Paint, side stand, and other mods on the 1972 Honda Z50 Cafe Racer.

Did some stripes, numbers, and hand lettering on the 1972 Honda Z50 Cafe Racer. First off, I do not claim to be a painter or a pin striper, but this bike is a little raw, so my level of skill will do. So far, everything else on the build has been done in-house, with as few parts purchased as possible.

In addition to the stripes, the underside of all the body parts, the chain guard, inner fender and a number of brackets were painted black. The rear panel for the tail lights was also blacked out

Usually, the stripes are taped up with the parts on the frame, but these were done individually. Fortunately everything lines up nicely.

Takegawa of Japan makes some beautiful parts like this forged aluminum side stand made for the Honda Monkey. I have used a number of these stands on previous builds and always liked how they look and function. The stand mount is removable, with a thick rod that extends into a receiver on the engine cradle. A single bolt, seen just forward of the mount, holds it in place.

The side stand removable mount. There is a plate that is welded to the rod base, with a tab on the bottom to keep the mount from rotating, and a hole on the other end that the securing bolt passes through. I like to keep brackets shaved off previous builds and will sometimes re-use them later. The kickstand bracket used to make this one came off the “Cabracer 360” Honda CL175.

The side stand tucks up nicely under the linkage, with plenty of clearance. The petcock is a Ducati style from Italy.

Trying to reference some seventies styling, when bold and loud was cool.

Lining up the black at the bottom of the tank with the seat pad was not altogether intentional, but sometimes things just work out.

The black-out on the lower portion of the body parts is more evident from this view.

A couple side views prior to application of the badges.

When to stop…The last picture before adding tank badges. With fifty year old paint, you can’t undo new mounting holes needed for the badges.

The brass inserts to mount a pair of 1969 Z50 tank badges. They were turned down to one quarter inch and press fit into holes drilled into the side of the tank, and then silver soldered.

A little discoloration around the badges from the soldering flame, but it goes with the rest of the bike just fine.

Next up, a front fender and fork damper… As soon as the damper arrives from Japan.

Waiting on warm weather to epoxy the tank, then it will be time to test this bike out!

!972 Honda Z50 Cafe Racer

Sometimes bikes are built around here for no particular reason. This was a build that started like a lot of others…make one part and the rest just pour out after it, when you only intended to make the first part. Most everything for this build was sitting on the shelf aside from the tires and hand levers. The starting point was a 1972 Z50 tank and frame. The forks came from another ‘72, but the patina was about the same. There will be only minimal painting on this one, mostly graphics and enough paint to cover bare steel parts.

A hodge-podge of different parts. Aside from the 1972 frame and tank, there are CRF50 wheels and engine cases, 1964 CL77 rear-set footpegs, XR75 swingarm, CT70 heat shield parts, an early hardtail Z50 fork top clamp, SL70 headlight bucket, and Kawasaki KLX110 exhaust parts.

The stripes are just electrical tape mock-ups. The side covers, seat, front fairing, and chainguard are all hand formed aluminum pieces. There are a lot of Takegawa parts on the bike, The engine is a 125cc, with Takegawa crankshaft, top end, Special clutch, Super oil cooler, forged aluminum kickstarter, and Keihin PE24 kit with long intake. The muffler is a BBR D-section that has been shortened on both ends.

Since there is a 12 volt system with a lighting coil, I decided to go all-in on the lighting. The rear LED lights also can function as turn signals in addition to running and brake lights. There is a set of vintage KONI shocks on the rear end. The rear fairing is made from a single piece of aluminum, with no welding on any of it. Getting the recess for the light was the most difficult part.

Some of the mounting system for the side covers, front fairing, and tank can be seen here. The tank, front fairing, side covers and handlebars can be stripped from the bike in seconds, without tools.

The cockpit switches are mil-spec C&K, with waterproof covers, sitting on a piece of brass. If anyone is paying attention, many of my builds have custom brass pieces, going back to the 1970’s! A special nut was cut for the steering tube cap. The handlebar knobs are custom, made from some re-pop pieces.

The Tomaselli- style hand levers are a little over-sized for the scale of the bike, but I dig how they look and function. While kind of funky, the neon yellow windscreen is growing on me. Originally intended to be plain yellow or green, the neon one was an online purchase that looked yellow in the picture.

The inner fender on the rear end helps enclose the side covers into a space housing a Kitaco carbon fiber oil vapor can, Tokyo Mods ignition, TrailTech full-wave regulator/rectifier, and a Speedcell lithium battery.

Mocking up graphics. The “MK” is for monkey killer. The 61 is the age of the builder. Not that I dig killing monkeys, just referring to the new Honda Monkey bikes. This bike was nick-named “Pony Boy” by my daughter.

Since the pictures, the graphics have been started and the chainguard was painted black. Not completely happy with the chainguard appearance in bare aluminum, maybe the black will help.

Finishing stages for the 1974 Norton Commando Cafe.

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Another killer paint job by Jason Small of Dallas, Texas. Jason’s attention to detail and knowledge of correct original paint schemes is second to none.

Quite happy with how the front fender fits with the Norman Hyde fork brace. The front wheel and brake assembly are from Don Pender.

The color scheme and pallet was chosen by the owner. The lighting makes it look lighter and brighter in this picture. The actual color is a strong, deep yellow and red.

Still need some final fitting and the seat, but getting there!

Because of my limited aluminum welding skills, all the parts are made from a single piece. In the case of the front fairing, the edges are rolled over a steel rod sub-structure, making it very light.

New bezels and glass were put on the clocks. In order to roll the bezel edges, a jewelers burnisher and a C-clamp were used to get it flattened out nicely..

The tach dial looks better with the hand re-painted fluorescent orange.

I have only sent aluminum out for polishing twice, but probably never again. This time, not only did there do a sub-par job, they completely obliterated the timing marks on the primary cover. This one is a replacement.

There is an inner brace that runs on the outside of the front fender. Because the mounting point is on the lower ears of the fender, there would be a lot of potential for vibration and flexing, and the inevitable stress cracking that follow. The brace hugs the sides of the fender all the way to the crown of the fender, with rubber to soften vibrations. The result is a rigid fender mount that should resist cracking.