RenaatXS

Hello, I've recently bought 2 1979 Yamaha XS400 Specials. The yellow one still has the original documents for legal road use, the black one is "paperless"... I also got two XS 250 engines free for spare parts. Now, my dad has got 4 old Ducati 350 Desmo's, and 3 of them are modified to caféracer. This is my dad's favourite one (Extremely comfortable steering, but lazy engine): And this is a Honda CB450 Caféracer that inspires me aswell: I want to change one of my XS's into a Caféracer like the Ducati of the Honda, but I don't know where to start I will change the original steer to lower clip-ons, I would like to saw of the rear end of the frame (right after the suspension mounts), I want to place a single seat with a polyester "butt", I'm going to throw of those ugly orange direction lights, I'll lower the front and rear suspension so the bike will look sporty, I'll change and lower the headlight, I'll try to hide the counters, I'll place a small taillight, I want two mufflers with a nice bass sound, and that's about all I can think of. Do you have other suggestions or modifyings to make a nice Caféracer of this bike? I want to make it as light as possible, without much details. Just like the Ducati... Thanks in advance, Renaat (Belgium)

I never ride more then 15 minutes continuously, not good for the engine, and not good for the driver either The engine does get pretty warm, I can feel the heat through my seat But I know enough about those engines to know when I should let it cool down, don't you worry

Hello, I've built 3 karts (http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4257) and 3 minibikes (http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=4256) up to now, starting with my first kart when I was 12, followed by a trike, and when I was 17, I started with the front of my last kart. Well, this is a compilation of the building of the basic frame: I started in the summer of 2007, then took a brake, because I did not find an engine. When I finally got a Yamaha engine in the spring of 2008, I had to extend the (rusty) 8 months old frame . I was pretty lucky to find this unfinished Yamaha XS400 chopper project for just 150€ (200$): It's a 1980 Yamaha XS400; 27hp, 2 mikuni 34mm carbs, 6 gears... I cleaned the carbs and fitted bigger main jets (.142 instead of .137,5), mounted some K&N air filters and I started from nothing with the wiring. After a few months of finishing some details, my kart looked like this: I made this 2-in-1 exhaust system for my exhaust: This is my "pro" dashboard, all selfmade: My lights (Headlight turns together with the front wheels): View My Video These are some small vids that I've uploaded on Youtube: First Start Video Driving the kart - 1 So what do you think of it?