1973 BMW R60/5 Special
(Page 3 of 3)
July/August 2009
By Phillip Tooth
Josh chose a Corbin seat and had it made with blue piping to match the paintwork. Both the tail light and turn signals use neat LED lights. The Toaster café racer was finished off with stainless pipes and Norton Commando peashooter silencers. “The bike hardly sounds like a BMW anymore,” laughs Josh. “It has some serious throat to it.”
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First ride
But Josh wasn’t too impressed with the first trip on his freshly built café racer: “The first 75 miles on the bike was the worst ride of my life. Turns out that because I assembled the forks on the headstock a couple of years earlier, they remained in their extended position and got stuck.
“In my eagerness to ride the bike I really didn’t notice how stiff the front end was. Then I took it down the highway to do a little engine break-in and I thought my kidneys were going to explode. A friend suggested something was wrong with the forks and sure enough they were seized solid. I took them apart and loosened them up.” Everything has worked smoothly for the last 600 miles.
“Every time I get on this bike and hear the roar from behind as I tear down the street, it gives me the liberating feeling of what riding a motorcycle is all about. Heads turn when people hear the sound of those peashooters and I’m always getting compliments about the café look,” Josh says. “Just the other day I passed a guy on the freeway, only to have him speed up to me, honk his horn and give the thumbs up. It is definitely an attention grabber.”
Josh isn’t done yet. The final drive is geared low for good snap off the line, but he is considering changing it for a higher top end. The bike could use a better front brake. Josh thinks a twin-leading-shoe Fontana or Grimeca would look cool. “When funds allow I want to replace the wheel rims and add chrome spokes, and tweak the rearsets as well,” Josh adds. But for now, he’s just going to enjoy the ride. MC
Omar’s Rearsets
www.rearsets.info
Corbin seats
www.corbin.com
Forks
www.progressivesuspension.com
Photography
www.joshwithers.com
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