VF750 Sabre Cafe

1984 VF700S from Las Vegas

That's how 'Perry', the builder, tells us the tail of this VF... "I was on the hunt for another custom build and I came across this bike on Craigslist here in Las Vegas. It was listed by Mr. Warren as an all original, 2 owner, extremely well condition but currently not starting. I called Mr. Warren right away with tons of questions, he said he thought it was just a fuse because when you turn the key on nothing turns on. The bike had been sitting for a year and a half. Sounds right to me but I was a little on the fence because I never like buying anything not being able to test drive it. I decided to head to his house and check out the bike. I was blown away at the condition for a 32 year old bike! Mr. Warren also had receipts for maintenance, repairs and all the old parts that were replaced. I felt so comfortable with it all I pulled the trigger, purchased it and loaded it on the trailer. There was no way I was going to sleep that night if I didnt try to get it started. I hooked the battery charger up and turned the key on, nothing happened. Checked the fuses and they were all good. What a bummer I said. I kept digging and found the main fuse, success!! It was cracked, not even blown. The best part of it all, it had a spare fuse right next to it. I replaced the fuse and fired it up, the motor started after 3 cranks. Giant smile on my face at this point. Suddenly all I could remember was Mr. Warren and how much he loved this bike and I felt guilty for the low price he let her go for. I immediately called him back and let him know it really was just a fuse! I offered to ride the bike back to him for the original selling cost plus $50 for my time and fuel. He was absolutely blown away that I would do that for him. He said he would call me right back, that he needed to talk to his wife first. So he called me back sounding a little bummed out and said, 'truth is I’m unemployed right now and the wife and I have medical bills stacking up' and he could really use the money more at this point and was very thankful for the offer. So game was back on, what in the world am I going to transform this beast into. Light bulb, cafe racer!" 

"... I stripped the bike down to the frame and engine and studied its lines. Cut off wheel came out and the rear subframe got chopped off. Hand crafted a new subframe that was minimalistic and with clean lines. Fabricated new battery mount hidden under the tail, subframe side panels and a new rear cowl all made from steel by hand. Next was the taillight, most taillights are big and bulky and ruin the lines of the bike and I wasn’t going to let that happen here. I cut the rear subframe tube horizontally and welded in a flat bar to allow a custom led taillight to mount for a flush, sleek and meant to be look. Then I made the license plate turn signal mount out of aluminium. The stock foot controls were stripped off next and custom mounts made for new machined aluminium rear sets to get the riding position right for the cafe sport bike it is going to be. (…) Next I felt like tacking the grandpa front end forks. Off they went along with the triple trees, gauges, lights and hand controls. All of that had to go asap. Decided an inverted USD fork swap was perfect for this. I called up Devin at Cognitomoto in Virgina and had him make me a custom machined set of forged aluminium triple trees and steering stem for a 2008 Suzuki GSX-R 750. After installing the forks and trees I knew I wanted spoke wheels for that old school classic look. Stock Mag wheels had to go and next was how to get the wheels I wanted. Called Devin back up and said it was time to make me a custom front wheel with 52 spokes, a sun rim and custom machined hub to fit the GSX-R front end. Next was the rear wheel. This bike is shaft driven, no chain. Being its a Mag wheel I could not use the hub to make a spoke wheel. Searching on e-bay I found a rear wheel off of a 2004 Honda Shadow and it's shaft driven. The hub had the correct amount of teeth in it for the differential. So I purchased it crossing my fingers I could make it work. And what do you know, it did! What a lucky shot that was, I also bought the rear brake assembly for it to be a matching set. Stripped the old rim and spokes off of it and sent the hub to Buchanan spokes for custom spokes, offset and rim to be made. They sent me back the finished product with the correct offset, matching sun rim - black anodized same as the front - and gorgeous stainless steel spokes that the front rim also has. Frame is back to a roller. Seeing the stance of the redesigned machine reenergized me to push on. Stripped the wiring harness out and removed the engine. Sand blasted the frame and powder coated it gloss black. Removed engine rocker covers and inspected top end, adjusted the valves and installed new OEM Honda rocker cover gaskets. Engine ran so good and with only 10k miles on the odometer, no need to tear the engine down. Cleaned up the engine and set her aside. Moving on to electrical. Drilled and tapped the top triple tree for a new Acewell integrated speedo… Next was integrating the GSX-R hand controls with the Honda harness. Remove all the old split loom tubing off of the harness, dissect all the wiring out that wouldn't be needed anymore and soldered in the GSX-R hand controls, Acewell speedo unit, taillight, ignition switch, led turn signals and daymaker style projector led headlight. Wrapped entire harness in new braided loom, Presto, a brand new factory like harness ready to go back in. Reinstalled the engine and harness, made and installed new battery cables for the new tiny and light weight highly potent lithium ion battery. Time for paint and body work. The fuel tank was molded at the rear for the factory seat, well that’s ugly and the new seat will not be anything like this. Welded in sheet metal and body work tank flush and smooth with no more indention for a seat. Time for color choice, I decided I wanted this bike to look classic and new and wanted the colors to give a classic look. Root beer pearl with a cream and gold pearl two tone. After days of stripping all the factory paint off down to steel, on went all new urethane products from primers, base coat, tri coat and clear coat. All wet sanded and buffed to glass like perfection. Stick a straw into that fuel tank and you get a rootbeer float for sure!



