mercredi 26 février 2014
Honda C70 – Minority Custom Motorcycles
Written by Martin Hodgson
In the post World War II period there were two types of people who rode a motorbike in America, outlaws and the police. But all that would change in 1963 when armed with his small Super Cub model, Soichiro Honda launched his campaign to win over the masses. The 12 year blitz that included sponsoring the Academy Awards convinced the US and the World that motorcycles offered a lifestyle they could aspire to. 50 years on and the success of the marketing campaign is obvious. The Super Cub has surpassed 60 million units and made Honda the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer. But never could Mr Honda have envisaged his little Super Cub being converted into an outlaw in such a way as Minority Custom’s “The Eyes”.
Any less and it wouldn’t be there at all
Gone is the chain guard designed to keep oil off your freshly pressed suit, the upright handle bars and big comfy seat that took you to the office in luxury and just like it’s bigger rivals of the 60’s this little Cub is chopped down and bare boned. Starting with a 1980 Honda C70, Jonathan Evan from Minority Custom Surabaya, Indonesia set about creating a Cub with a “fierce and strong” road presence.
Starting at the back of the bike a new hard tail rear section was fabricated and widened to allow the addition of a huge (by Cub standards) 130 rear tyre, giving the bike that classic Bobber look. The bench style seat was ditched in favour of a slimmed down bicycle unit and the fender deleted to remove more unnecessary weight. Complementing the rigid rear is a polished Springer front end with cut and reversed Honda Monkey bars for that ultra-minimalist look. The Step Through (or underbone) frame was smoothed and de-tabbed before being repainted and “The Eyes” graphics applied.
To keep the period look the standard rims were ditched and re-laced using polished Yamaha DT Hubs, resulting in a 17″ front and 15″ rear. And nothing says Bobber like a suicide shifter. To give the Cub a little more pep, a larger custom carburetor was fitted and the exhaust is now a heat wrapped, straight through item ensuring “The Eyes” is both seen and heard.
The eyes have it
It’s hard to know what Honda-San would make of this marrying of his little Cub with its outlaw rivals, prowling as it does down Indonesian roads. But in 2014’s custom culture this little C70 is Bad to the underbone.
via PIPEBURN
WRENCHMONKEES GOLDWING
We’ve seen very few Goldwings on The Bike Shed, but probably because it’s a big old beast to bring into a custom culture that is all about stripping things back and raw simplicity. It’s also a bike that was never meant to be seen naked, but this didn’t put the Wrench Monkees off having a go at Honda’s giant touring mile-muncher.
“Getting around a Goldwing is both a challenge and a sweet treat. A challenge because it is so massive and bulky, with very little sophistication. A sweet treat because most builders stay away from this ugly dugly of a Jap beast. So there are not many expectations or style guides to be compared to. No ‘Dos & Don’ts’ …We always love when we can move with out limitations.”
“The old Goldwings are steady steamers built for long hold cruising and the feel is quite special. Its just over sized. You think you jump into a big roaring beast, but driving it is smooth and surprisingly gentle.”
“Jakob, the local Copenhagener who ordered the bike originally fell in love with our own garage bike #43 – a scrap bike built from what we had on the shelves (despite its scruffy look this wing has been rebuilt and cared-for all the way inside out). Jakob is quite a huge Fellow and around 1m95 tall, so he needed a bike with some proportions. The Goldwing is, despite its massive volume, not really a natural match for a tall guy, but we fixed that by stretching the length of the tank and mounting a more stretched out handlebar.”
“The bike was not sketched-up before the building. Jakob gave us a good long time to build it. We love when we get that option. This way a bike can mature and go through a series of experiments. The tank came in late in the process. It was one-off, hand-built in aluminium for a Ducati 900ss private race project we are playing around with after hours for ourselves, but when we got the tank in, it just did it on the old ‘Wing. Along the way it grew into an odd mix of styles we don’t even really know how to give a name. Can’t get any better then that!”
The frame and swingarm have been left as standard but repainted in dark grey/green metallic paint, and the front forks have been lowered. The wheels were rebuilt with stainless steel spokes on 3,00″ x16″ rims front and rear, powder coated in semi-gloss. The Coker Classic tyres re 5.00×16″. To stop the beast the guys have fitted a Honda CBR1000 front brake master cylinder and steel braided hoses with the standard calipers on EBC discs. The rear setup is standard but aldo upgraded with S/S lines.
The engine and carbs have been fully rebuilt, running K&N filters and cafe-style endcans fitted to the standard headers. An Odessey battery runs the electrics from a new position under the swingarm with new wiring. Along side the one-off custom tank are a one-off seat, aluminum rear fender from the WM catalog and Tarozzi footpegs. The rear lamp, front 6 1/2″ headlight and fairing are also from WM, as are the black WM handlebar wears black Biltwell grips and the rear shocks.
The end result as an intimidating beast, but she looks good. We can only imagine what it looks like with 2 metres of great Dane on board, tearing up the asphalt. Thanks to Andreas and the guys at WM for sharing. See more from theWrenchmonkees on their website, or here on the Bike Shed.
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