Meet Artax Jr., my cafe racer project bike. After letting go with my 'Playstation 3' fund, I bought him for $300 in the beginning of summer in a non-working condition. I took it to a mechanic to diagnose it for me and he said it was a complete waste of my time, but I was determined. I had to have it towed 30 min to my house. I knew nothing about motorcycles other than how to ride them and very little about engines. I gave him new oil, gas, spark plugs, and a battery, cleaned out the carbs, air filters, oil filter, bled the brakes, installed a new chain and clubman handlebars (all with much help from youtube and this forum!). Getting it started and going on my first ride was one of the happiest moments of my life. So far its feeling and looking pretty good. Feel free to offer suggestions or comments.

Im leaving in 2 weeks because I despise NY winters, but future projects include replacing signals, mirrors and tail light, building cafe seat, and any easy or cheap engine work that anyone can suggest

Does anyone know where to buy cafe seats, or are they all fabricated. I saw one seat on Mikes XS but its almost as much as I paid for the bike. Looking for a cheaper solution than $200. And if people customize them do they use the original seat insertions into the frame? I'm decent with welding if anyone has any dimensions on hand

a good seat is atleast 200 buck's . your best bet for on the cheap is to make your own out of your stock seat . it's not that hard. i would also use real leather it's much more comfy . i plan on making 1 for my 82 xs400 seca as soon as i have more fund's . her she is the black widdow

here's a homemade seat

bit more of a cafe build ( in german but it has pikkies)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://210373.homepagemodules.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dxs400%2Bforum%2Bde%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D