Licks Cycles: Honda CBX Café Racer

Lys Bikes builds a six-cylinder café racer…

For the 1979 mannequin yr, ten years after the introduction of the revolutionary CB750, Honda launched one other two-wheeled marvel of engineering, the CBX1000 Tremendous Sport. The mighty CBX had six cylinders, six carbs, 24 valves, two overhead cams, and greater than 100 horsepower on the crank.

Whereas the six-cylinder machine would by no means be as quick or agile as a number of the 1000cc inline-fours, it had a mystique all its personal:

“We felt there was one thing exhilarating and thrilling in regards to the 6-cylinder CBX that was missing within the 4-cylinder CB1000F… one thing within the CBX that might not be measured in numbers like pace and weight, (one thing that) made it a really horny machine.” -Shoichiro Irimajiri, CBX designer, Cycle World

What’s extra, many people say the CBX had the best-sounding motorbike engine in historical past — one thing akin to the howling fury of an F1 automotive at full music.

“The sound alone is definitely worth the value of admission. It pastes an enormous dumb smile on my face each time I creep up on a protracted line of slower bikes, drop a gear (or two), and watch because the final two or three riders within the line flip their heads to see what the hell simply made that sound.” –Mike Frequent, CBX proprietor

Again in 2021, we featured a Honda CBX1000 cafe racer from France’s Lys Bikes — a private venture for builder Dimitri, who started working with out the common budgetary and stylistic constraints of a consumer construct.

Whereas the pandemic prevented Dimitri from taking that “Tremendous 6” to all of the exhibits he had in thoughts, it nonetheless attracted a ton of optimistic consideration, together with a brand new consumer who needed the same CBX construct…with a few twists:

“The client requested for a construct like my first CBX however with a handlebar as a substitute of clip-ons and two-person seat with cowl.”

As earlier than, Dimitri began with a “Professional-Hyperlink” (monoshock) mannequin to assist him obtain the racy silhouette he envisioned. The bike is operating a Triumph Pace Triple entrance finish and Ducati 848 swingarm paired with light-weight wheels, 525 chain, and offset sprocket. A brand new subframe helps a bespoke rear shock mount, Ducati tail part, and customized ADC Sellerie saddle, and the bike is decked out with full LED lighting courtesy of Koso and Motogadget.

The rebuilt engine sports activities a billet consumption, IRNOX Motors 6:1 customized header, and Spark silencer, and the livery and lettering was completed fully with out vinyl or decals — all paint. This CBX seems to be a deal with, and Dimitri says it’s a hoot within the wild: