To re, or not to re...

[sarals]

That "phase" seems to be back, if shows like "Cafe Racer" are any indication. I can't say I agree or disagree with some of the things I've seen people do to bikes on that show. Most of the time I just shake my head. Sideways!

[swampyankee]

There are bikes that have no value beyond what you can do to "customize" them, whether it's a pro custom or hack cafe. I've seen some nice bikes built from Yamaha Virago v twins fer instance. But just because it can be bought cheap doesn't mean it's a candidate for a bobber.

70's and 80's BMW airheads seem to be popular among "cafe'ers". I had a guy offer to buy my complete and original '79 R100RS because he wanted to build a "cafe" out of it. I told him to leave. Ultimately, the lack of original, unmolested machines will only drive the value of my bike up, so I guess its ok. LOL
But I think people will shortly regret hacking up a vintage bike like a Dream or Scrambler, as they have with the British bikes of the 60's.

[swampyankee]

So the other day I took a heat gun and scraper to the big slabs of bondo of the side of the gas tank. The good news is, the left side is intact, complete with emblem and knee pad brackets.
The bad news is, the knee pad bracket on the right side was torn off and the tank is a bit rumpled in its place.
Since I work in the metal forming industry, I could make up a new knee pad bracket modeled after the left side and tack weld it on. But the dents could be a bit tricky to work out. The other good news is, they bondoed right over the original paint, so it's clear that this bike was originally black frame, silver tins.


How available are these tanks, and how pricey? I need other tins, such as side covers, chain guard and tool box anyway. Maybe I could get a quantity discount..LOL[/img]

[G-Man]

Like everything else they range from beautiful to nasty with prices to match..... :-)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

G