Six PackRat

1980 Honda CBX "Customized"

This is the current project build.  We got our hands on a great example of Honda's monster inline six road burner and have decided to turn it into an incredible modern custom.  The idea is to create a bike around the insane power plant featuring a Harley hard tail, modern inverted front forks, 17" sport bike rims with a 180 rear tire, and very little else.  

I can't bring myself to call this bike a true chopper, as the plan is to make it with turn signals and a front fender, but it will certainly be a very radical custom.

Well, here's the factory job.  Tons of power (claimed 98 hp) and heavy as hell.  The bike was done up in what looks like standard styling for the era from a distance, but some major details set this bike apart from the 750s and 900s etc.  The fat tank, little spoiler on the tail, and, of course, that hulk of a motor always set this bike apart.

Here's our little test subject the day we found her.  Many thanks are due at this point, so let's take care of those.  First, thanks to John for doing all the legwork and now the storage out in Colorado.  Thanks also to Steve for selling us such a great bike at a great price!  Finally, thanks to "Yogi".  This was apparently his bike originally.  He is no longer with us, but we hope to make him proud when we are done with this build.

Just check out that engine!  Six cylinders, transversely mounted, with a total of 1050cc.  Pictures can't describe how really FAT this bike is in person.  In reality, Honda relocated the starter and stator behind the cylinders to minimize the width.  That makes this bike only about 2-3 inches wider at the motor than a CB750.  I've ridden CB750s, they are pretty fat bikes, but are nothing compared to the girth of the CBX.  On the technical side, the motor of this bike seems solid despite the fact it's been sitting for a while.  It turns over nicely, has compression and should fire with only a carb clean.  That will be tested soon.  The gunk on that header is just that and has cleaned off nicely already.  The mufflers were rotted, but the headers were fine which is exactly what we wanted anyway.  The front calipers were frozen which is why they are off, but we don't need them.  You'll see the replacements later.

This shot gives some sense of the width of the bike.  I've always thought that such a motor deserved a front and back end to match.  Girth and a severe sense of FAT will be a common theme with this project.  The front forks are going to be replaced with inverted units from a 1991 Kawasaki ZX7 Ninja.  These forks are somewhere around 50mm in diameter and are tough as nails.  It should really beef up the front end.  The broken headlamp and turn signals are going away as well.  Light for the road will come from twin stacked mini lamps and we found some really trick mirrors with the turn signals built in.  The bike should be REALLY clean when finished.

Well, John started stripping the bike out in Colorado as soon as he got it home.  This is a great shot of where the side panel used to be.  The three frame rails on the left of the picture (which are better seen in the next picture actually) sit under the fuel tank.  Pretty much everything behind these rails will be chopped off.  The old school hard tail will weld right up to the original frame (minus the swing arm and seat support) and actually add about 3-4 inches of stretch in the back end.  A custom electrical box will be made to house the less pretty segments of the wiring harness (i.e. all of them).

This bike is built STOUT!  These are the frame rails under the gas tank.  They're made in a kind of tent to support the massive weight of the motor that's literally hanging from them.  If you haven't noticed yet, the CBX doesn't have a true full frame.  There is no down tube so the entire weight must be supported by the backbone.  Fortunately, Honda used this design on a number of their bikes and we are fitting a fuel tank from a 1984 Honda Magna (which has an infinitely cooler shape than the stock tank) for the build.

Now how about that?  Of course, this is just a first mock up of the frame, but isn't that setup just sweet?!  The frame is now a Mike's Dad's place getting its weld on.  He's going to make it plenty stout  for all of those burnouts and hard launches this thing will have to endure.  More pictures to come around the end of the month.  We're picking up steam on this one now!

Just another shot here.  Man that thing is low!  This is going to be FUN!

Just a little preview of the first mock up.  The aluminum foil represents the extension that will go on the stock gas tank to make it look not so crappy.  More to come soon!

This build is far from over.  In fact, it hasn't really even started yet.  We will post some pictures of the parts we have for the bike soon.  Be sure to keep checking back for new updates.  This bike is going to SMOKE!