Those of you who follow our BLOG, Facebook and Twitter Feed have no doubt noticed an increase in posts these past few weeks. No, we haven’t hired a 16 year old kid who can text faster than John Wayne could crack off a revolver to run our marketing department.. Herm and I made the full-time job to Dime City Cycles and one of my main responsibilities is making sure we keep our online presence lively and fresh.

Since we know everyone is glued to their computers looking at bikes when they can’t be wrenching on them we figured it was up to us to make sure we keep you guys in the know from not only a DCC standpoint, but the industry. That said you’ll start to see some cool regularly posted things like “DCC News of The Week”, “Vendor Spotlights”, “Product Quick Picks” and “Customer Features” along with a ton of other things including giveaways, non vendor independent product reviews and just random ton-up goodness.

Yes yes…we have to slip some product links in there every now and then, but we hope that are humorous production descriptions and offer to bribe you to stay plugged in by giving away two $50 Dime City certificates a month (more about that later this week) will make things a little less intrusive.

After-all, we’re going to keep you informed of cool stuff you want, not the latest Ronco Potato Cooker slash Pogo Stick.

That said, stay tuned and be sure to start following us on Facebook and Twitter if you haven’t already. The rides just beginning and it’s paved with vintage speed intentions!

And because text without photos is just plain boring, here’s a random shot I snapped of my daily rider. It’s a 1972 CB450 that’s basically stock with the exception of Clubmans and some dirt tires. I have a habit of wandering off the road no and again, so I figured the investment in some aggressive rubber was a good one. No major plans for this one, just keeping it tuned and running right.  Why the two-up seat? Simple…the Misses likes to ride on the back and when she’s happy, I’m happy.

Thanks for supporting Dime City and the Garage Builder Movement folks, we appreciate all of you more than you know and couldn’t be doing what we love without you.

Until next week, Ride Fast.  Live Well.

Jason

With a deep and luxurious scheme shod with black and brass the Brass Cafe pulls hues from the Steampunk genre which is so curiously being explored today. Sporting hand-tooled, solid brass accents and plating, it will follows all the classic café lines while forging a path for new ideas and inspiration to be explored by the next generation Cafe Racer builder. Leaving nothing unturned, all the trimmings will be present making any Ton’r more than pleased with the final product.

In an effort to pay homage to classic DIY Cafe Racer culture, as much of the original 1968 donor bike was used as possible while modifying the remaining elements for a hand-hewn and “factory-like” look and feel. Herm and Jason’s desire with the Brass Cafe was to produce what could have been a factory concept bike from the 60′s were Honda tailoring their efforts towards rich tones and style rooted in Cafe Racer culture. The tank for example, is an original item that was cut on both sides and the top with new hand-made pieces being grafted in creating a look similar to that of the stock Honda with a little Dime City flair. The fuel cap is a hand forged item and the brass vent line is a completely functional item.

The rear frame section was modified, braced and finished off with DCC’s signature rear steel loop. The finishing touch being their “Wasp” rear tail section. Crafted by hand and sculpted from potting foam and then transfered to fiberglass, the design compliments the width, height and lines of not only the tank, but the complete bike for a rolling look and feel that adds to the element of visual movement seen even when the bike is sitting still on the side stand. A thin pad that acts as cushion offers roughly the same amount of comfort found in 50′s and 60′s Cafe Racers. None.

Keeping true to the rich and deep scheme many items were blasted and powdercoated gloss black including the wheels and forks which were finished off with stainless steel spokes, brass nipples and original hubs which have been re-worked with Dime City signature vents found on both the front and rear. Hand finished by file, the vents allow the brakes to breath under heavy load while complimenting the entire scheme of the bike with it’s brass and black tones. The finishing element, nickel plated hubs for a slightly muted tone so’s not to overtake the wheels themselves.

From a performance perspective no expense was spared. A completely rebuilt CB450 engine now boasts approximately 505cc’s of power through an overbore kit, custom cams, worked intake and exhaust and a set of Mikuni carburetors of course, finished off with hand spun brass velocity stacks. The exhaust system consists of original equipment headers grafted to new upswept sections mated to original Norton style mufflers for that iconic Cafe Racer look and sound.

And as for chasing the TON, that illusive mark of speed, the Brass Cafe will not only exceed the ton it will pull the front wheel of the ground affording the rider a full-on wheelie should he feel bold enough to crack the throttle and snap the clutch.

All in all the vision behind The Brass Cafe is one of purity, both in style and heritage. Dime City will pursued classic forms in metal working, paying respect to the builders of the 50′s and 60′s and what they stood for…while simultaneously hoping to inspire a renewed interest in the motorcycle as the ultimate expression of form and function.

Complete Photo album link here: http://www.dimecitycycles.com/gallery

Build Specifications:

1968 CB450 Donor
TIG welded and closed all factory joints on the frame; added DCC rear steel hoop and custom lower race swing-arm brace
Custom vented front drum hub w/ race stay
Metzler tire mounted on stock CB450 18″ wheel powder coated gloss black
Chopped and lowered standard CB450 front fender
DCC “Manx” Headlight bucket with integrated blinker mounts
Tomaselli/DCC spade levers & clip-ons
Smoothed triple tree with lowered 2.5″ gauges
DCC “Manx” vintage racer fuel tank
DCC “Manx” cowl and seat w/ rear steel hoop
Completely reworked engine: ceramic coated, overbore pistons, ported & polished, custom CAMS, Dyna electronic ignition
Mikuni 32MM race carburetors
Hand built DCC rearsets and linkage system & hand spun brass pegs and kick pedal by Rev. Jim Goodrich
DCC “Manx” swingarm mounted rear fender
DCC Custom 1.5″ stepped headers & exhaust w/ Norton Commando mufflers
Gas charged rear race reservoir dampers
Custom vented rear hub w/ hand made brake aluminum stay
Stock CB450 18″ rear wheel powder coated gloss black w/ Metzler tire

First off, let us apologize for the lack of BLOG posts and updates on the current happenings here at Dime City. We’ve been slammed with a few large projects in the fab shop (cool stuff to come!) and for those of you hitting the web we’re sure you can vouch, we’re adding products daily, which is taking up the bulk of our free time.  We’re getting back into the groove though, so you can expect some cool stuff to hit The Diatribe in the coming weeks.

That said- with an overwhelming amount of joy, and sadness we would like to share something about our favorite Intern, Michael. You all know him.. Happy-go-lucky Michael, name on his back always willing to polish up a piece of aluminum. Well, you see, Michael came to Dime City with a dream. A great dream. That dream was to ride his very first Cafe Racer.

As we spent the summer watching Michael grow from a quick-lipped non-sensical jovial college student into someone who not only understands the basic mechanics of a motorcycle and fabrication we couldn’t help but have sympathy towards his plight. What were we to do though? The ground rules were set and he still have 1,000 square feet of aluminum to polish and he was running out of time….his dream was slipping through his fingers like the hair a college girlfriend leaving to go home for the summer.

So Herm, unbeknownsts to Michael, had him pull the Manx from the warehouse and get it warmed up. “For a tuning run he said.”

Once she was ready to go Herm told Michael it was his turn…and man, it was like watching a fat kid at Disneyland dive into the all you can eat ice cream buffet face first! His leg was over the Manx in a fraction of a second and his right hand was twitching the throttle.

Have a great year man and don’t do anything we wouldn’t do!