SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

Purpose Built Moto

• Community Garage
• Custom Moto
• Custom Parts

Call: 0467 417 828
Email: tom@purposebuiltmoto.com

Purpose Built Moto
Gold Coast, Australia

Open in Google Maps
  • STORE

      Featured categories

      See all categories

      Headlights

      Indicators

      Tail lights

      Handlebar switches

      Fabrication

      Control relay

      Mufflers

      Moto Kits

      Custom seats

      Apparel

      Wheels

      Air filters

      Wholesale

      My account Request pricing
  • BLOG

      Blog sections

      See all blogposts

      Electrics

      Seats

      Fabrication

      Parts Installation

      Our Bike Builds

      Lifestyle

      Adventure Rides

  • SERVICES
  • GALLERY

      Gallery categories

      Cafe Racers

      Brat Style

      Scrambler / Tracker

      Bobber / Chopper

      Videos

      See all videos

      Bike Builds

      Parts Guides

      Events

      Other

  • ABOUT
    • Contact
    • Media
    • Returns
  • MY CART
    No products in cart.

Home » Bike builds » Straight Street: Sol Invictus Nemesis 400 Cafe Racer

Straight Street: Sol Invictus Nemesis 400 Cafe Racer

by Tom / Thursday, 07 December 2017 / Published in Bike builds
400 Cafe Racer Sol invictus Australia motorcycle parts LED lights custom motorcycle gold coast

Al’s Bike came to me when he still had his red P-plates attached. His first bike, a Nemesis 400 just picked up from Smoked Motorcycles in Brisbane. I remember the feeling of my first street bike, you can’t stop smiling! It’s infectious, he loved this thing and was ready to start making it his own.

Nemesis Scrambler 400 Cafe Racer Conversion Custom motorcycle parts Australias

At first he just wanted a nicer note from the exhaust, I fitted up a tidy Highball Cone Muffler for him that gave it a more aggressive note, the 400cc Single cylinder based on an XR400 motor sounds great bellowing out of the 43mm Stainless steel can. I told him to get out and enjoy it as I was a little too busy to undertake any more projects at the time. It wasn’t long before he came knocking on my door wanting his Sol Invictus Nemesis 400 Scrambler to receive a full café racer conversion, check out our checklist for cafe racer parts for more info on the selection process.

It was an interesting idea to me, The Sol Invictus bikes are aimed as a gateway bike for enthusiasts to cut their teeth on. A simple engine, nicely layed out frame and marketed as easy to modify. I was keen to have a go as I’d not seen a Nemesis 400 that had received a facelift of this magnitude.

Custom Cafe Racer tail LED lights and switches motorcycle upholstery QLD

We spoke over a few things that were crucial to his needs, but for the most part it was left up to me.

  • Classic Café Racer style

  • Modern tech

  • Comfort for a decent days riding

The first thing to go was the fat brown vinyl seat, underneath that revealed a nice slim frame and factory tail hoop! Perfect base to start shaping the tail. I laid out my foam and pulled out my carving tools + sander, a few hours later the shape was sorted. I went with a slightly higher rise to suit the tanks flow. The tail was custom made along with a traditional style seat pan, all with hidden mounting and no visible fixing points. If you’re interested in a custom seat for your bike, get in touch.

Cafe Racer conversion 400cc Nemesis sol invictus custom fabrication upholstery gold coast

Next on the list was re-finishing the tank and front fairing. They had previously been trimmed (I think) so just needed to be rounded a little more. The tank was a raw metal finish, the paint had been stripped and hit with a grinder in a rough rustic finish. I was aiming for something a little more refined, but the rider had bought the bike on the appeal of a raw finish tank. The compromise was to have it finished with a fine orbital sand pattern and a black diamond detail that flowed with our seat design.

Custom motorcycle seats Queensland brisbane goldcoast cafe racer scrambler chopper

Usually, I would get my fabrication out of the way 100% before any paint happened but on this particular bike I hit a little mental issue, the bike builders equivalent of writer’s block (Bikers Block??). Anyway, I was stumped for what to do with the custom side cover I needed to make. I decided to press on with fitting the new LED headlight and signal system, the KOSO digital dash and designing the seat.

Cafe Racer LED headlights motorcycle electronics

The seat was foamed and shaped and I sat down with my ever creative upholstery guru Jameson to nut out a design. As long as I have a picture in my head, he can put his spin on it and make it happen! We settled on a super plush Black Alcantara design complimented with some low sheen black leather. Sitting proud is the embroidered PBM Delta. Purpose Built Moto is now offering custom upholstery work and leather in house, on any seat, not just the bikes we build!

Custom motorcycle upholstery motorcycle seat

So that part was dusted, now onto mounting the dash. Café Racers need drop bars, clubmans are lazy so clip on’s are my only option. With that, unless you machine the old triple clamp down or custom make a new one you’re left with a garish set of half bar clamps sticking out like dogs balls on the front of your bike. With some precise measurement and a dose of that faithful dumb luck, the digital speedo fit right in there, all I had to do was cut and shape a tidy mounting bracket to house it and the dash was sleek and clean.

custom sol invictus cafe racer

The Sol Invictus 400 received the 5.75” Flashpoint LED headlight, and the Beehive LED turn signals. Our headlight will mount up as a straight bolt on fit, however, if there’s room to move there’s room for improvement. I like my lights tucked as tight as possible, so I trimmed up the existing mounts and lost 40mm to tuck that LED beauty right back where it belongs.

