Honey Wagon
1969 Honda CB350 chopper inspired by the custom motorcycle and hot rod culture from the 1960’s. We came up with a concept for the bike in the fall of 2016 and submitted our mockup to Showclass Magazine for their People’s Champ competition. Out of nearly 200 bikes, our bike was selected for the Top 25. We started on the bike with the intention of finishing by Born Free at the end of June, 2017.
We started by building the frame from scratch with a 43° rake and modeled the stance after similar style Triumph choppers of the era. We built wheels with a lightweight, high-shouldered 21” Borrani rim in front and an 18” Borrani in the rear. The front end is a 6” over stock front end with hand-shaved lowers, triple clamps and a new set of stainless forks.
The sissy bar is made out of stainless and we incorporated a classic style diamond with a transparent yellow plexi-glass insert to match the yellow lens headlight. The fender mounts, brake stay, shifter, brake pedal and kick-stand were all made by hand out of stainless steel. We built the exhaust using mandrel bends to match the exact lines of the frame and sissy bar. The seat pan was made out of a used ribbed fender and 16 gauge sheet metal.
The tank and fender are both Wassel style. We added a molded diamond on the tank out of stainless to match the diamond in the sissy bar. Then we built a molded in electrical box to hide the 4 cell Antigravity battery, the Dynatek coils, the Charlie’s Place regulator/rectifier and headlight controls. Below that is a custom tray to carry a 6 pack of your favorite flavor of canned beer.
Once everything was mocked up, we tore it down and sent everything off for upholstery, paint, polish and plating. Paint is a gloss black with a candy and pearl gold dusted over. Upholstery is a vintage gold velvet with a gloss black leather. The motor and carbs were painted black with the engine covers and float bowls polished and the carb tops chromed.
The motor was torn down all the way and we rebuilt the transmission, clutch and oil pump. The cylinders were bored out to 1.00 mm over pistons from WiseCo x Charlie’s Place. We sent in the cam to Webcam Racing and got a long duration profile with a higher lift. The rockers are NOS Honda and the valves, seats and head were all machined with a new finish. We replaced the cam chain, cam chain tensioner, guide and used a Vesrah gasket kit. The points and condensor were removed and we’re using a Charlie’s Place electronic ignition.
“Honey Wagon” was completed June 22nd, 2017 and shown for the first time at Born Free 9.
