply.. so that's a fail in my book.
With the hassles of getting the bikes to a specialist.. taking them, wait for the systems to be made, then another day lost to collect the bikes..hoping they'd done what we wanted, I suggested we made our own. So that's what we're going to do.
Yesterday I took a trip to Macclesfield to JP exhausts, who were very helpful and let me take my pick of their stock of 1 3/4 inch stainless bends and tubing. I came home with 4m of straight tubing and a good mix of bends which I hope will be more than enough for two systems.. total cost £108 plus vat..
I'm away next week, so I left the lot at Tim's bike shop, he reckons by the time I get back his will be done ..
I liked the work of OJZ engineering, but they were busy for a couple of months ahead, and quoted me approx. £700 to make the system I wanted. That's not too bad for a custom system, but I kept looking.
I'd seen a lovely system on a trick RD350, which came from a place in York. I called and was quoted £400 to make a system.. that's better....Northern prices! He asked me to email some pics of the bikes and what we wanted, which I did the same day. Never had a reply.. so that's a fail in my book.
With the hassles of getting the bikes to a specialist.. taking them, wait for the systems to be made, then another day lost to collect the bikes..hoping they'd done what we wanted, I suggested we made our own. So that's what we're going to do.
Yesterday I took a trip to Macclesfield to JP exhausts, who were very helpful and let me take my pick of their stock of 1 3/4 inch stainless bends and tubing. I came home with 4m of straight tubing and a good mix of bends which I hope will be more than enough for two systems.. total cost £108 plus vat..
I'm away next week, so I left the lot at Tim's bike shop, he reckons by the time I get back his will be done ..
The exhaust is pretty much done, though still needs to be polished, and one pipe under engine needs to be expanded to give me a slip joint. I'll get a couple hooks welded on and use exhaust springs to hold it together next week. And the brackets holding the silencers are temporary, now I know how long they should be, I'll make a new neater pair..
Last week my mate Tim gave me the remaining stainless bends left over from his build to get me started. The first problem was that the tubing wouldn't slide over the exhaust stubs on the heads. The tubes would need to be expanded. But I didn't know which tubes I'd end up using, and nearest place I knew that could expand the 16 gauge tubing was a 60 mile round trip. So we made two collars which would be welded on the end of the headers (when I'd worked out which tubing to use). They were machined with an internal step, so they'd be a snug fit on the tubing and the exhaust stub..
Another problem I had was that some of the bends I had to cut were deformed, which would've made welding them to a straight piece look awful, so they were binned..
Some bends were deformed when cut in half..
Using the good bends I did have, I could've gone for this option, as it involved a minimum of welded joints..
But it didn't look quite right, so I tried again and came up with this instead.. note all the string, tape and even an old tooth brush I used to hold everything in place, it was tricky with just one pair of hands
A few more trips back to the welder and its done.. It would've been better if the megas were a little higher and tilted up, but the gearchange linkage means this is as far as they could go on the left and the right hand side had to mirror the left..
Last week my mate Tim gave me the remaining stainless bends left over from his build to get me started. The first problem was that the tubing wouldn't slide over the exhaust stubs on the heads. The tubes would need to be expanded. But I didn't know which tubes I'd end up using, and nearest place I knew that could expand the 16 gauge tubing was a 60 mile round trip. So we made two collars which would be welded on the end of the headers (when I'd worked out which tubing to use). They were machined with an internal step, so they'd be a snug fit on the tubing and the exhaust stub..
Another problem I had was that some of the bends I had to cut were deformed, which would've made welding them to a straight piece look awful, so they were binned..
Some bends were deformed when cut in half..
Using the good bends I did have, I could've gone for this option, as it involved a minimum of welded joints..
But it didn't look quite right, so I tried again and came up with this instead.. note all the string, tape and even an old tooth brush I used to hold everything in place, it was tricky with just one pair of hands
A few more trips back to the welder and its done.. It would've been better if the megas were a little higher and tilted up, but the gearchange linkage means this is as far as they could go on the left and the right hand side had to mirror the left..
