How much is too much?

[Mozza]

So I'm turning my cb500 into a cafe racer, how much can I remove before it becomes non road legal? I'm planning on removing the centre stand completely and just using the side stand and I would like to remove as much weight as possible for that clean race look. I heard that you have to run a chaingaurd to make a bike road legal is that true? Can I remove the fenders completely or are they a legal requirement? Can I run the bike without a horn? Having never built a bike before it's difficult to know how much to remove before it becomes illegal. Cheers in advance.

[SteveD CB500K0]

Bryan's an ex-MOT tester so he'll know all this, but...

You must have a horn
You must have a chainguard
Not sure about mudguards
If indicators are fitted they must work

[z1100r]

Apparently you can take a frame, engine and wheels for an MOT if you like. Some say you need a brake light but I dont think thats true. You dont need any lights of any description. Anything fitted has to work as already stated but its very loose after that. You would only get a daytime MOT of course.

[SteveD CB500K0]

You would only get a daytime MOT of course.

Yes - forgot about those...

That could be the answer for a cafe racer.

[Mozza]

Don't really like the idea of having a curfew for my bike plus I want to be safe. practicality over aesthetics, I want a good looking bike but I'm not going to compromise my visibility on the road ( one of the main reasons why my current road bike is bright orange yet people still don't seem to look out for me)

[pauliexjr]

Apparently you can take a frame, engine and wheels for an MOT if you like. Some say you need a brake light but I dont think thats true. You dont need any lights of any description. Anything fitted has to work as already stated but its very loose after that. You would only get a daytime MOT of course.

Not actually true, you must have a working method of warning i.e. horn, and if registered after 1/4/86 you must have working indicators. As said, everything else must work if fitted. More info on chronolgy here http://thames-valley-region.mag-uk.org/Pages/legisla_chronology_of_motorcycles.htm

[z1100r]

Not actually true

Bloody close though...you only need a rubber-bulb horn on the bars if its pre-86, which i assume all bikes on here are.

[SteveD CB500K0]

 

I actually did that way back in the 70's when my 500/4 failed due to a faulty horn. As I was in a bicycle shop (many MOT stations were in those days), he sold me a cheap rubber bulb horn, watched while I fitted it and promptly passed me.

I then went home and took it off (and fixed the horn eventually)


One of my bikes failed recently as the Cibie Z-beam headlamp was actually French and dipped the wrong way. No MOT tester had noticed this since it was fitted 20 years ago!
He gave me some black tape and checked the beam pattern as I masked off various bits of the lens. He then passed me and suggested that I remove that ugly black tape once I was out of his premises...

 

[florence]

About twenty something years ago I built a cafe race cx500.  I turned the handle bars upside down, replaced the saddle with a strip of metal with carpet glued to it, put on a different headlamp, removed everything I could do without and, being a country boy, made my own exhaust system out of tractor parts.  I had chopped down the front mudguard to about seven inches because I wanted to keep the fork brace.  When I took it for the MOT everything was fine apart from the mudguard which I was told must cover one third of the circumference of the wheel.  I took it home and attached some plastic onto each side using self-tapping screws.  It was good enough for the MOT man and as soon as I returned from the MOT station I took the 'extensions' off again.

[Mozza]

The front mudgaurd can stay I suppose but the plan was to remove the rear mudgaurd and mount the brake light and licence plate directly under the seat to shorten the back of the bike up but if I need to cover more of the rear wheel that idea might be out of the question. I have been using a lot of the USA modern cafe racers as inspiration but obviously they have more lenient laws over there.

[florence]

I'm sure that things which sit on your bike for the MOT can easily 'fall' off again when you get home....

[kaceyk2]

Mozza, I just noticed you are in Aber....( I am over carmarthen way )  i know Aber well, especially ciliau aeron, trefenter lake area, roads to lampeter (back and main) llangurig roads and over to Tregaron ..etc.
I also know that what is legal for the MOT is not the same as what the Old bill in wales will accept...
Motorbike shop in Carmarthen built a racing bike and sidecar, they got in legally Mot'd with healights brake lights and horn, indicators etc, it was a beautifull build, and flew through the MOT. They went out on it, the cops pulled em immediately ....when they argued it was totally legal, the cops said "we don't care we don't like it,  its only 22inches tall, what would happen if you went under a truck?" All attempts at argueing the law failed... The bottom line was "get it off the road or we will" With cops like these about, what can one do?
There are many instances of folk who have travelled the world without incident , just to get pulled over and haranged as soon as they come down the M4...
West wales cops dont understand a "noisy" exhaust is a safe exhaust as folk can hear you, usually before they see you, as can little kids that may jump out etc.
Anything that the cops here see as "unusual" has to be pretty much perfect and safe, which I am certain your build will be... Unfortunatley I believe in the UK you do need a front mudgaurd....

[Mozza]

I went to college in carmarthen, we have some good roads down this part of the country, can't wait to finish this build and take it out for a spin, best place to to test my first ever classic bike. Couldn't agree more with you about the cops in this part of Wales I know plenty of people who have been pulled in cars and bikes for trivial reasons I know they are only doing their jobs but it can seem a bit much sometimes. I remember reading in mcn a while back about a guy who was pulled over because his licence plate was millimetres too small when a guy came speeding past them well over the speed limit and they kept  going on at him rather than catch someone doing something that puts others in danger. There's a certain officer everyone knows in this area who does that sort of thing but I won't name names.

[kaceyk2]

Indeed Mozza, It got so bad for me, everytime I went into town they pulled me... then they said "we will also pull anyone we see you talking too"  So I became a hermit for a while.
They are magic roads though? (watch out for slurry and diesel)
The roads over Telsarn are magic especially the "old way " of getting from Lampeter to Aber (accross "the tops")   Is "the graig" cafe still open in aber? (good woodburner but no meat on the menu)

[Mozza]

The graig haha I just asked my dad about that place as I had never heard of it, he reckons it's been shut about 10years. The council forced them to fix it as it was falling apart. I really don't get what the police have against motorcyclists sometimes I have a mate who is a pcso and he came over to me and another mate of mine who has a bike and after saying hello the next thing out of his mouth was are those standard cans? And he was looking around for markings on them it's like it's drilled into them as soon as they start.