St4s Project

The alcantara isn't technically waterproof. What Dave did is put a waterproof membrane between the alcantara and the foam and then treated the alcantara with a waterproof solution similar to that used on canvas tents. To be honest if it's raining - it will stay in the garage

As for cost - more than I'd planned. I've got carried away with things as usual and there are lots of things that have been done that didn't need to be -but we did it because we can and Vivs ideas are brilliant.

If you include the purchase of the original bike it will probably stand me around 13k. Although in that are things like belts, clutch, chain and sprockets, fluids, brake pads etc which added up are probably over 1k on their own

 

So It's finally finished. We had a scramble over the last couple of days trying to chase out electrical gremlins which turned out to be a weak crank position sensor signal.

In the mean time Viv has completed the exhaust system. The Akrapovic end cans are from a Moto3 bike which a friend of mine runs and the bit I love the most is the secondary upright complete with Lamba sensor boss which is from a Jaguar XJR-14 Le Mans car which Viv worked when he was part of the Silk Cut Jaguar Le Mans Team back in the 90's.

As for the style of the exhaust I wanted it to be high level as a a nod to the 916 which bike has the engine from and was the poster bike of my childhood. I also really like the style of the new 1299 Superleggera system but didn't want it to be exactly the same and wanted something unique - I think Viv has got it spot on.





















So late yesterday we checked every nut and bolt, cleaned it up and put all of the final parts on the bike for the first time. All I can say is it's better than I'd imagined it could look Viv has absolutely taken my dream and made it a reality.















A quick vid of Viv leaving to take it for it's first run. It's running rich so we can lean that out with the power commander. LOUD doesn't come close......



I then loaded it up in the van and took it down to London to drop off to be taken up to the tip of Scotland ready for the start of the Malle Great Mile on Thursday morning.







I'll keep the thread updated with how my maiden 1000+ mile journey goes!!!!

 

Ok a little update on this.

The bike completed the Malle Great Mile - well the first day at least! I had a great first day on the bike but unfortunately the day ended with me stranded in a very dark layby just outside Fort William.





















At the time I thought it was something terminal so I loaded the bike in the back of the support truck and licked my wounds. The next morning I travelled with the support crew and had a flash of inspiration - I could get a flight back down South, pick up my Hypermotard and then ride up to meet the rally at the rendezvous point in the Lake District that evening and do the final three days riding. So that's what I did....









It actually turns out that the Hypermotard was the better bike to do it on and ate the miles up whilst also being an absolute blast on the twisty A & B roads that made up most of the route.

 

Anyway back to the cafe racer....when I got it home, hastily, I started the hunt for a new engine and found a low mileage 998 unit out of an S4rs and duly fitted it, only for the bike to still not start! Now thinking my luck couldn't have been that bad to have bought a duff engine which I'd compression tested before handing over my cash I did what I should have done in the first place and checked the fuses and relays...turns out the fuel pump relay had cooked itself!! So now I have a 916 ST2 engine sat on the shelf in the garage!

In the short time the cafe racer made an appearance at the rally it got a lot of attention with many people appreciating the time and effort that had gone into it, so much so that we were asked if we would like to submit the bike to be considered to be included in The Bike Shed Show! Viv did the paperwork and submitted the entry and it was accepted!!

Now that we had this in the diary we had another deadline to work to and I wanted the bike to go the the show having all the niggles sorted. The first was the seat unit, I wasn't overly happy with the paintjob done on it as I wanted a smaller number board rather than the one that went alongside the whole seat unit. We spoke with the original paintshop and they said they'd rectify it for me so stripped it down and did it again!

Next up was the forks, they were one of the few things I hadn't touched from the original cafe racer I bought so took them off, stripped them down and sent them off for anodising, whilst they were away I also spotted a nice set of NCR triple clamps sat in Vivs workshop so did a deal with him on those too.

Now the front end was going to look a lot tougher I wanted the brakes to look the part too so sourced a set of Brembo M4 calipers and some HPK discs.

The final bit for me was the wheels. All the cafe racers I've ever lusted over have had spoked wheels so I specced up a set of Kineo wheels and sent my order off for the 6 week lead time for them to be built. To match them I also got an AEM sprocket and carrier to match.

Here's the bike as it sits now....

















The bike was really well received at the show and one of the best compliments for me was that someone said - you can tell it's not just a show bike it's obviously been built to ride and have fun on - which is exactly what I wanted. Viv got a couple of commissions from the bike being at the show and someone even offered me 30k for my bike - which I respectfully declined.

A certain Mr Agostini even stopped by and had a chat with Viv about the bike and told him it was his favourite at the show..... praise indeed