Edited by Merch131 on Friday 8th November 16:42
Edited by Merch131 on Friday 8th November 16:54
I've spent far too many hours trying to get the exhaust system how I wanted, with the two megas at the same height and angle. With the last piece welded, I stood back and had to admit to myself it wasn't right. So the back half of the downpipes have been cut up, to be redone with the megas tilted up more. But first had to move the rear sets forward and out of the way, as they were too far back. So I made a couple of simple test plates with a few mounting holes, so I could try different peg positions. The final version will be much neater, made from 15mm alloy plate, so the frame mounting bolts can be countersunk while the plate will be tapped to take the rear set bolts. Its only moved the pegs 40mm, but it feels much better, and gives the clearance I need for the megas, and to ensure the LHS downpipe isn't too low where it turns out and up from the under engine.
Geoff the welder was working last weekend, so I popped over where he welded the last piece on the RHS pipe. I've learnt my lesson in not trying to do both sides at the same time. I've wasted hours trying to get both megas at the same angle and height, and changing both sides at the same time. With one side done, I finally managed to match the LHS, which then got welded. The hooks to hold the exhaust springs have also been welded onto the exhaust.
Here's an action pic of Geoff welding my exhaust (surprised the camera could handle the intense light, I certainly didn't risk it). I asked about his old work bench, he did his apprenticeship on it, in a local brewery. When it closed, it came with him. BTW that old brewery had been there since the 1740s.
Been playing with the edit function in Photobucket..the new downpipes may not look much different, but every joint has been changed and rewelded..
With the exhaust is finally done (still need to decide whether to polish the downpipes) the next job will be to make the real rear set mounts and exhaust hangers, in place of the temporary ones I've used so far. Also been thinking about where the battery is going to live. Ideally it should go under the seat hump, but there isn't a lot of room under there, so the back up plan was to mount it under the swing arm, behind the gearbox, as I'd seen a few Sportsters with the battery in that location, so should be enough room. My drop seat Harley has its battery under the swing arm (actually it sits in the swing arm), which has been a PITA, as to access it, I need to remove the rear wheel, not ideal
I'd always intended to use a Lithium Iron battery, and for the Ironhead, I'd need the equivalent of a 20AH Yuasa lead acid battery. I could get a Shorai at a good price, but looking at it specs, it didn't look that much smaller than the Yuasa, though it is much lighter. With one of my exhaust downpipes running under the engine, I wasn't sure if there was enough room behind the gearbox to fit the Shorai, let alone a Yuasa.
I made cardboard copies of the three options, Yuasa, Shorai and Ballistic. Sure enough the Yuasa wouldn't fit, while the Shorai only just squeezed under the swing arm, a bit too close to the exhaust and rear tyre for comfort. The Ballistic was so much smaller it would even fit under the seat, if it was recessed a little into the tray I'd made earlier. So that's what I did. The Ballistic isn't cheap, twice the price of a Yuasa, and I've read mixed reviews of Lithium batteries on bikes, but going to give it a try..
I got the seat under tray modified to hold the battery, need a real battery now..
With the arrival of my new Ballistic battery, my bike has lost another 11lbs, compared to the equivalent Yuasa YTX20BS (13.9lbs Vs 2.7lbs) or 1.2kg. I'm edging closer to the target of losing 100lbs compared to a standard XL1000. The new battery fits easily in the recess made for it, with spare room enough for some foam to cushion the vibes..
Also made a start on the new rear set brackets, made from some scrap 10mm alloy plate. Had to bring them home to check the mounting holes were ok, before drilling the holes for the master cylinder and shaping the plates..
Here's an action pic of Geoff welding my exhaust (surprised the camera could handle the intense light, I certainly didn't risk it). I asked about his old work bench, he did his apprenticeship on it, in a local brewery. When it closed, it came with him. BTW that old brewery had been there since the 1740s.
