When faced with a Honda CX500 in the shop, the first factor most builders do is ‘fix’ the frame. It looks awkward and droopy, and the usual resolution is to either trick the eye, or get out the welding gear.
But Auto Fabrica decided to go with the flow. When they’d stripped the bike down to the frame to map out their design, they fell in adore with its special stance.
“The surprise lay in the frame being such an organic kind,” explains co-founder Bujar Muharremi, “with a genuinely amazing side profile.”
“We played around with the idea of reworking it, but it became a bit of a guilty pleasure. We decided to challenge ourselves to make it appear purposeful and aesthetically pleasing.”
So the lads simply cleaned up the controversial frame before figuring out a complementary bodywork profile. A hand-beaten, aluminum tank did the trick a slender unit that flows seamlessly into a stubby perch.
The bodywork is impressive, nearly liquid in type. There are shades of the ‘Type 6’ Yamaha XS650 that produced it onto the cover of The Ride: 2nd Gear.
“The Kind six was an exercising in metal shaping, and pushing our design skills and engineering to another level,” says creative director Bujar Muharremi.
The ‘Type 8’ CX500 has a equivalent remedy, and after once more, it is the tiny information that drive the point home.
The gas cap is a flush, pop-and-twist affair. And the seat’s a genuine masterpiece. It is covered in dark, perforated leather, with a logo plaque and eyelets revealing discreet tan leather highlights.
The Honda’s stance has been massaged further, by shortening the forks and treating them to Maxton springs. Hagon shocks do duty out back, and the CX500’s ungainly Comstar wheels have been ditched for a set of spokes.
The front’s a 19-inch unit from a CB450 TLS, and the rear’s a 16-inch rim laced to a Honda hub. They’re both shod in Shinko rubber.
Beneath the hood, the engine has been rebuilt with gas flowed heads for extra functionality. The carbs have been reconditioned and rejetted, and now run foam filters. The elegant exhaust method is a 1-off—hand bent from 316 stainless steel.
“It was a element of the bike which we felt like we could go wild on,” says Bujar, “so we opted for a twist high rise design. The crucial was to steer clear of any straight lines, which became a wonderful challenge—but it worked effectively.”
In standard Auto Fabrica fashion, everything’s been nipped or tucked in some way. The taillight’s a discreet, hand-made LED unit, hiding close to the appropriate hand side shock.
Up front, the leading triple clamp has been shaved clean, with a tiny digital Motogadget speedo mounted ahead of it. The clip-ons are custom stainless steel numbers, with integrated switches.
Each the Variety 8 and Kind 6 are at present in Geneva, as part of an exhibition celebrating mechanical art in the gallery of the watchmaker MB&F.
Given that Swiss horologists know a handful of issues about intricate metalwork, that is high praise certainly.
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Don’t Fight It, Really feel It: Auto Fabrica Embraces The CX500
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