DCM #1

Seems like we’re on a bit of an NX650 Dominator theme this month, but it’s nice to see that they all look completely different, showing that this platform is a lot more interesting and flexible as a donor that you’d think. Like Andrew Greenland’s work, this scrambler from Seb of Dark Custom Motorcycles is pure retro, taking this mid eighties Honda and retro-styling it to look like a proper 70s dirtbike, built when ‘scramblers’ scrambled, and ‘crossers’, er, …crossed. But, the styling is all Seb’s own, and we think it’s damn pretty.

Seb started riding when he was around 12, having been given a go on a mini-motorcrosser by his god mother. From that day he was hooked and wanted to ride off-road, but his parents just weren’t into it, so his desires were suppressed until a few years ago when bikes started to turn his head again, but this time as an adult.

As well as riding, Seb decided he wanted to build his own machine, so despite not having very much mechanical knowledge he searched the furms for advice before diving in, head-first, with his first project – a dirt tracker, based on the reliable and affordable Honda NX650, also known as the Dominator in the UK market.

It was a bit harder than Seb thought. “It could appear quite easy to transform a bike from the outside, I mean ‘you only have to switch the tank to another one’, ‘only have to switch the exhaust to those one’, ‘just change the wheel size’.. But in  fact, to change one simple part, you often have to adapt pretty much everything, and sometimes you can have real headaches! If you change the tank, you have to look at the postion of the new tank, then adapt the seat, take care of the fuel lines and gas flow… And then if you change the exhaust you have adapt the carburation set-up… If you change the wheel size, you have to take care of the forks, and the brake system… And so on… Thankfully, a friend of mine, Alain, helped me a lot by doing some technical works and giving me great advice. Finally, the result is here and I’m quite happy about how it’s come out…”

It’s certainly a very worthy effort for a first time build. All we need to know, is; “does she do skids, mister?”

See more from Seb and DCM on their Facebook page.

via The Bike Shed