Some bikes simply construct simpler than others. Honda CBs, Yamaha XS650s and Harley Sportsters are a number of that come to thoughts, and also you’ll discover tons of elements and inspiration for these platforms. However there are numerous causes it could pay to begin with a much less identified amount, and provides just a little like to the bizarre ones. The next bikes are a small style of the highway much less traveled—the perfect bizarre bikes you wouldn’t instantly contemplate for customized builds. A few of them are difficult, some are just a little ugly and others have unusual options which can be simply onerous to design round. On the flip facet, most of those bikes are tremendous low cost, and in case you play your playing cards proper, there’s further glory in breaking the mould.
Flat-four Honda Gold Wing Sporting an enormous flat-four and weighing within the neighborhood of 700 to 900 kilos, the Honda Gold Wing isn’t precisely on the bike builder’s 101 checklist. The Gold Wing began carving out a distinct segment within the long-haul touring scene in 1974, and gained over prospects with consolation, torquey flat-four engines, fool-proof five-speed transmissions and shaft drive.
Honda constructed a ton of those bikes, over 640,000 by 2010, and homeowners pack critical miles on these machines earlier than retiring them. 100,000 miles, no massive cope with correct upkeep, and there’s a Gold Wing on the market that reached 457,000 miles—discuss seat time!
Level of the story is that Gold Wings are powerful, and there are many them languishing in your native classifieds which can be hardly damaged in. In our neck of the woods, we discover a couple Gold Wings a month which can be asking lower than $600, solely in want of just a little TLC, and good working machines for lower than $1,000. First-generation GL1000 Wings are most likely the choose of the litter, normally sporting wire wheels and extra minimalistic bodywork, however later GL1100 and 1200 fashions are additionally viable choices.
There are a number of massive issues to remember in case you plan to cut up a Gold Wing, beginning with that monstrous flat-four engine. The 80 hp mill, its transmission and induction system take up plenty of area, and the cylinder heads stick out fairly removed from the facet of the bike, but when BMW can do it then so are you able to.
It’s additionally value noting that the Honda’s properly formed gas tank truly homes an airbox, glove field and radiator growth tank, and the actual gas tank is definitely below the seat. With this setup, the body is tremendous large within the spine, and modifying the gas system is sort of the chore.
Even with these hurdles in thoughts, Gold Wings make fairly improbable cafe racers and off-the-wall customs, evidenced by these builds from Craig Rodsmith and Kevin Rowland.
Yamaha TW200 Ahh, air-cooled simplicity. Atop the quick checklist of bikes that haven’t modified in many years, you’ll discover Yamaha’s enduring, fat-tired TW200, boasting 35 years of (kind of) unaltered manufacturing. Apart from a number of swapped half numbers, the one factor separating an ’88 TW from a 2023 is graphics and a entrance disc.
As easy and dependable as they arrive, the Yamaha TW200 remains to be constructed with a metal gas tank, a primary telescoping fork, a 28 mm Mikuni carburetor and a 16 hp, 196 cc air-cooled single. It’s not fast, and there’s no altering that, however the TW is enjoyable and rugged, and couldn’t be simpler to work on.
As a result of it’s so primary, the one limiting elements for a TW are your creativeness and (presumably) the massive wheel format. The fork and swingarm are arrange for fats rubber, and that’s one thing it’s best to embrace in your construct, however absolutely anything is feasible with the best instruments. We just like the route of Wolf Moto’s tracker-esque TW, which embraces the bike’s rugged, fats rubber origins, however with a racier spin on issues, and these wild customs from Mike’s Storage and Deus Ex Machina do it for us as properly.
T-dubs could be discovered nearly all over the place, out of your native classifieds, to your native supplier in case you’re feeling spendy. A brand new TW sells for just below $5,000, however used bikes can go for below $1,000 in the event that they’re in want. I personally purchased a minty ’96 mannequin a pair years in the past for $1,600, however that one’s a bit too good to go below the knife.
Yamaha Virago Making one thing out of the Yamaha Virago isn’t for the faint of coronary heart. That’s in no way a dig at anybody who’s ever thrown a leg over one, however if you wish to discuss design constraints, this bike’s stuffed with ’em.