Been playing with the edit function in Photobucket..the new downpipes may not look much different, but every joint has been changed and rewelded..
With the exhaust is finally done (still need to decide whether to polish the downpipes) the next job will be to make the real rear set mounts and exhaust hangers, in place of the temporary ones I've used so far. Also been thinking about where the battery is going to live. Ideally it should go under the seat hump, but there isn't a lot of room under there, so the back up plan was to mount it under the swing arm, behind the gearbox, as I'd seen a few Sportsters with the battery in that location, so should be enough room. My drop seat Harley has its battery under the swing arm (actually it sits in the swing arm), which has been a PITA, as to access it, I need to remove the rear wheel, not ideal
I'd always intended to use a Lithium Iron battery, and for the Ironhead, I'd need the equivalent of a 20AH Yuasa lead acid battery. I could get a Shorai at a good price, but looking at it specs, it didn't look that much smaller than the Yuasa, though it is much lighter. With one of my exhaust downpipes running under the engine, I wasn't sure if there was enough room behind the gearbox to fit the Shorai, let alone a Yuasa.
I made cardboard copies of the three options, Yuasa, Shorai and Ballistic. Sure enough the Yuasa wouldn't fit, while the Shorai only just squeezed under the swing arm, a bit too close to the exhaust and rear tyre for comfort. The Ballistic was so much smaller it would even fit under the seat, if it was recessed a little into the tray I'd made earlier. So that's what I did. The Ballistic isn't cheap, twice the price of a Yuasa, and I've read mixed reviews of Lithium batteries on bikes, but going to give it a try..
I got the seat under tray modified to hold the battery, need a real battery now..
With the arrival of my new Ballistic battery, my bike has lost another 11lbs, compared to the equivalent Yuasa YTX20BS (13.9lbs Vs 2.7lbs) or 1.2kg. I'm edging closer to the target of losing 100lbs compared to a standard XL1000. The new battery fits easily in the recess made for it, with spare room enough for some foam to cushion the vibes..
Also made a start on the new rear set brackets, made from some scrap 10mm alloy plate. Had to bring them home to check the mounting holes were ok, before drilling the holes for the master cylinder and shaping the plates..
Almost time to dismantle the bike to get the frame powder coated, then the final assembly can be done. Been busy with lots of small jobs, never seems to end..
Made the new foot peg brackets, fitted a stainless starter button into the top motor mount, took the cylinder heads off for paint and to fit new pushrod tubes. Also fitted hand controls from a Honda VTR, I wanted to use Brembos, but they were silly money on Ebay. Still need to fit a smaller brake reservoir. Still got to finish the hydraulic clutch conversion and the new shorter velocity stack..
Starter Button can go here..
Curing the newly painted cylinder heads.. 80c for 30 mins..
Making a new Velocity stack..
Almost ready do be dismantled for paint
Made the new foot peg brackets, fitted a stainless starter button into the top motor mount, took the cylinder heads off for paint and to fit new pushrod tubes. Also fitted hand controls from a Honda VTR, I wanted to use Brembos, but they were silly money on Ebay. Still need to fit a smaller brake reservoir. Still got to finish the hydraulic clutch conversion and the new shorter velocity stack..
Starter Button can go here..
Curing the newly painted cylinder heads.. 80c for 30 mins..
Making a new Velocity stack..
Almost ready do be dismantled for paint
Finally got the frame welded this week (to add mounts for the rear light/plate and oil tank), then took it to be powder coated at Triple S in Bingley today. Before I took the bike apart I weighed it, including the battery and chain, but with no oil or fuel, it weighed Front wheel = 185lbs, rear = 202lbs, total 387lbs
4 litres of oil weighs 8lbs (I checked), while half a tank of fuel will be around 20lbs... gives 415lbs ready to ride. I was aiming for 420lbs, so happy with that. That's approx. 130 lbs lighter than a standard old Harley XL1000.
Here's a photo before it came apart, still a few parts to make, but they can be done during the final build..
