Honda gl500 cafe

Like the title said, looking to get a cafe racer. This would be my first motorcycle, so a lower cc is probably fine for me. I’m just curious on things I should look out for, the best online resources for finding used ones near me etc… I love the shape of the two I’ve shown here, and the first one looks like a lower cc which is good with me.
I’ve been checking out Facebook marketplace but the options are thin in San Diego on there. Budget I’m happy spending around $5,500. Let me know if this is the wrong place to post and I’ll delete, but I appreciate any help I can get! Thank you!

Hello po! Baguhan lang po ako pagdating sa mga motorsiklo. Nagbabalak magbuild (magpabuild) ng brat cafe racer. Madami na pong new brands (Rusi, Motorstar, Skygo, Keeway) na mas mura compared sa kilalang brands (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki). Dahil brat cafe racer ang concept, madami i-momodify/papalitan na parts. Mas okay ba na bumili sa bagong brands na base bike kaysa sa kilalang brands kasi mawawala rin naman reliability ng kilalang brand kasi papalitang ng pyesa? Cost wise. Madalas kasi mas mura 2nd hand ng mga new brands kaysa sa mga 2nd hand na kilalang brand tapos mas lumang modelo pa. Gusto ko lang ma-maximize yung pagiging cost-effective xd
Yung motor ay pang weekend rider at pang palengke lang siguro gagamitin. Salamat!
Nasa planning at ipon phase pa lang xd Pogi > Function > Performance
Picture ref: https://web.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=434411994931370&set=a.102630991442807 (La Garahe Motorcycles - Classic Custom MC)
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Had this sweet Honda cafe racer on the shelf for years, precariously leaning up and I'd always find it laying on its side. Can't believe I didn't think of turning it into a keychain before. Yes, it's on my Honda fit keychain.

In 2017 I bought a 2011 Suzuki 250, with less than 2000 miles on it, that some moto-hipster turned into a beautiful café racer! The leather seat was imported from Australia, the handle bars, the pipes, and tank were all replaced, chromed-out, repainted. I was in graduate school at the time and had a sweet scholarship that paid me a $2000/month living stipend. I took that month’s rent/food/utilities monies and bought that motorcycle! I ate Ramen noodles and rice for a month and it was worth it. My plan was to teach my girlfriend how to ride; I picked this motorcycle because of it’s low seat height (she’s 5’3”), because it was practically brand new/barely used, and because it was such a beauty. You’d never know that it was a plain, dorky little Suzuki 250cc!! I gotta give those moto-hipsters some credit, they do have style! Plus, you can’t beat that price!
I was smiling all the way home looking in my rearview mirror at that gorgeous bike! Tragically, a few weeks later my girlfriend dropped the bike on her leg while trying to do a U-turn in front of our house and got scared and gave up on motorcycle riding! Forever! That was a tragedy in itself. I mean what motorcyclist doesn’t want their girlfriend to ride alongside them!? Shortly after that she demanded I sell the bike and use the money to pay off my credit card debt! Ugh, boring! To make the sale less painful for myself, I sold the bike to my best friend’s brother who wanted to learn how to ride. At least I’d get to see this bike around and would be able to ride it and perhaps even buy it back off of him later on. Nope! Big mistake! Three months later he was driving home a little drunk after leaving the bar at 2am when a car drifted into his lane. He got scared and overcorrected because he’s a newbie rider, and he drove himself into a light post at 40 mph! The bike hit that pole dead on and was wrecked, and he fortunately only injured 1/2 of his body, but he was also wrecked! He broke his femur and his arm and a bunch of bones in his hand and was laid out for several months. I still grieve this motorcycle to this day and so does he! That crumpled up cafe racer with imported leather seats from Australia sat in his garage for the next 6 years. He had a hard time letting that bike go as well. I’m telling ya, there was something special about that bike.
My girlfriend broke up with me last November, just before Thanksgiving holiday, and my first fucking thought was, “I should’ve never sold the bike! Ahhhhhhhh!!” 😂 It wasn’t “why are you breaking up with me? How can I fix this? Don’t leave me! I love you, plz don’t go!!” I totally said those things later on, don’t get me wrong, I was an emotional wreck and a total crybaby about her leaving me! But noooooooo, the first, chest-gripping pang in my heart was for that tiny, chromed-out, moto-hipstered, heartthrob of a bike —the motherfucking Suzuki 250!!! 🤣😆🥹😭😩
I’ve bought and sold so many motorcycles in my life; way cooler bikes, too! I didn’t blink twice when I sold my special edition GSXR 1000 with gold forks and gold accents (I called it my lucky bike because some guy won it in Las Vegas on a slot machine and because I never once got pulled over on that bike even though I frequently topped it out at 182 mph on the rule desert roads of New Mexico). My heart didn’t hurt when I sold my legendary 1992 Honda VFR 750 —the bike that I got into a high-speed motorcycle chase with 11 cop cars no less! you’d think there be some kind of sentimental value attached to that bike! But for some reason that 250 was the one that got away! Hilarious! Has your girlfriend ever made you sell a motorcycle that you still mourn? What was the bike? Any plans to get it back?
Motorcycles can be so nostalgic. Some motorcycles carry the dream of the glory days. And as I age into my 40’s, I find myself scrolling through Cycle Trader looking for the one that got away…

i'm confused between CB350RS and Vitpilen 250. I'm young age student but i like cafe racer& neo retro look bikes instead of KTM& other. My budget is strictly 2.5lakh(on road) my shortlist are: CB350R DLX pro DT & Husqvarna Vitpilen 250 2024
I always drove Activa 5g and rarely my father's passion pro 2011, so feel enough power in my activa, now you can understand how much power i needed.
Priorities: 1.60% city ride + rest of long rides(occasionally) 2.Good road presence 3. initial/mid range kick (between 20/30kmph to 60/80kmph) to fly away from traffic. (I'm not a High rev lover because it feels me like i'm hurting my bike)
Some people said that you might get bored with the power of CB350R with time??
(both honda big wing & KTM{husqvarna} showroom is 125km away from me, but this not a deal breaker , so don't tell me for test drive now, i will surely take test drive before finalizing!!)
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I’m picking up a 1981 Honda GL500 Silverwing tomorrow. I listed the pictures of the bike i’m picking up and what the bike I’m basing the end product on. I’ve always loved the Cafe Racer style and have the vision for my build. Right now my idea is 1. New Ignition switch (there is no key right now) 2. Gut the back half of the bike. Taking off the saddlebag, seats, air box and battery. 3. New Seat. 4. Take off H box exhaust. 5. Replace the battery where the H box was to hide it. 6. Add new exhaust. 7. Put in air filter pods to replace air box 8. Change out handlebars 9. Change out odometer If anyone has suggestions on the order or what I might be missing I would greatly appreciate it.

I might buy the bike on the right. I did some quick photo edits to see how it would look with some simple cafe-type mods (left), and I was really pleased. I don’t have much mechanical experience, so I’m a little nervous to get something this old (1981 Honda Silverwing), but I LOVE ‘80s Honda bikes, and I wouldn’t mind trying to learn some maintenance with this one. Do you think I should pull the trigger?