The Virago has fairly laid-back cruiser geometry, and the body drops below the saddle, that means you’ll must be helpful with a welder when you have one thing a bit extra aggressive in thoughts. The boxy spine chassis isn’t a very good-looking piece both, and could be onerous to work round. Moreover, the inventory tank sits excessive on the spine, and swapping it can doubtless necessitate a good bit of slicing and welding as properly.
The Virago’s 75-degree, air-cooled twin hangs from the body, and it will get fairly near the pavement while you begin dropping the entrance finish. Whereas some Virago engines look higher than others (the much less chrome the higher), the look works while you add the best perspective, like these customs from Kerkus and Greg Hageman.
In case you’re expert at turning challenges into alternatives, the Virago is your subsequent construct, as its most problematic options make a singular visible assertion within the completed product. Viragos are plentiful and low cost, and there are at the very least three on our native classifieds for lower than $1,000.
Honda CX500 The extra all the pieces begins to look alike, the much less afraid try to be to stay out. And the Honda CX500’s heads positively stick out—not in Boxer style like BMW—however extra akin to Moto Guzzi. Whereas its shaft-driven, longitudinally-mounted V-twin goes towards the grain of standard bike constructing knowledge, there’s reward within the endeavor.
Honda’s normal CX bikes have been described as malaise, and even milquetoast (feeble, insipid or bland) by Revzilla, however as Rev aptly factors out, they really have a good bit going for them. For one, it’s a liquid-cooled Honda, that’s nearly as dependable because it will get, and the V-twin is definitely a burdened member within the chassis.
The CX was Honda’s first V-twin, and after prototyping with a 90-degree setup, Honda tightened the cylinders as much as 80 levels and twisted the heads 22 levels to maintain the carbs out of your online business. Every head has 4 valves, however the engine association compelled Honda to make use of stubby pushrods, as a substitute of overhead cams, and the engine isn’t any sizzling rod at simply 48 hp.
Just like the Yamaha Virago, the spine chassis of the CX500 isn’t very sharp trying, however it’s a lot simpler to disguise. The platform truly works fairly properly as a barely modernized cafe racer, as is the case with Harry Blaise Fryer’s CX500 that’s been upgraded with a GSXR fork and a monoshock conversion. Additional factors are awarded for spoked wheels, which would require some effort to make work with the shaft-drive hub.
As is the case with different bikes on our checklist, the Honda CX500 is as low cost as they arrive. A fast have a look at my native classifieds, and I discovered 4 bikes on the market inside a pair hours drive, all for below $600.
Suzuki GT550 The Suzuki GT550 and its long-stroke, undersquare engine was by no means designed to be an all-out performer, and people sufficiently old to recollect the heyday of two-stroke triples will make sure to remind you of that. Whereas it’s no Kawasaki Mach III, the GT550 is a reasonably cool bike for the remainder of us, and makes all the best noises for much less coin.
It’s kind of ironic that Suzuki would identify the GT380 and 550 bikes after race circuits like Sebring and Indy, when their lengthy wheelbases and long-stroke engines have been, actually, constructed for touring use. The GT550 isn’t any powerhouse, with marketed output at 50 bhp, however it’s no slouch both, and can take you to triple-digit speeds in inventory kind.
Probably the most fascinating facet of the GT is the distinctive Ram Air System, which is nothing greater than a elaborate cooling shroud. Designed to duct ambient air over the cylinder head, the Ram Air System appears to have been considerably efficient at holding the middle cylinder cool, however at present, it’s simply cool in a goofy means to take a look at.
Considerably of a forgotten triple of the period, the Suzuki GT550 engine makes an enormous visible assertion in any kind of construct—a kind of social gathering piece if you’ll. In case you have the coin, growth chambers are nonetheless accessible from a number of producers, and can give the GT just a little extra of that ‘ring-da-ding-ding’ all of us crave.
MotoHanger and Macdonald Hastings Design each lit up the web a number of years again with some wild GT550 customs, and Sean Pelletier of The Motoworks constructed this stunning CAD-designed GT380 in 2020. Enticed by this unusual ’70s triple, we picked up a patina’d ’73 Ok Mannequin out of a barn a number of weeks again—now we simply want the pipes… [Mecum]
