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1980 HONDA CX500 CUSTOM

The Honda CX500 is a stern test of any builder’s skills: although it’s cheap and readily available, it’s not an attractive starting point. But Santa Cruz-based Noah Blum took this as a challenge, and he’s scored a convincing win. His CX500 is one of the classiest garage builds we’ve ever seen.

“I bought a 1980 CX500 as a beat-up pile of parts,” says Noah, “with the intention of getting it running and using it as cheap transportation. I was itching to get into a little project, to do some tinkering and get back to riding—even if my ride was going to be a little ‘ghetto.’”

The bike was supposed to be a quick and dirty build, but one thing led to another. “I guess the tipping point was when I found a nearly-new CBR600RR front end for a great deal,” says Noah wryly. “Suddenly the rest of the bike seemed pretty old and crusty.” A full rebuild was soon under way.

As Noah researched the CX500, he became happier about using the oft-maligned chassis as a starting point. “I grew to appreciate the simplicity of this awkward, once-futuristic 80s bike.” He started adding small details of his own, welding together homemade aluminum mufflers and headlight brackets from scrap, and rolling his own footpegs. Taking advantage of the ‘droopy’ rear frame, he hid every imaginable electrical wire (and a Shorai li-ion battery) under the seat pan.

The tail unit is now two halves of a CX Custom gas tank—split and cut, and then welded back together for a slimmer profile. Noah also fitted Mikuni VM34 carbs, the gas tank from a CX Deluxe, and 19” and 17” D.I.D. aluminum rims.

“I don’t like the look of Honda’s ‘Comstar’ wheels, and I wanted this bike to have spoked rims,” says Noah. Some people bolt steel flanges on to the stock CX hub to allow spokes and a rim to be mounted, but Noah felt that didn’t look right either. “So I used a modified GL1000 rear hub mated to the final drive. It’s a fairly straightforward install, with a couple of machined-down parts and a disc brake conversion.”

Although this CX500 is a classic garage build, there’s nothing amateurish about it. The finishing is immaculate, right down to the choice of a classic two-tone burgundy and black color scheme. “I took my time, and when there was a task I hadn’t done before—like sewing a seat, or spraying proper paint—I picked up all the information I could, before attempting to reach a high quality myself.”

I’d say Noah has met the high standards he set himself, wouldn’t you?

Check out the Bike EXIF archives for more Honda CX500 inspiration. Images by David Smith—who incidentally featured on our sister site Cycle EXIF with this very sharp 10-speed road bike.

via BIKEEXIF

Ferrari Enzo Dedicated to il Commendatore

The Ferrari Enzo is an important car in the Scuderia’s history. It’s part of an exclusive linethat includes the F40, F50 and the LaFerrari and it was designed to mark 55 years of Ferrari. But it’s probably a bit more special than the others because it is named after the super car firm’s founder.

The Ferrari 330GT Series 1 is often cited as Enzo Ferrari’s favourite car. The 330Gt is an elegant 1960s sports car and yet the Italian car maker built a mid-engine hyper car to honour their founder. About the only similarity between the two machines is the amount of cylinders in the engines as both have V-12 power. The 330GT has a 4.0 litre engine that when new developed 300bhp whereas the Enzo has 651bhp 6.0 litre motor.

The Enzo was one of many Ferrari’s designed by Pininfarina, a tradition that wasn’t continued with LaFerrari. It was presented to the public at the 2002 Paris Motor Show and was produced until 2004. In all 399 Enzos were built even though Ferrari originally announced a run limited to 350 units. At the time Luca di Montezemolo remarked, “Although I am very attentive to the numbers and exclusivity, I had to take note of the fact that we would not dissatisfy too many collectors by increasing the production of the Enzo Ferrari.”

Ferrari Enzo: Dedicated to the Drake

With performance figures like a 0-62mph time of 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 218mphthe Ferrari Enzo is still an extremely quick car more than 10 years after it was first designed. If you’re interested in picking one up now, there are currently three for sale on Autotrader ranging from £735,000 to £999,000.

via EUROCARBLOG