You can look but you can’t touch. Obviously. Until the advent of fondle-worthy 3d solid-projection screens (is that a thing?) you’ll have to make do with these soft focus pictures of Pip Davidson’s dancing companion. His ecdysiastical friend is not alone at least, Pip’s garage sounds like certain salubrious establishments where not a single bike is un-enhanced. I remember drooling over his 5 cylinder Millyard-built Kawasaki outside Tobacco Dock earlier in the year. The noise still haunts me.
And his previous build, a natty little Honda CJ423, showed a keen eye for an over bored engines and cool cream colour palettes. So like the inspirational name of this bike suggests, she may have a few visual abnormalities, but boy can Enid shake it with the best of them when you wave a tenner across her fuel tank.
It’s the familiar story. Little Enid grew up as an innocent young Cub 90. Born in 1967, as a city girl she was happiest scooting out and about downtown. When Pip met her in Spring this year, she was a little worse for wear. The mean streets had taken their toll. Perfect then, for some remedial action under the careful choreography of Mr Davidson. Like the CJ423, Enid was stripped and whisked off to the blasters. It soon became evident she had a slightly rusty derriere, so the classic Cub duck-tail was reluctantly bobbed; it’s all weight saving. Chassis parts then received a coating of Pip’s signature cream powdercoat; the spray on tan Enid always wanted. Back in his garage it was shopping time and a whole host of trick bits was soon piling up, ready to fit.
Now Enid had her looks back, it was time to stretch those limbs and find that lost agility. She would be rebuilt, Pip had the technology. She would be better than she was before. Better, stronger, faster. A lot faster, in fact. Pip decided to go for broke, and sourced a Daytona Animal 190cc engine; double the capacity and putting out a frankly frightening 24 bhp. A quick nip and tuck of the frame, had the engine squeezed between her rails. Wisely, Pip fitted a beefed up 428 chain with a Talon 17 tooth front sprocket. Out back, after coming up short on all the normal sources a Dennis Trollope Racing 32 tooth blank sprocket was modified to fit. Feeding her now insatiable appetite, a Keihin PE28 carb was fitted, breathing through a beefy Ram Air filter. To retain some modesty Pip decided to keep Enid’s leg shields, necessitating a custom 90 degree bracket for the carb. Poking out ungainly, her ‘nose’ is a truly distinguishing feature.
However, in addition to the unfortunate facial appendage Enid also suffers from a bit of gastric distress: though it really adds to her performance. Not entirely satisfied with the 500% increase in power and near 90mph top speed, Pip thought a little squirt of NOS would broaden his smile further. They don’t call it laughing gas without reason. Sure Enid has to wear her bottle like a shiny colostomy bag, but she wears it with pride. And when she pulls her party piece and the full 15bhp shot is released you’ll be holding onto those Easton MX bars screaming for your Mother. A night to remember for sure. To make certain Enid isn’t left sitting in a cloud of her own smoke, oversize rubber was fitted to the freshly rebuilt wheels, front and rear. She was back on her feet.
Originally planning for a classic cafe racer look to the seat unit, as the Cub came together Pip soon realised it wasn’t quite work working. A stylish solo seat and rear rack combo now looks peachy keen, offering a hilarious modicum of practicality should you wish to do some supersonic grocery shopping. Seat leather matches the brown grips, perfect for hiding the likely skidmarks; from the rider, not the bike. To cover the sound of the punter’s screams, Enid now sports a big bore exhaust, clad in pipe wrap and capped with sporty little number of an end can. More critically to ensure she doesn’t wilt when putting on a big performance, Pip wisely fitted a prominent oil cooler. Fixed to front of her leg shield, it should ensure her Animal heart stays cool when she’s asked to dance.
With the key architecture in place it was time for a serious shake of the body glitter and some finishing touches. Like a looming bouncer, a quick action Venhill twistgrip keeps Pip’s wrist in check. Other rider controls are a mix of Fireblade levers, KTM kickstart and some Ebay special switchgear. A mini retro speedo is tucked down under the bars, but quite frankly you should be certified to want to look down while Enid is on song. And sing she does. Her new motor let’s her dance, but it’s the recalibrated CDI raising the rev ceiling to 15,000 rpm that has her hitting the high notes. Built into the new loom, there’s no reason, that with a little respect and some frequent lubrication, that the famed Cub reliability should suffer in any way. And having been treated to a 12V conversion, the lights might now be able to keep up with the darkest of nights.
So to the first ride and, keeping in mind the brakes struggle to contain the original bike’s performance, it’s unsurprising to hear Pip saying Enid is kind of feisty. In fact, it seems relief at being able to stop at all is the overwhelming sensation. Thanks to all that chutzpah and a stumpy wheelbase, she happily lifts a wheel at the twist of a wrist. That’s the kind of performance we can get behind here on the Shed and Pip must be applauded for being utterly bonkers. Once again it shows that you don’t need big capacity to scare yourself witless. Bravo. Sure, as with all the projects there was a certain amount of budget creep, but the old girl deserves it. She’s found the perfect Sugar Daddy in Pip. She may have a crooked nose, but this Cub has a heart of gold.
Pip’s currently having fun nursing a semi while terrorising Porsche drivers on the sleepy roads of Berkshire. Or he’s embedded in a wall somewhere. Either way I bet he’s wearing a smile a mile wide. With this project done and dusted, it’s onto the next, and as is the way, Pip says it will be another Marmite bike.
If Marmite tasted half as nice as his bikes go, then it must be time to snap up some Unilever shares.
via The Bike Shed
