2013 Honda CB450 Custom

Description
Honda CB450 Custom Build

Build platform: 1969 Honda CB450 DOHC vertical twin.

Inspiration:

This build was performed for a (, Australia) customer whose father is a true café racer enthusiast. His dad still rides and the brief was to design something based upon the types of bikes his dad loved, while still being capable of holding its own amongst modern bikes. The CB450 engine is as close as one can get to those iconic English twins around which the entire café racer legend was born. However, whilst British Iron is the real thing, they’re also heavy, underpowered, and not exactly known for reliability, basically diametrical in almost every way to the Japanese bikes that helped nail the lid to the coffin of the British bike industry.

Build details:

This bike is destined for some of the best bike roads in the country, and its owner wanted to be able to explore the CB’s limits, not just have the coolest bike at the coffee shop. The CB engine was never going to produce modern horsepower so we had to work on a “Sampson & Goliath” approach; it had to corner, stop, and accelerate from down low quickly, and the key to maximizing all those requirements was weight; with limited HP we had to get it out of the corners fast as possible and be able to go into a corner deeper than its contemporaries, and of course the most important thing of all, it had to be able to go through the corners fast, which means modern sticky tires.

The engine underwent a full rebuild including upping the cubes to 500cc; ports were raised and compression increased to produce an increase in torque off the bottom and add a bit of top end to the already high-revving over-square engine. The stock carby’s were binned in favor of a set of 35mm Keihn FCR competition units, with rather special filtered ram tubes that give a seriously cool look.

The frame was stripped of all the typical Honda pressed metal brackets and heavy lugs etc, a bit of strengthening was installed to the critical flex areas, and then a mock engine went in for fabricating the remainder. 18” wheels were never going to allow the cornering and braking loads we envisaged, so modern spec custom 17” rims were laced to a Honda CB750 front hub (so we could install twin discs), and we used a Yammy SR500 rear drum hub; a café race just has to have a drum brake rear end.   To maximize cornering we selected a set of Super-motard grooved racing tires which come in a 120 front and 140 rear; the stock CB swing-arm was way too small and as we wanted to lengthen the wheelbase we used the SR swing-am as well, although being able to reduce the final gearing down to the required size (46 > 37) entailed days of machining and fabrication of specialty items, but it looks fab and works perfectly. The rear sprocket is from a Ducati 900ss, which also means there’s a lot of variation commonly available if the owner wants to change gearing.

The required look discounted modern upside-down forks, so a set of CB1000R was modified to fit and assisted by 320mm Brembo discs and Brembo Gold-line 4 pot calipers off a Ducati 996. Days and days of turning billet ally into mountains of swarf were eventually rewarded; the braking ability of this build will produce a nose bleed!!   The rear suspension is again period correct with coil-over outboard shocks striped and painted in our blend of matt two-pack, same as forks and front calipers, to disappear from attention. Rear sets are our creation, as are the linkages for both gear and rear brake assemblies. The tank, exhaust, and seat are all hand-made specifically for this build and the tank design allows for all the electrics, including the battery, to be concealed; this means the main body of the wiring loom, again hand-made, is only about 18” (450mm) in length.

Hiding the usual gold Brembo master cylinder is achieved by a cute retro piston reservoir, and again blackening the actual cylinder so it disappears from view. Instruments amount to a single Motogadget retro design that is fully electronic and can display temperature, gear position, and change lights, in addition to the usual array of warning lights. We designed and Speedo pick-up to function from the rear wheel which helps with keeping the minimalist appearance up front as well.

Raider Retro’s are built to exceptional standards and quality – discerning owners who appreciate the elegance and craftsmanship of bygone eras. If you’d like to discuss your ultimate custom bike, hit the contact link or give us a call. For further information, shipping, price, or provenance inquiries, please feel welcome to contact during office hours at , cell at , email , or find us on Facebook at

The advertised price may include shipping concessions and/or be subject to currency exchange rate fluctuation. Please contact to confirm the location of this item and establish the price relative to the current exchange rate.

For further information, shipping, price, or provenance inquiries, please feel welcome to contact during office hours at , cell at , email , or find us on Facebook 

The advertised price may include shipping concessions and/or be subject to currency exchange rate fluctuation. Please contact to confirm the location of this item and establish the price relative to the current exchange rate.

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