After an almost 9 year hiatus from bikes, Nick decided things needed to change. The Café Racer gods sent down enough inspiration for him to get searching for the perfect start, and soon enough there was a 1981 CB750 sitting in his garage ready to be broken down and created into something new.

Nick and his brothers were always thrill seekers, from the early years of pushing their pedal cars down the highest hills they could find to crashing paddock bombs into trees when they were teens. “Our first bike was a green Yamaha DT 125 which we both loved and rode. We finally swapped it for an almost perfect XP Ford Falcon – which we immediately decorated with house paint and went about destroying in the farm paddocks! The first bike I bought with my own cash was an early 80’s XL 250. This was the beginning of my mechanical apprenticeship, as I had to rebuild the top end. I then moved on to road bikes starting with an RD 250LC.” From here on there would be more bikes as the years went by, until like many Nick had to put the bikes on the backburner as his started his family.

This break from two-wheeled hooliganism wasn’t to last, thankfully. “I had always been interested in custom bikes and came across a Norton Commando cafe racer on the Internet one day and fell in love. In 2009 I decided I could be bikeless no longer and convinced my wife I needed a project. I spent the next couple of months flicking between old bikes for sale – and then throwing them into google with “cafe racer” tagged on the end to see what was possible. I finally came across a pretty tired looking 1981 Honda CB750f Super Sport – and that is where it all started. I brought the bike home on a trailer and was up until 2am stripping bits and pieces off to see what I had.”

The inspiration for this build came after seeing one a bloke in the US had created. “He had taken a box of parts that was once a 1981 DOHC CB750 and built an incredibly pared back, lean and immaculate cafe racer. A proper tribute to the cut back, lightweight machines that started the genre – albeit with a little more power. Once I saw what was possible I snapped up my own bike and began the project.”

“Throughout the build, I have been an avid subscriber to many online and printed mags – as well as many custom bike building companies such as Benjies Cafe Racer and Cafe Racer Dreams. This is where I would get an idea for the headlight or the levers, or the seat, or the pipes. I would see something I liked on what may have been a totally different build to mine – but could see how it would complement my bike.”

“It’s taken me 5 years to get it to where it is today and whilst my ultimate vision has changed slightly over that time – it was that original Norton Commando cafe racer and the beautiful CB750 cafe racer that remained in my mind as the ultimate goal.”

As with a lot of people keen to work on their own custom ride, one of the biggest hurdles was not having the proper space to work with. “. Until recently, the bike was under a cover out in the elements – and all work took place in the back yard. In fact, when I rebuilt the top end, I did this all on a milk crate under a tarpaulin – so it really is a true “backyard build”.

Getting the engine out of the bike without the proper hoists and tools was a nightmare. It ended up being a combination of a car jack and plenty busted knuckles to finally coax it out of the frame and onto my ice-cream crate. I had the cylinders bored out to 836cc and then sent the Head off to Basil at Headworks – where he performed his magic on the valves and ports. When I finally had the engine back in one piece – I was pleasantly surprised when it turned over – and even more so when it started first pop.”

“There are many small details that I love about this build, and I have been sprung many a time standing in a corner of the garden just looking at the bike. Something I have always loved when looking at other peoples bikes are the small details. For me, it’s little things like the Brembo front and rear master cylinders, the motion pro performance throttle and Zeta flight racing levers. It’s these little embellishments which provide a definite performance factor for the bike – but which also draw your eye when your sitting in the back yard with a beer in hand and thinking… what next?”