If you need another example of what you can do with a classic, but less than pristine, motorcycle, take a look at this. Starting with an obviously rough 1977 Honda CB550F, the owner stripped it down to the frame, removed all of the brackets that weren’t necessary, bead blasted and repainted it then began the rebuild.

The tank and tail section is a Benjis Fiberglass Cafe set. The front forks were polished and rebuilt, then topped with a Buell headlight and CB200 gauges, along with clubman bars. The stock engine was painted and polished, the wheels were rebuilt with stainless spokes, plus lots of the hardware was replaced with new.

The candy red and black paint with gold pinstripes sets off the build and makes it look extremely classy.

Now, look at the before and after photos, go over the parts used and the work done and you’ll see you can apply this thinking to thousands of old bikes. Yes, he spent some money for parts, but not an enormous amount, what he did invest is lots of time, effort and skill. If you don’t have those to invest but you think this bike looks as good as I think it does, you can buy the finished product right now because it’s for sale. On the other hand, if you don’t have the money but you like what he did here, you can take much the same approach with an old and rough example of your own.

Examples like this keep popping up and everyone who says there aren’t any small displacement bikes available that look good and stand out from the crowd, is missing the treasure trove of bikes like these, hiding in plain sight. Nicely done, I definitely like it.

Related: CR-450 Clubman Café from Phil Little

Be sure to check out the Honda CB550 motorcycles for sale