It started as a project I brought from my good friend Tony Groom as he was emigrating. I couldn’t let be taken a part and sold needed to be finish in a cool way as Tony is known by his cool builds. This is the first bike I built from scratch.
There was no doner bike, I just picked bits up from the net or auto-jumbles and made them work with what I had. I had a pretty good idea of what I liked and what I didn’t like for this build.
When I first got the bike, it was a rolling frame with a Honda CBR 600 engine. It looked ok but it was not my cup of tea. Straight away i knew a twin cylinder engine was the way to go for the look i wanted.
I tried to do most of the work in house in my spare time. The front wheel, a 19” Invader, was made by my friend, String, from Raw Steel Choppers Ltd, with a Continental Twinduro tire and Honda CBR 600 front disc and a 6 pot Caliper.
The front end is a standard size girder, which was designed and built by the master Tony Groom. The fuel tank was from a Honda Fury, modified to fit the frame. It has a narrowboat fuel cap, which says diesel on it which confuses people! 🤣
The frame is also made by Raw Steel Choppers and was shortened to get the proportions right for the XS engine. The rear wheel is off a CBR 600 and was a real pain as the wheel is too wide for the engine offset. I needed to fabricate an offset front sprocket, engine cover spacer and clutch rod. It now accommodates a Continental Twinduro tyre and the CBR 600 rear caliper and brake disc.
The rear fender, the front light and seat is just something I had around the shed… as most men like me do! The rear brake master cylinder is of a cbr 600 the reservoir was design by me and it’s just a fuel filler cup crown welded and machined in to a pot.
Foot controls are made by a friend, Paul Sadler, at Demeanour Customs. The exhaust was fabricated by me and covered in heat proof band, as my legs were getting quite warm while riding. Both of the exhaust tips were made by some bits of scrap brass I found around the shed.
My rear light is the rear light from an old Land Rover, which a friend, Manny Rodrigo, machined a new back on to it to make it look like a bullet. Paint work I used a local car spray paint company Dunmow coachworks they done a fantastic job.
When i started this build i was looking for something different that was out there. I think managed to achieve it and very happy with the end result. This bike is not built for speed, as you notice the tires are not speed tires 😉. It is built for a nice, steady ride and it looks cool!
Submitted by Frank
