CAFE RACER

I've been having fun fix up an old Suzuki GS400 motorcycle. I found it abandoned a few years ago at an abandoned house up the street - true story! I actually tracked down the owner and got him to give me the title in exchange for a case of beer - under $15. I got it running back in 2007 and put some "Clubman" handlebars on it to make it a little more sporty. This year I've decided to do more in the path of converting it into a CAFE RACER.

First I put on new front and rear tires

Larger than the originals and a matched Front/Rear set. I wanted the full vintage experiance in changing the tires myself and tried locally to buy tire irons or spoons - no luck and I didn't want to wait for the mail order so I bought 3 pry bars from Harbor Freight and welded then ground the ends smooth. Because of there shape they work excellent and I'm able the change a tire in about 1/2hr.

Front Tire 18" x 100/90 (4" wide original was 3"wide)

Rear Tire 18" x 110/90 (4.3" wide original was 3.5" wide)

Second - Drill the Front Disk Brake

This took about 1.5 hrs. I removed the disk from the wheel then I laid out the pattern I wanted in AUTOCAD then printed it full size. I taped the template to the disk then transfered the holes to the disk using a center punch. I drilled a pilot hole in each location about 1/8" deep then drilled through with a 9/32" bit using TAP MAGIC which produced tear free holes. Lastly I csk both sides. I think it looks awesome and should really help in the rain.