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CAFÉ RACER

Challenge

This bike started as a Suzuki Gs550. Bought for a small price, the client was planning on doing his own first project and already started with chopping the bike. Not having the opportunity to weld, he then made a wise decision and came to us, with his bike in cradles. He told us he wanted something special, that would stand out against all other café racers. We talked about bobbers, board trackers, café racers…. He liked them all! But he said: “This is only a gs 550″ ” You cannot do anything special with that”….. ok ….. challenge accepted!

Achievements

  • A weight reduction was achieved of more than 55kg, getting to a dry weight of 160 kg instead of 216 kg original.
  • The entire geometry is redesigned (wheelbase staid the same). A girder front-end is designed and simulated as well as the mono shock rear suspension.
  • A new front fork and swing-arm were fabricated in chromoly tubing. Lightweight alloy wheels were used with modern brake discs and big calipers. This bike looks old-school but handles like a proper racer.

Special features

Custom swing arm

Because the geometry changed from twin to mono shock, a custom trellis swing arm was made of chromoly tubing. Weight of 3.9 kg

Modified frame

The original frame is chopped and stripped of all unnecessary parts. A new mounting point was fabricated for the mono shock suspension.

Yokes and wish bones

New yokes and wishbones were designed for the Girder suspension and were CNC milled.

Front fork

The front fork was fabricated in chromoly tubing, to make the girder suspension design possible. It weighs only 3.5 kg.

Tank and seat

To achieve an aggressive bobber board tracker look, a large gas tank was placed together with a small seat.

Brakes

A massive 300mm wave disc is placed. Together with a 6 piston brake caliper this provides more than enough stopping power.

Front and rear suspenion

The entire suspension setup is simulated to make sure the bike handles perfectly! Custom made Wilbers shocks were provided by HK-suspension. This state of the art racing suspension makes sure this oldscool bike will stay ahead of many café racer!

We build show bikes for the road!

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