Times Two - Honda CB900F Cafe Racers

this project started last september. I had just sold my ’79 Honda CB750 named ‘Smooth Sailing’ to a famous NFL player. I had a lot of fun building that bike and was wondering what bike I could work on next. Since I loved the CB platform, I thought why not go with the most popular Honda of the 1980s, the CB900F supercar. less than 24 hours later I had bought a pair of them! one was an ’81 and the other an ’82. Over the next 10 months, I customized both bikes to create the “blue angel” and the “ss”.

Reading: Cb900 cafe racer

The concept I developed for each bike was based on my favorite aspects of the original Honda Super Sport design. I wanted to maintain the European-style lines that characterized the cb900f and cb900 bol d’or. I found the lines of the CB900F subframe quite disappointing. Low and inappropriate for the cafe racer conversion I had in mind. So the first task I tackled was removing the rear subframe. I created a new custom subframe that had the line I was looking for and added a minimalist electrical box to it. inside the box i place the basic electrical equipment like a motogadget m unit, regulator, starter relay and battery.

after completing the subframe, i moved on to the most interesting part of the project, the new seat and rear hood. To do this, I used my resources as a manufacturer of competition catamarans to design and manufacture the new bodywork for each of the motorcycles. The rear hood design was done in 3d using solidworks. Once I was happy I had a shape that matched the factory fuel tank lines, I 3d printed a model that I could put on the subframe. after seeing him on the bike i was able to go back to solidworks and perfect his form. once I was satisfied with a design that met my styling requirements, we used conventional techniques to fit the final carbon fiber piece.

Suzuki GSX-R forks replace stock CB setup. Special attention has been paid to the triple shaft that we machine in-house. There are integrated clip-on bar clamps that provide a comfortable riding position and a pocket to hold the MotoGadget Pro speedometer. Between the fork legs of each bike is a 7-inch Jeep headlight that is held in place with custom machined brackets.

Another challenge was fitting the 18-inch twin-spoke wheels. The front wheel posed a minor problem. We 3D designed and machined the new hub after consulting Buchanan for advice on which of their aluminum rims and stainless steel spokes to use. the rear hub, however, was a bit more complex to create. After not being able to get the stock rear hub to work we decided to use an item ’77 Honda CB750F. it was pretty much an add-on solution on top of some adapters. the 18-inch buchanan tires are 3.5 and 4.5 inches front and rear and allowed me to mount pirelli angel 120/18 and 160/18 tires.

Each of the bikes’ engines were completely disassembled, cleaned, glass polished, and repainted with high-temp paint. I also replaced the primary chain, timing chain, and all seals and gaskets. Inside, each engine uses a Wiseco 985cc kit and the heads have been worked on. Thanks to a high voltage ignition cycle, the upgraded cylinders receive 3 firings per stroke and are fed plenty of fuel by new 34mm Mikuni carburettors. The bikes still have to spend time on a dyno to give you an exact power figure, but when you open them up, the SS and Blue Angel can be tough beasts to tame.

story of sylvain carignan