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Howard and his son started out with a non-runner that had sat for 22 years uncovered and ended up with this:
Howard is no stranger to CXs or bike builds - he bought his first CX in 1979 which he still has and has a second CX he rebuilt as a cafe racer. After many conversations about the direction of the build they settled on building a bike that looked like a 1947 Indian. To achieve this look Howard measured up the relevant dimensions and sourced parts from a wide variety of makes and models - such as a Honda VT750C rear fender (eBay), a front fender from a Harley Davidson, a new copy of an Indian single seat and a right hand headlight from a 1954 BMW Isetta bubble car (!) (eBay
).
The rear of the frame that supported the GL rear fender was cut off and the remaining frame widened by 25mm to allow the Honda 750 fender to fit. Howard cut the center support, jacked the frame apart and brazed in a piece of that bar to maintain the distance. Additional pieces of flat bar were brazed in to support the seat.
After the rear fender was fitted Howard started dry building the bike up using parts from eBay, jumble sales and friends. The front driving lights came from a Mark II Ford Cortina, the handlebars from a '73 Triumph T100, the mufflers are standard CX500 issue and the H-box and downpipes are the stock GL500 unit. Once the dry build was complete everything was stripped off and painted:
The frame, Pro-Link parts, stands and engine mounts were all powdercoated with many of the other parts being sent out to be chromed. A stainless bolt kit was used for assembly once they returned. The Pro-Link bushings were renewed and the swingarm received new bearings and dust seals. The front forks were rebuilt and the steering stem bearings were also replaced!
Howard did all of the under-seat metalwork and extended the side panels at the rear with fibreglass.
The build title is "Big Red" or "The Indian"!
The motor was rebuilt - the valves were ground in and the heads were gas flowed and once the work was done it was polished.
Here it is in the frame, looking very shiny:
That front fender, painted and in place:
Looking for more inspiration? Check out the rest of the Honda CX500 build list here.
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