Gold Coast Cafe Racers Custom motorcycle rider vintage motorcycle

As I completed the wiring modifications I sent the tank and tail out for paint. Once I received the tins back in their new colours my bikers block was set free and the side cover design hit me like a ton of bricks. The Stock Nemesis covers are a nice shape, but once the seat is slimmed out they protrude outside the frame about 35-40mm each side, leaving the bird’s eye view ruined by these huge steel bubbles. I have recently taught myself (very loose term) the art of ally welding. I had some 3mm sheet in the garage so I patterned a design and got cutting and welding. The design is quite angular but its most importantly slim, the sharp lines I wanted to compliment the tank’s black paint detail and the black studs tied it all in together. The mounts had to be cut and custom fabricated then the side covers were brush finished and left raw.

Custom motorcycle cafe racer australia LED lights accessories

It was a great feeling seeing Al’s eyes light up as the garage door opened when he first saw the bike. I’ve got a few customs under the belt now but I think the excitement for this one takes the cake so far! He now rides it to work, to lunch, over the hills on weekends, down to the bar, out for dinner, to your mums house, to my mums house, and to all our Motosocial gatherings on the Gold Coast. He’s really getting his money worth out of it and I couldn’t be happier for it!

Check out the full gallery of our custom Nemesis 400

Check out the video of the Nemesis 400 build

Cafe Racer rider custom built motorcycle

About Tom

My purpose throughout this endeavor has been delivering the build experience to those who otherwise may not have ever had the chance. Taking an inclusive approach with your custom motorcycle project and focusing on making you a part of the experience. In parallel to this I also pour my energy into the manufacture of high quality, detail oriented and above all easy to install components for your motorcycle project.

3 Comments to “ Straight Street: Sol Invictus Nemesis 400 Cafe Racer”

  1. Cafe Racer Parts: What Parts Will You Need To Kick Off Your Build in 2019 says :Reply
    December 17, 2018 at 3:46 pm

    […] These help with the racier riding position but sometimes aren’t all that practical, in a pinch lower rise bars will suffice. Low rise (MX style) bars are suited better to a lower budget as they don’t demand the compliment of rear-set pegs. Clip ons while being great can be troublesome with some older bike designs on top triple clamps, leaving you with the factory bar risers once the clip ons are fitted. A good way around this is to use the old bar risers to hold your new gauge cluster by neatly cutting out an Aluminium plate that houses your gauges and light. This can be seen on our Nemesis 400 Café Racer. […]

  2. James McKeon says :Reply
    August 21, 2019 at 9:08 pm

    I recently rescued a 1971 Kawasaki FA 175, a true barn find.
    After a good cleaning, and fluid replacement, I had it running day one.
    I have not seen one, of this particular bike, custom modified as a cafe racer.
    Keeping in mind this bike is a 2-stroke, I am looking for ideas for the exhaust pipe.
    Any suggestions, and or pictures, would be helpful. TY

    1. Tom says :Reply
      August 25, 2019 at 12:09 pm

      Hey James,

      Check out a few of our 2 stroke builds. Expansion chambers can become a real keystone of the build.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Our Parts Store

Shop Headlights

Our own builds use these cafe racer & scrambler headlights.


Shop Indicators & Turn Signals

Custom turn signals designed for a minimal style.


Shop Mufflers

Smooth note and a cafe racer style from our muffler collection.


Shop Tail Lights

Minimal and night piercing tail lights. From our shop to yours.


Shop Handlebar Switches

Custom handlebar controls for your cafe racer's wiring.


Shop Motorcycle Wheels

We are now distributing bespoke, handcrafted Italian JoNich wheels


Shop Motorcycle Kits

DIY Moto Kits from German design house Hookie Co.


Fabrication Parts

Custom parts for fabrication.

pbm-logo-sq-large

We take a simplistic approach to our components delivering only clean and functional parts that are not intended to customise your motorcycle but to be a tool that can help you make it your own.

SIGNUP TO THE PBM NEWSLETTER

PURPOSE BUILT MOTO
Gold Coast, Australia

Call: 0467 417 828
Email: tom@purposebuiltmoto.com

  • STORE
    • Headlights
    • Indicators
    • Tail Lights
    • Handlebar Switches
    • DNA Air Filters
    • Mufflers
    • Custom Seats
    • Control Relay
    • Wheels
    • Fabrication
    • Wholesale Parts
    • Apparel
  • BLOG
    • Bike Customization
    • Parts Installation PDFs
    • Our Bike Builds
    • Lifestyle
    • Adventure Rides
  • SERVICES
  • ABOUT
    • Contact
    • Media
  • GALLERY
    • Videos
    • Cafe Racer
    • Brat Style
    • Scrambler / Tracker
  • WIN
  • GET SOCIAL

© Purpose Built Moto. All rights reserved.

TOP
[]