Getting close to the finish line now and I need this beast to sound like one with a purpose. Off with the stock exhaust, stripped to metal. Ceramic coated and titanium wrapped. Custom machined polished aluminium tips now in place of the restricted quiet mufflers. Sounds amazing! Clean, aggressive and a one of a kind V4 sound. Finally the seat, custom made fiberglass seat pan moulded to the subframe and fuel tank mounting area, custom foamed for just the right shape and size then off to upholstery, black vinyl with brown stitching and plaited for another classic look. Time to install the custom stainless braided brake and clutch lines along with the custom made throttle cables. Turn the key and she fired right up!"

By Perry.

TECH SPECS -
GSXR-750 complete front end: Anodized gold USD Inverted Forks, Tokico brake system with new front brake rotors, hardware and dual Galfer Stainless braided front brake lines. Nissin front brake and clutch master cylinders. Custom machined aluminum steering stem with Allballs conversion taper bearings, aluminum triple trees and front wheel hub by Cognitomoto. VT750 Honda Shadow Aero rear wheel hub and brake. Wheels SUNRIM F. 17x3.5 / R. 18x4,25 spun aluminum rim black anodized and custom stainless steel spokes and nipples. Rear wheel assembled, trued with Sabre offset by Buchanan spokes. Bridgestone Battlax tires. Engine overhauled. Factory exhaust system, stripped back to bare steel, ceramic black coated, wrapped head pipes in titanium exhaust wrap. Custom machined, polished aluminum Lowbrow ribbed mufflers. Fabrication and Body work: Handmade rear subframe, side panels and rear cowl from steel. Modified fuel tank for seat indention. Drilled and polished radiator shrouds. Custom license plate and turn signal made out of aluminum. Modified swing arm to allow clearance for wider rear tire, stock size 130, new size 160. Custom rear brake mount to swing arm. Custom forged aluminum rear sets and adjustable linkage. Custom molded fiberglass seat pan, foam work and pleated seat cover. Electrical: Harley Davidson 6" headlight bucket and ring powder coated Gloss black with Daymaker style LED projection headlamp system. Acewell 4553 Digital Tacho Speedo unit. LED turn signals (Rear Only) no front signals for simplicity and cleanliness. Custom Dynamics LED taillight with strobe brake function. Mini "Hide away" ignition switch. Complete wiring harness overhaul. AntiGravity Lithium Ion AG-801 battery. 

Ebay find in Las Vegas - Nevada, USA