'96 600 Street Fighter

[MolotovCat]

Here's the before:
Bone stock


After:




Done:
Remove fairings, cut rear fairings down
Replace headlight and turn signals
Replace stock speedo/odo
Repaint tank/rear fairings
Repaint triple tree (PO had a keyfob scratch it to hell)
Install bar-end mirrors
Wrap headers
Cut shovel

To do:
Apply white racing stripes decal to tank
Wrap from header to muffler
Install Koso mini tach (need to make a mount similar to my speedo/odo mount)
Get license plate bolts/nuts :P
Shorten speedo sensor wire/jb weld sensor to fork
Remove cali crap (PAIR system, rear canister. Already have custom block off plates)
Reroute certain wires/hoses

Still needs a good cleaning, especially the wheels, forks, and near chain as it has 16 years of debris caked on. I bought this bike from the original owner and he had never cleaned it aside from hosing it down it seems. Just used the bike as a commuter. I've already cleaned a lot but it's not an easy task. Aside from the above, I need to check valve clearance and clean the carbs (pilot jet is iffy).

[il_ragazzo]

Looks like a good start. good job painting the tank black on the bottom it makes it look better.

[miranda3]

hey, what head lamp are you using here? and is there a speedo somewhere in there. im trying to turn my 92 into a street fighter and i dont know what to do with all that stuff in the front

[MolotovCat]

hey, what head lamp are you using here? and is there a speedo somewhere in there. im trying to turn my 92 into a street fighter and i dont know what to do with all that stuff in the front

There is a speedo/odometer. It's located on the right clip-on (small rectangular digital display). It's a Sigma Sport BC 1609 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sigma-Sport-...#ht_1229wt_972) I got the idea from this thread (http://katriders.com/vb/showthread.php?t=81326).

Instead of using the magnet that came with the Sigma, I bought a small rare earth magnet from Radio Shack as there is not enough clearance with the plastic-enclosed magnet that comes with the Sigma. You could probably break/cut the magnet out of the plastic but I didn't want any of that and bought the magnet for $2.

This is the headlight I bought (http://www.ebay.com/itm/150655937444...84.m1439.l2649).

That one is out of stock but I am sure you can find similar. Really, just about any round light with side mounts will work.

I used these mounting brackets:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/260977447237?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_500wt_989

It requires bending to get them to fit the forks properly as it's the absolute upper limit of the brackets.

[calebchesh]

Oh wow man this is a really clean fighter! I really like how you cut the rear plastics down... I might steal that for mine... Different color but maybe a similar cut. Awesome looking...

[black&blue]

A fighter project that doesn't look like crap. Quite nice, I dig it a lot. We've actually been getting a pretty decent influx of not-terrible fighters lately, and I can't see that as anything but a good thing. I'm glad to see more bikes like yours exemplifying "the right way".

Though this one I have a hard time differentiating from "cafe racer" look - can you clarify this for me or would you say almost cafe-like is a fair statement?

[MolotovCat]

A fighter project that doesn't look like crap. Quite nice, I dig it a lot. We've actually been getting a pretty decent influx of not-terrible fighters lately, and I can't see that as anything but a good thing. I'm glad to see more bikes like yours exemplifying "the right way".

Though this one I have a hard time differentiating from "cafe racer" look - can you clarify this for me or would you say almost cafe-like is a fair statement?

Honestly, there is no clear line drawn in the sand for whatever a "cafe racer" or "streetfighter" is.

My bike is what it is. I guess you could call it either way. I think cafe racer has taken on a new meaning these days and now it refers to simply a style of bike that is naked with a specific style of no-pillion seat and a specific style of headlight fairing/windscreen. It's quite a narrow term now. The term streetfighter is nearly useless. Is it a naked bike? A crashed bike that has non-OEM parts slapped on? A custom naked bike? Who knows, who cares, who has the authority to say what it really is?

I love the standard bikes of old, but I also love the performance of today's bikes. I wanted to strike a balance between the two and do away with the rather ugly styling of the early-mid 90s. In this case, mainly the paint scheme. Had this bike had more neutral colors/decals I might have kept it stock.

As a side note, and some insight into what cafe racer meant back then, check out this piece by Hunter S Thompson:

http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html

It's an interesting and fun read.


Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'd really appreciate more ideas to make this bike sexier.

[Badmojo]

Nice. Looks though you might have some extra parts laying around. I am going the other way with mine. I need left and right lower fairing pieces and the center. And turn signals. Now that there taking up room in your garage wanna make a deal on them?

[MolotovCat]

I might! Guess it depends on what kind of deal it is. :P

[jeepocaster]

More pics! Your Paint looks great!

[black&blue]

Honestly, there is no clear line drawn in the sand for whatever a "cafe racer" or "streetfighter" is.

My bike is what it is. I guess you could call it either way.
As a side note, and some insight into what cafe racer meant back then, check out this piece by Hunter S Thompson:

http://www.latexnet.org/~csmith/sausage.html

It's an interesting and fun read.

honestly, it's damn sexy as is. If it were me, I'd probably find something to nitpick and make myself unhappy with, but dude. it looks wicked clean as it is.

Also, I always recommend new riders read Song of the Sausage Creature. It also heavily influenced my riding style. HST is one of my heroes. But the piece is more a homage to the attitude of the cafe racer (the person, not bike) without getting too much into the definition thereof.