Selfish motorcycles definitely have their benefits. Café racers look great with a hand rolled seat hump, flat trackers slide across the dirt better without ballast and wheelies are far less daunting when there’s only one pair of butt cheeks in line for a skin graft. But sometimes going for a ride with your other half on the back can be just as rewarding. As long as they aren’t one of those grippy, fidgety types.
Last year Sam from Inglorious Motorcycles in Essex had completed a CB400 Superdream and after a photo shoot, seehere, he lent the bike to a surf & lifestyle shop, Coast in Poole. Where upon it caught the eye of guy on the lookout for a new ride, he called Sam and the two met, next to said CB and chatted over multiple coffees about a potential sale. The deal breaker was the guy’s girlfriend, she wanted to join the fun and ride pillion, so the CB with it’s selfish solo seat was left in the shop window. Sam left with a smaller fistful of dollars than he’d anticipated but even better, a handshake and ideas for a fresh commission build.
For two-up riding a bit more welly was required but Sam was under instruction to source a donor that suited the favoured Comstar wheels, a CB750 would have been the obvious choice but there was no getting away from the customer’s desire for a twin cylinder sound track so the tried, tested and much modified CX500 was to be Sam’s canvas. With them being in plentiful supply a Plastic Maggot in good condition arrived at the Inglorious MC’s Essex HQ a few days later.
Being a 1980 vintage this CX had suffered from the over zealous manufacturing efficiency drive that had plagued motorcycle manufacturing with heavy, rough castings and pressed steel frames with a dizzying array of tabs. Best thing to do with these is chop ’em off and weld in a new one, so that’s what Sam did. Saddles are somewhat of a speciality for Sam, he prefers to use proper cow rather than the fake stuff. The thick, ribbed leather cover is hand dyed to a mahogany tone and stretched over a custom base, let’s hope the chap’s missus appreciates her bit.
Rather than trying to bury a tiny battery somewhere and suffer from a lack of cranking amps, Sam fabricated a box to house a decent sized battery and associated electrickery. A matching brown leather strap stops any electrons escaping.
The engine, transmission and Comstars were treated to a coat of the black stuff after a meticulous rebuild, with a few choice components lightly polished for contrast. The customer had initially wanted an all black tank, and who can blame him, CXs look great with a matt or gloss paint scheme. Greg from Black Shuck Kustom up in Norwich requested a degree of artistic licence and added his trademark stipple effect, diagonally across the front half of the tank. An Inglorious logo in brass was discreetly incorporated before laying down multiple coats of clear.
The final job was to set the clipons in position, complete with matching grips, and await the customer’s arrival for the big unveil.
Sam told us “Overall I’m really pleased with how the build turned out, the bike has changed enough to make it stand out, but not so to forget its original form. That V-twin really sounds superb with its lightly baffled exhausts, and even though it’s on hot rod tyres, handles pretty sweet too. The customer whose name I won’t reveal was over the moon with it, remarked that he didn’t expect it too look that good, I’ll take that as a compliment”.
via The Bike Shed
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