Cafe Creme - my Boardtracker project.

Hi Keith - yes I know that one - it's the "Voodoo" - a very nice piece of kit but would cost me about £1800 landed here in the UK. Non starter I'm afraid.

However, that IS the style of curved frame I'm after. The top tube would have to be a shallower bend to match my La Francaise Diamant tank.

I priced up the materials at my pal's [ Realm Engineering ] as the make their own Jaguar C Type and D Type chassis' in house. £50 ..... admittedly that is using his trade discount - but that's for all the parts - tubing, headstock and rear axle location plates.

No pedals BTW - this is a full size [ 1000cc ] bike.

Lurker said:

beachcomber, This looks like it is gong to be another one of those must follow threads. That tr1 engine looks fantastic for a btr, I wish I would have known about that engine before I started my v-twin build. If I ever build another bike from scratch that will be my engine of choice. My favorite part about it is that it has that vintage crank case look, it wouldn't take much effort to make it look vintage, or at least have a vintage feel to it.

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I looked for ages to find a suitable "vintage" 'ish V twin engine for my 60's style Cafe Racer. I was going for a Vincent Norton sort of look, and apart from a Vincent [ financially out of reach ] there were not many air cooled V Twins for the job [ that I could afford ]. Then I remembered I'd owned a TR1 briefly about 20 years ago, and while it was a very bland bike, it certainly had the makings for what I wanted.

I ended up with FOUR donors [ don't ask ! ] and after doing a quick makeover as a Flat Tracker to ride around this Summer - I convinced myself that the powerplant would do the job - visually and mechanically.

The idea of a Boardtracker influenced bike came to me early last year when I saw the "Willow" bike - and yet again the TR1 lump looked OK for the job.

I've seen 15-20 or so used [ TR1 ] in Cafe Racers, Bobbers, Specials - and every time the engine has been dressed to look different ! I was going to Turbo Cafe Creme, but the turbo packaging became a nightmare , so I abandoned that idea. I decided to go with 2 x SUs - to give the bike more of a vintagey look. I saw another V Twin [ *** ] with the engine painted "body" colour and it looked good. So MY plan is to shoot the whole powerplant in a smooth ish wrinkle paint [ Black only ! ] and then paint it in body colour - in this case Cream. ALL Yamaha idents are being "lost". I've got a pal who's going to alloy weld where the names appear on the casings then I'll get it linished flat and ready for paint. Not sure about the various cam, tappet, starter covers whether to polish them or paint in the bike accent colour - Coffee Brown. I have several sets of covers, so I'll get one set polished and see what looks right.

My Vindicator Cafe Racer is getting a Vincent 'ish style exhaust - the rear cylinder siamesing into the front, whilst I'm using a MAC 2 into 1 [ USA ] system on Cafe Creme. Originally this would have suited the turbo application - and I'm still keeping that option open - so I'll use the pipe anyway. The finish is more of a headache at the moment - a long way off I know. At the moment it's Black Chrome, but has a few minor dings that I want to refurb. I refuse to go down the route of wrapping the exhaust in old bandages.

Planning is half the fun isn't it?

COME ON SOMEONE'S GOT TO BE KIDDING ? EDITING / POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE BONKERS. *** J.A.P. IF YOU PREFER IS A BIKE / ENGINE NOT A TERM FOR A JAPANESE PERSON.

IF I do decide to go down the sidecar route it will only be if I can find a suitably 1920's chair - or something like the Stoye.

Just tripped over this little gem. I think the bidding will go way over my budget, but you never know !

With 6 days to go and already £160 I think it will go way beyond what I can afford.

Plenty of others out there I'm sure !

We get through quite a few Brooklands screens on RAM's other replica - the C Type.

Looks like the chair is a 1930's Brooklands Meteor and saw use in WW2 [!! ]

There was a modern replica, but the company went bust. It's been bought out, but I can't find any details. The Black one is an original.

There was a bid of £680 - way beyond me. Then suddenly it dissapeared to be replaced by £288 !!! Back in with a chance.

And then it shot up to £927.00 !!! No chance.

Time to forget sidecars for the time being - I can always add one later. Back to the main plot. I'm cleaning and jet washing the powertrain this weekend and I hope to get the wrinkle finish painting done [ engine ] in the next 2-3 weeks.

I've also selected a pair of forks to be checked out then they're ready for refurb. and prep for paint. I've spent the week sorting through all the stock of parts to see if everything is OK - so far all the parts look good. The engine I'm using for this one is very low mileage and a good runner. Just looking for another SU carb and I can start setting up the manifolds.

I've been told there's drawings for Vincent Girdraulic forks doing the rounds - can anyone help ?

Ludwig II said:

For what it's worth. Lifan do 250 and 400 V twins about £1,000/1,200 brand new. Do you actually want air cooled or would you stand for a water cooled engine. i may know somebody.

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Thanx for the headsup Ludwig - but it has to be air cooled [ I think ! ]

That Worksman frame certainly has the looks - not sure if it would take 100bhp - no matter what the mods !

Here's something similar to what I have in mind - not a Boardtracker as we know it Jim, but I love the flowing lines. This one's an American "Voodoo" BTW.

That said - I have become really hooked with the enginuity and grace and style of the projects on this forum. That's why I'm looking for a Moto-Morini 350 / 500 V twin. My first choice was a Yamaha 250 V twin - and on costs alone that might have to be the one, but actively looking for a Morini now.

With all the plastic clutter taken off and with the olde Worlde exhaust outlet positions, I think it has the makings.

Ludwig II said:

This is a serious question. Once you have the engine of your choice and the measurements, why not go over to George Yeomans and see what they've got knocking about. As well as that, there's all the autojumbles and vintage meetings to trawl through. You can pick up some nice complete girders as well.

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My problem these days is one of finance - since I closed my business when I retired 12 years ago, ALL hobby finance has to be done courtesy of E-Bay. That is - I sell something - I can buy something !

As it's only Mrs.B who is the breadwinner now and my State pocket money doesn't go far - 2 kids going through Uni, dah, dee, dah, dee, dah .........

Anyway - need to get down to Yeomans as a matter of curiosity if nothing else.

I have just tripped across an incredible early moped / autocycle thingy that NO ONE has a clue as to make and etc. I'm bidding, but have to see where it ends up. I'm already spending money I've saved to have my alloy rimmed wheels built !