PROTÉGÉ: TWO HONDA CB550 CUSTOMS FROM A YOUNG DUTCHMAN

[weeksy]

https://www.bikeexif.com/custom-honda-cb550

[weeksy]

Built by a 23yr old bloke who probably drinks frothy soya coffee.
I'm not a fan of the seat and no panels, although I could live with no side panels, I remember Lester Harris occasionally did that, but there is something about these bikes built by youngsters now that makes it look like they're trying way too hard and they lack the class anything the likes of Harris would build.

I think i look at them differently to you as i don't have an old school reference point like you. I also look at them from from what they should be, but how they're finished, fixing, fastenings, lines, quality, components.

Nothing at all on this bike stands out to me as bad.

[KungFooBob]

They look well done from a fit an finish point of view.

The battery box spoils the green one, I assume it's in the same place on the white one. The exhaust kind of hides it from one side, but it's a mess on the other. Should have gone with a tiny lithium jobbie and hid it under the seat.

[The Spin Doctor]

Interesting to see how the electrics are done - given the mess of rectifiers, fuse boxes and batteries that usually fill 'the hole', I've always wondered where some of the bikes actually conceal them. Finding somewhere to plonk a wacking great lead acid battery was one reason for the big seat hump on some of the 70s / 80s endurance racers - I remember that quite a few even had a hole in the top leaving the battery exposed so it could be changed when the battery ran flat, as it would do when the alternator couldn't keep up with the race lights at night.

The green one also has a nod to practicality with the hugger keeping spray off the air filter and seat underside (where the electrics live) so it might actually work outside of Los Angeles.

And unlike some bikes which I honestly feel it's a crime to destroy, the CB550 was such an abortion to ride, I don't feel in the least sorry to see one (or even two) hacked about.

[DefTrap]

I like the way that they've stripped off all the nasty old shite that the original bike had on it because of price / safety / partsBin / 40YearsAgo but still managed to make it sort of factory looking. And really the bike factories should be ashamed of themselves when it comes to wiring loom design and fit. Some of these classic restos where they've insisted on mile long cables, instruments you can see from the moon and an exhaust that you could play a tune on are just ridiculous exercises in pedantry.

Overall it's not for me as ultimately a/c cb550s are a bit shit, but i like the idea.

[Skub]

Do those forks actually work at all?

[Yorick]

Them wires might look pretty, but they're gonna get ripped out by numpties with big hands.

[Mr. Dazzle]

That's a different take on pod filters innit? It almost looks like a cover you take off before you start it up.

As is often the case with these customs; I love the colours but especially the green one

[Taipan]

Looks like something fell out or has been stolen with that stupid open gap. But they all seem to do it, so I guess it must be a desired look? Spoils a nice couple of bikes for me though...

[Count Steer]

Looks like something fell out or has been stolen with that stupid open gap. But they all seem to do it, so I guess it must be a desired look? Spoils a nice couple of bikes for me though...

You could get one and customise it TP. Fill the gap with an item of your choice. Fishtank with a few tetras in? Glitter ball? Flat screen with adverts on?

[Taipan]

Looks like something fell out or has been stolen with that stupid open gap. But they all seem to do it, so I guess it must be a desired look? Spoils a nice couple of bikes for me though...

You could get one and customise it TP. Fill the gap with an item of your choice. Fishtank with a few tetras in? Glitter ball? Flat screen with adverts on?

Lockable door kerbside and you've got some half-decent, sneaky storage! Seems a shame to waste such a space really.

[mangocrazy]

Magnolia tank and brown seat is a crime in itself. I like the green one (the colour, that is). Agree with KFB on the battery box(es) - these guys are stylists (allegedly) couldn't they have styled it better than a square black box with pointy edges?

And both bikes appear to have badly worn rear brake shoes. The brake arm angle on both is 90 degrees or less. Won't someone think of the children?

[Mr. Dazzle]

Making boxes with anything other than square edges is a couple of steps up in difficulty innit? Square stuff is just cutting and folding, anything beyond that is semi-proper bodywork skills innit.

[Mr. Dazzle]

but I rarely see any of these creations that are up to the sort of standards that decent factory design engineers produce

There's one very simple reason for that.

Budget

Customs may be what - 10s of K - but a factory standard one would run you six figures easy, were such a thing available. The closest I can think of is the full custom programmes from people like Ferrari, or maybe Singer Porsches. S'not unusual for them to top a million quid.

[mangocrazy]

Not necessarily, like I said, looks at Alan Millyard's work, proper one-off custom stuff that often looks factory or better than factory.
He does it all in his single garage on equipment that isn't expensive.

Absolutely. What beggars my imagination is that he cuts through crankcases and the like with a hacksaw (at least, that's what he purports to do in his videos). But his creations are proper specials and, as you say, as good as or better than factory stuff. And his workshop is by no means spacious.