Behind every bike there is a cafe racer, of course, some models are easier to transform, but if there are people who are not looking for easy ways and this is a story about Matteo, who never ceases to dream.

Tired of spending winter Saturdays and Sundays on the sofa, he decided to create a cheap cafe racer, a welding machine and fiberglass, simply by looking at photos and videos, photos to take inspiration and videos to understand how to make fiberglass tanks and transform the bike.

Despite the lack of adequate equipment such as lathes, cutters or laser cutting, he managed to achieve an excellent result , a sign that when you have a vision for precise and study before approaching the work, the final product is certainly worthy of note.

"When I look at these bikes made according to their own taste or that of others, I feel I have a lot to give, you can make bikes for all tastes and the beautiful thing is that there is not a single style but varied and infinite."Matteo's vision seems adequate, to follow his own taste and style.

Now let's talk about the bike, the name he gave to the bike is derived from the first thing they say as soon as they see it is “really ignorant”, what exactly they mean is not very clear to Matteo , but he appreciates!

The base from which I started is a Ka .asaki ER 5 of 2001 slightly crashed worth 300 Euros, I chose this model because it resumed the style of the 50s, narrow wheels, double rear shock absorber, the only flaw the chassis that prevented having a straight tank.

I started by disassembling it completely and cutting the frame, once redone, with the aim of making it as low as possible with the upper part short and the lower one long, then I made the fiberglass saddle (which then I did cover) and then the tank. For the latter I first made a foam Model (3 cm thick sheets, the insulation one) that I then covered with fiberglass, once dry I poured the Nitro thinner inside, thus dissolving the foam model, which had cost me more than 30 hours of work, then I poured an aeronautical two-component to waterproof the whole.

For the frame I moved the shock absorber attachments 3 centimeters higher and replaced them with a Model 3 centimeters shorter, in this way I lowered it by 6 centimeters. For the front I shortened the travel of the forks by 3 centimeters and I removed them from the plates another 3 centimeters while maintaining the original trim.

Later I lengthened the swingarm by eight centimeters thus obtaining the predetermined result, that is, short above and long below.

For the front crank supports I cut the original ones, for the rear ones I made removable frames (not visible in the photo) for the front fender I modeled the existing one.

To lower the front headlight I modified the original support, for the rear I took a taillight and I recessed it in a tube, for the battery that made me suffer from insomnia I made a container and mounted instead of the central stand, for the license plate that made me crazy because I did not know where to put it, I made the classic license plate holder on the swingarm (even if I do not like it), for the ignition lock I took the original and made a support by mounting it under the tank, made expansion tank for the radiator liquid, made muffler support, replaced muffler, half handlebars, mirrors, arrows, odometer, carburettor filters, shock absorbers, revised electrical system and what else, a painted, reassembled all carburetted and off in the saddle after over 250 hours of work.

Translated from Italian, Credit: Rocket Garage

#Custom #Kawasaki #Moto #Bike #Caferacer #ER5