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.
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.
