Panterra Cafe/Street conversion

[alex_in_az]

I love the Panterra, but I don't ever take it off road and the knobby tires don't let me get the best out of it on the street. so I decided to do a street conversion to it. I got a seat, tank, pipe, pegs and side panels from Taobao.
I started by looking for replacement tires, but the 21" wheel was hard to find tires for plus it just didn't look right. So I found a replacement front wheel at a local wreckers from a 1975 CB200t. This had a smaller disc brake than the Panterra with an incompatible bolt pattern. I re-drilled the bolt pattern and turned a spacer to get the correct offset for the disc.
The new front wheel lowered the front end, but it wasn't where I wanted it, so I replaced the handlebars with clip ons and allowed the forks to protrude thru the triple tree to mount them, this further reduced the front end height and gave me the look I wanted.
The rear needed to be lowered as well, initially I was going to reduce the number of coils in the mono-shock, but after running a few spring calcs I decided the best thing to do was to leave it alone and modify the frame instead.
The tank mounts were similar, but in the wrong place. So I lowered the front ones and raised the rear to compensate for the change in tank shape and lowered rear frame.
more to follow as it progresses

[alex_in_az]

OK here's a couple of more pictures, I shortened the seat rail to fit the new seat, and placed the pipe where it wants to be. I can't fit the exhaust until I get all the 225 conversion parts for it as the exhaust port is too small for the pipe.
I removed the old pegs and am running a set of CG125 pegs that mount under the motor.

[Weldangrind]

You turned a spacer? Please tell us more! Do you have a lathe at home?

I love what you're doing with your bike. Where did you get the seat? The Acerbis headlight looks terrific, and gives it a sort of street fighter look.

Can you spare your old parts? Carguyty could use the seat and old exhaust.

[culcune]

I like what is happening with the Panterra! I wish I had known--I might be parting out the TMEC now that a new one is on its way, and I happened to have a brand new rear wheel/tire (a few hundred miles on it) and a brand new front tire that has not been installed (17" both front and rear).

However, I might just keep the bike as is, and figure out the clutch since I have the luxury of time (don't need that bike to commute), and have a spare bike.

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by culcune

I like what is happening with the Panterra! I wish I had known--I might be parting out the TMEC now that a new one is on its way, and I happened to have a brand new rear wheel/tire (a few hundred miles on it) and a brand new front tire that has not been installed (17" both front and rear).

However, I might just keep the bike as is, and figure out the clutch since I have the luxury of time (don't need that bike to commute), and have a spare bike.

you don't have any connections to YPG do you? I find myself down there throwing stuff out of the back of C130s and C17s at high altitude a couple of times a year.

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

You turned a spacer? Please tell us more! Do you have a lathe at home?

I love what you're doing with your bike. Where did you get the seat? The Acerbis headlight looks terrific, and gives it a sort of street fighter look.

Can you spare your old parts? Carguyty could use the seat and old exhaust.

I got the seat from here http://item.taobao.com./item.htm?spm...b-ff961d86675f the seat base is a stock CG125 one by the looks of it and It's pretty good quality.
I don't have a lathe at home, but am a Mech Eng at a small aerospace company, so I have access to a lathe and mill and know enough about running them to do small stuff.
The inspiration for the build is from an old CB125 I had in the 70s, that had a similar look.
The old seat is in excellent condition, I had it recovered about a year ago, the exhaust is trash. I re-welded about 3 times due to vibration induced stress cracks.

[carguyty]

Originally Posted by alex_in_az

The old seat is in excellent condition, I had it recovered about a year ago,

How close to other brands are these plastic seat pans? It looks plenty wide enough, but the contours are different from the few pictures I've seen my own ride.

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by carguyty

How close to other brands are these plastic seat pans? It looks plenty wide enough, but the contours are different from the few pictures I've seen my own ride.

externally it looks like most of the others, there are studs underneath it to mount brackets to the seat top rails and a fork at the front that hooks underneath the rear tank mount. the distance from the back of the forks to the rear of the seat is about 21"

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by carguyty

How close to other brands are these plastic seat pans? It looks plenty wide enough, but the contours are different from the few pictures I've seen my own ride.

If you decide to go with this style of seat, I'd recommend the matching tank. It might take a bit of fab work, but the contours would be correct.

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

If you decide to go with this style of seat, I'd recommend the matching tank. It might take a bit of fab work, but the contours would be correct.

coincidentally, I have a tank that I don't need

[Weldangrind]

Thanks for the seat link; I passed it to my Bro-in-law to see if he wants to use it on our Roketa Café build.

Is the head pipe from your original exhaust ok?

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Thanks for the seat link; I passed it to my Bro-in-law to see if he wants to use it on our Roketa Café build.

Is the head pipe from your original exhaust ok?

no, it's cracked at the muffler flange. also it's only 1-1/8" O/D tubing. I feel that's marginal even for a 125. the new pipe is 1-3/8" O/D

[Weldangrind]

The more i look at your bike, the more I appreciate what you're doing. Do you have a Taobao link for the exhaust and the tank?

[alex_in_az]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

The more i look at your bike, the more I appreciate what you're doing. Do you have a Taobao link for the exhaust and the tank?

there's a bunch of different tank colors to choose from http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...1-8a49b249a8fd

they require a 1975 cb125 filler cap and the standard chinese petcock fits them
pipe

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...1-8a49b249a8fd

there's a couple of different styles of pipe, torpedo like I got and a megaphone style. they come in chrome or black

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by alex_in_az

there's a bunch of different tank colors to choose from http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...1-8a49b249a8fd

they require a 1975 cb125 filler cap and the standard chinese petcock fits them
pipe

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...1-8a49b249a8fd

there's a couple of different styles of pipe, torpedo like I got and a megaphone style. they come in chrome or black

I see the same link twice. Do you have a link to the exhaust?