JakeGrafton
CB750 Enthusiast
Hello all Honda café racers!
I'm new here and thought I'd make a short intro and also post a question. (Turned out not so short. Sorry 'bout that!)
I've been a sports bike driver for most of my life. Started long ago with a Harley Sportster (no sport bike, I know that), but soon got tired of beeing overtaken by all fast rice burners. So got a Kawasaki ZZR 1100. Great for straight (and fast) roads, but lacked agility. Sold it and got myself a Yamaha YZF 750 which was a really sweet ride on which I took my road racing license. It also was the bike on which I first lost my drivers license for a couple of months, due to speeding. And that made me "downgrade" to a 1996 Triumph Speed Triple. A brutal street machine (by 1996 standards) and soooo beautiful in all black. And when Triumph introduced the T595 I was back in the fast lane. A beautiful bike in a yellow paint so smooth and glossy it looked all wet... Then came a few years without riding, but finally the itch got too bad and I got myself a lovely Ducati Sport 1000. Kinda café racing style and a great bike. But once in the Ducati family, a REAL superbike was irresistible and when I found a mint cond' Ducati 996R I pulled the trigger. It's by all means the best sport bike I ever rode.
Then came a few more years on 4 wheels when this spring I fell in love with a Harley Fat Boy that I'm now enjoying to the fullest. Getting this beautiful classic I thought my sport bike days were for ever over. But... I'm now starting to think 'bout maybe - just maybeeee - building myself a nice little café racer. I think that's one of the "truest" forms of bike you can see. And studying the subject a little, the Honda CB 750 seem to be a nice place to start. And here comes - finally, if you made it this far - my question:
If I should build a café racer based on a CB 750, what model would be a good start? What year? SOHC or DOHC? What other things to consider? My aim is not to start racing again, but rather build a sweet café racer for casual use, with nice riding qualities, a responsive engine and good handling (whatever that means... )
Any advice from you would be appreciated...
TIA
PS. And here BTW is my present ride:
I'm new here and thought I'd make a short intro and also post a question. (Turned out not so short. Sorry 'bout that!)
I've been a sports bike driver for most of my life. Started long ago with a Harley Sportster (no sport bike, I know that), but soon got tired of beeing overtaken by all fast rice burners. So got a Kawasaki ZZR 1100. Great for straight (and fast) roads, but lacked agility. Sold it and got myself a Yamaha YZF 750 which was a really sweet ride on which I took my road racing license. It also was the bike on which I first lost my drivers license for a couple of months, due to speeding. And that made me "downgrade" to a 1996 Triumph Speed Triple. A brutal street machine (by 1996 standards) and soooo beautiful in all black. And when Triumph introduced the T595 I was back in the fast lane. A beautiful bike in a yellow paint so smooth and glossy it looked all wet... Then came a few years without riding, but finally the itch got too bad and I got myself a lovely Ducati Sport 1000. Kinda café racing style and a great bike. But once in the Ducati family, a REAL superbike was irresistible and when I found a mint cond' Ducati 996R I pulled the trigger. It's by all means the best sport bike I ever rode.
Then came a few more years on 4 wheels when this spring I fell in love with a Harley Fat Boy that I'm now enjoying to the fullest. Getting this beautiful classic I thought my sport bike days were for ever over. But... I'm now starting to think 'bout maybe - just maybeeee - building myself a nice little café racer. I think that's one of the "truest" forms of bike you can see. And studying the subject a little, the Honda CB 750 seem to be a nice place to start. And here comes - finally, if you made it this far - my question:
If I should build a café racer based on a CB 750, what model would be a good start? What year? SOHC or DOHC? What other things to consider? My aim is not to start racing again, but rather build a sweet café racer for casual use, with nice riding qualities, a responsive engine and good handling (whatever that means... )
Any advice from you would be appreciated...
TIA
PS. And here BTW is my present ride:
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