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about a year and a half ago i got a kawasaki LTD440 from a colleague of mine for free. (well, i did a custom job on his other LTD and he was that happy i got the other bike
)
the bike had been standing for several years and was put away because it was hard to start and wouldn't idle. in the years it stood in his garage it had been flooded once to just under the carb.
(garage is lower than the water table)
so all it had been doing the last 4 years was rusting away. since i had no room it stood in his garage when it was in my possession.
fast forward to 2 months ago, a friend of mine was smoking way to much weed and it was starting to affect his finances and relationship.... his GF asked me if o would know a thing to keep him off the weed or drastically cut down.
i thought about the rusty LTD and thought it was a reason for him to quit smoking.
so he stopped for two months and got the bike from me.
we put it in my garage and we swapped the coil and i rewired several oxidized wires and cleaned the ground. rebuild the carbs and rebuild the front brake.
it runs like a madman and strong now!
but it is a boring rusty 13 in a dozen LTD.
i was amazed about the raw power the engine had. it is not fast in high speeds but reaches his top very fast! so.... i thought about building it into a cafe racer.
my buddy liked the idea but had a budget of roughly nothing with a peak of zero.
since i gave him a whole bike i did not have the intention to give him parts, so we had to do with the stuff on the bike already. he had a rear fender laying in my garage from his dead savage and some shorter springs.
so with some simple mods we turned it into a cafe within 3 hours.
shorter shocks, different rear fender, trimmed buddy and upside down mounted handlebars.
no rust removed we like to keep it rusty, so the rust will be flattened and get's some clear over it to keep the real patina. so hence the term, RATCAFE. a rat bike in cafe racer trim
it's defenately not a pretty bike or a great custom job but with spending absolutely no euro's a little time it's a nice bike though.
i'm not proud of this bike and it's the fugliest to ever come out my garage...
but it's growing on me.
) the bike had been standing for several years and was put away because it was hard to start and wouldn't idle. in the years it stood in his garage it had been flooded once to just under the carb.
(garage is lower than the water table)
so all it had been doing the last 4 years was rusting away. since i had no room it stood in his garage when it was in my possession.
fast forward to 2 months ago, a friend of mine was smoking way to much weed and it was starting to affect his finances and relationship.... his GF asked me if o would know a thing to keep him off the weed or drastically cut down.
i thought about the rusty LTD and thought it was a reason for him to quit smoking.
so he stopped for two months and got the bike from me.
we put it in my garage and we swapped the coil and i rewired several oxidized wires and cleaned the ground. rebuild the carbs and rebuild the front brake.
it runs like a madman and strong now!
but it is a boring rusty 13 in a dozen LTD.
i was amazed about the raw power the engine had. it is not fast in high speeds but reaches his top very fast! so.... i thought about building it into a cafe racer.
my buddy liked the idea but had a budget of roughly nothing with a peak of zero.
since i gave him a whole bike i did not have the intention to give him parts, so we had to do with the stuff on the bike already. he had a rear fender laying in my garage from his dead savage and some shorter springs.
so with some simple mods we turned it into a cafe within 3 hours.
shorter shocks, different rear fender, trimmed buddy and upside down mounted handlebars.
no rust removed we like to keep it rusty, so the rust will be flattened and get's some clear over it to keep the real patina. so hence the term, RATCAFE. a rat bike in cafe racer trim
it's defenately not a pretty bike or a great custom job but with spending absolutely no euro's a little time it's a nice bike though.
i'm not proud of this bike and it's the fugliest to ever come out my garage...
but it's growing on me.
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