4 litres of oil weighs 8lbs (I checked), while half a tank of fuel will be around 20lbs... gives 415lbs ready to ride. I was aiming for 420lbs, so happy with that. That's approx. 130 lbs lighter than a standard old Harley XL1000.
Here's a photo before it came apart, still a few parts to make, but they can be done during the final build..
Collected my frame from Triple S, the powder coaters in Bingley, as always they did a great job, they specialise in motorbike frames and wheels etc. For me its a half day return trip (traffic is always awful), but its worth the effort. I ended up with my little car full of other peoples parts on each trip, as when they knew I was going I was asked to take their stuff too.
The engine is ridiculously heavy, but I decided not to wait for help to fit it into the frame, instead I wrapped the frame in card and foam, then placed the engine on its side on wooden blocks before dropping the frame carefully over it. Worked out ok, though took ages to fit all the mounting brackets and swing arm due to the thickness of the powder coat. Had to turn down the swing arm spacers a little in the end.
Also had a threaded 'bung' welded into the oil tank for the outlet fitting, saved having to cut a British Cycle thread to match the oil tank and since the bikes got a modern oil filter, there was no need to use the authentic Norton oil filter (just a crude wire mesh) that would normally sit inside the oil tank. We didn't finish tapping the inner thread in the bung for the oil fitting, as there was a small chance it would distort a bit when the bung was welded into the oil tank. Now that's done we can finish cutting the thread.
![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/iMUjjs3o.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/GROmjVyA" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/GROmjVyA.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/brU8DvY0" Target="_blank">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/brU8DvY0.jpg)
The engine is ridiculously heavy, but I decided not to wait for help to fit it into the frame, instead I wrapped the frame in card and foam, then placed the engine on its side on wooden blocks before dropping the frame carefully over it. Worked out ok, though took ages to fit all the mounting brackets and swing arm due to the thickness of the powder coat. Had to turn down the swing arm spacers a little in the end.
Also had a threaded 'bung' welded into the oil tank for the outlet fitting, saved having to cut a British Cycle thread to match the oil tank and since the bikes got a modern oil filter, there was no need to use the authentic Norton oil filter (just a crude wire mesh) that would normally sit inside the oil tank. We didn't finish tapping the inner thread in the bung for the oil fitting, as there was a small chance it would distort a bit when the bung was welded into the oil tank. Now that's done we can finish cutting the thread.
I struggled to fit the chain, until I realised I'd been given a 520 split link for the 530 chain. Having collected the correct sized split link and with my shiny new rivet tool the chain went on ok. Though I did have to pause half way through and go off to check on youtube the correct way of using the riveter, it wasn't obvious and it came without instructions.
Also changed the front Avon to a narrower 100 width tyre, the 110 looked good but the general consensus was that it will handle better with the 100. Luckily the 110 tyre fits my Guzzi so its not going to wasted. With the new tyre on, my next job is to work out how long I want the alloy front mudguard to be and how to mount it
I spent an afternoon at Geoff the welders place, where he let me use his pipe belt sander, it saved me a huge amount of time linishing the welds of the stainless downpipes. They aren't perfect (I was afraid of sanding right through the pipe walls), and still need to be polished but overall I'm happy with the result.
I did hit one problem today, the oil filter mount (which I had been pleased with), just happens to place the oil pipes directly in line with the lower chain run.. should have thought of that beforehand
it'll have to be changed.
I did hit one problem today, the oil filter mount (which I had been pleased with), just happens to place the oil pipes directly in line with the lower chain run.. should have thought of that beforehand
it'll have to be changed.Waiting on having the brake and clutch lines made up, should be ready end of the week, so until then just been playing around with a couple of ideas. I wasn't happy with one area of the bike, so I took my trusty hacksaw and file and made this simple bracket, from a scrap piece of angled alloy plate. Spent an afternoon cutting, filing and measuring till it fit ok. But it didn't really look right, even if it was polished or painted or whatever, so I went off to drink tea and work on a MK2 version... 
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