THIS IS WHAT I KEEP HEARING FROM EVERYONE. KEEP THE TRS DRIVES. THEY HAVE BEEN WORKED ON RECENTLY SO THEY ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. MY BOAT RIDES HIGH AS WELL, DUE TO THE WEIGHT IN THE ASS. I STILL HAVE TIME TO GET USED TO THIS RIG, I HAVE NOT COME CLOSE TO PUSHING IT AND STILL NEED TO GET IT OUT IN SOME 6 FOOTERS. TIME WILL TELL WHAT SHE CAN DO. THE TWO TIMES I HAD HER OUT IT WAS VERY COLD AND WAS TOUGH TO GET THE ENGINES WARMED UP, THE BOAT RAN VERY WELL IN THE COLD WEATHER, AND THE RIG WAS TIGHT. WHEN SPRING COMES SHELL BE NEW TO ME ALL OVER AGAIN. JUST LIKE A NEW TOY......

Man you have to stop writing in caps it's killing my eyes!

glh your boatless....anyone we know buy your rig?

caferacer, your boat should be riding bow heavy, just like mine. I have k-planes, and never use them. I can keep the boat on plane down to about 18mph, no tabs.

These boats were designed for the heavier TRS/transmissions. Thus the huge amount of space in front of the engines. I was thinking about putting Air Conditioning in the cuddy, but with the boat riding like it is I'd be afraid to do it.

Now give me some #6's...

What are you running to get 650hp???

Anyone want to see pictures of a "stripped" Cafe? As some may know, I'm painting it this winter (along wit various other upgrades). This is the side - ready for paint.

..and the bow, after wet sanding. Again, ready for paint. It's still wet, thus the reflection. I'm now into the cockpit and will take pictures as time allows.

I still want to talk speed!!! Where is Craig Barrie, he could tell us what the fastest Cafe was from the factory. I heard they had 540/575HP Hawks with SSM #3's and ran around the mid 80's. Does anyone have any knowledge of any of these boats?

P.S. Steve, that looks like a lot of work! I am sure it will turn out great. What graffics are you going to use?

hey cignificant, your a mad man. thats looks like a lot of work. i bet its gonna look sweet. craig barrie would be the man to ask.

Gentlemen from North of Chicago bought it. I don't know if he's a member but he lurks a lot he mentioned.

Craig would know about the speeds I talked with him Monday about a few boats and will see him in FL soon, if I think of it I will ask. I might chime in here beforehand.

good stuff, im sure hell love that cafe racer, and i know your gonna love the tiger.

It's been a hell of a lot of work. I figure I have 100 hours into it so far.

I went and picked colors today - we're using House of Kolors. It will be a combination of red, purple, and yellow. We start shooting the paint the weekend after Christmas.

keep posting pics, cool to see how its comming out...

Steve,
Can you start up a thread and post pics of the progress as you go. Thats a major project your doing there buddy!!! Can't wait to see it completed!!:)

Craig

I'll do that at some point.

You still thinking about boating in the Keys with us? The dates are set for March 19th - 28th. Call me if you want details.

mmmm . . I'll jump in here, for what its worth.

I had a '91 Carbon 70 ( lightweight build ) Cafe that had Dereberry Marine ( Leon's ) single carbed SC600's / Bravo 1's and nose cones that is now owned by a board member here. Leon wouldnt provide me the dyno sheets because the build up was done by the previous owner and not me, so I do not know what power they were making at 4/5 psi, but my guess is 575/600 per. It only had an 80 mph Gaffrig in it, and with a medium load I would swing past 80 all day long in fresh water . . 82/83 mph is my guess. I ran a friend in his documented 110 mph Hustler, and he claims that I was with him to 85. My one and only time that I ran the boat down in S. Florida in the salt, the boat ran even faster with just me and on fumes ( for those of you with 80 mph Gaffrigs, the needle was straight down, pointing due south :) )

I'd like to believe that Gaffrigs are fairly accurate, but I never had it radared.

MMM Very nice boats everyone!

Thank you
This boat came with Merc 502Mag/390HP carb motors and ran 68.+ mph at 5000r's

I repowered with 509/540hp which ran 74.+ at 5300r's

I sold it with 496HO/435HP. Not sure of speed .. I never measured with a GPS because I hadn't had the props dialed in yet. I was able to run the 496's up to 4800r's with the same props I used with the 540hp motors.

G

G$$, a little birdy told me of your new boat...Did you get it yet?? Very nice!! Pimpin aint easy bro......;) :D

Tank

Tank, I don't know what you heard about me ...


Almost there .. just tieing the loose ends :cool:

Are you going to make the Miami Boat Show?

G $0 :D

Hurry on and get that thing man...I want a ride!!!

Big Pimps don't mooch! :D

Dude, if you saw what he was getting, you'd want a ride too;) :D

Still selling your Cafe?

Tank

Sold,

I'm on to the next thang!

Meeting Gary in FL in Jan so I might ride it!

Congrats! Good luck w/ the Tiger....That is one sweet ass boat!!!

I bought my 1995 Cafe this summer in Michigan and brought it back to Florida. It has new HP500's and Bravo XZ's.
It won't be the fastest, but the ride is awesome. We cruise at 50 whether it's smooth or 3-5's.
Just added some nice touches including a sweet intercom/VHF/stereo headset system and reupholstered
some cabin walls hatches and doors.

At 5200 with a light load we can get 72 or 73 if it's not too hot outside...

hey mr picket, was that rig on the lip ship site. he a had a few nice cafe racers this summer. i have big glossy print of your rig. my buddies wanted to see what a cafe racer looked like, and lip ship had a nice shot of yours out of the water. good luck with it..

Good numbers for a Cafe and your right you can go in anything with those rigs.

Yes, Phil at Lip Ship had the boat listed. My first call was to him and he directed me to the owner and then handled the brokerage. Totally first class treatment. He even arranged the transportation to Florida.
The only thing I didn't like about the boat was the carpeted walls inside the cabin, so a buddy and I replaced it with some yellow vinyl ( to match the dash) and cleaned up the radio panel appearance.

lets see some more pics. id love to see a good pic of your dash.... you should get first class treatment, spent a lot of coin right.....................how do you like your marine machine throttles? ive got some coming. mr pickets all right in my book. gold member right off the bat.

stecz you want to see a superb dash on a cafe check sean's on his website he rebuilt it and it's beautiful. He has tons of pics here http://www.thunderboatalley.com/gallery/album65

Check this one out!

http://www.thunderboatalley.com/albu...5/DSC00513.jpg

Thanks for the kind words... I am enjoying OSO to learn more about and see other Cafes.
Here's a shot of the dash on mine. The M/M throttles, shifters and wheel were all new in winter '02, same time the new engines were installed. If you haven't already, consider new cables at install. Mine were replaced then so everything's smooth operating and tight.

sweet mr pickett.. where are you from?

There have been alot of great pics! Someone has to have a few more.

Crystal River, Florida.
On the west coast, about 80 miles north of Tampa Bay.
The shot above is from a run down to Clearwater Beach.

Has anyone tried extension boxes on a Cafe?

If so how did it work out?

mr pickett, on the bottom of the page youll see a search. punch up cafe racer, youll see a bunch of good posts. also do it in the general discussion area. you will have a good nights worth of reading.

You guys see how clean our forum is? It's not cluttered with worthless bickering. We know our boats are setting the bar. No need for reassurance.

I am still LMAO about that one! :D:D
One of the best comeback I have read on this board!

LOL. I only argue facts. :D :D

yeah cigracer, very nice and very true.