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The duo Rafe Pugh and Alec Sharp from Norfolk’s Old Empire Motorcycles love to use old small displacement bikes as canvas to turn them into awesome through complex customs. The result is always affordable, fun, modernized machines to please both Generation X and Millennials. Contrary to most custom builders who don’t like to talk much about their creations, Rafe and Alec are very eloquent at explaining the work they do on each of their builds. Below, highlights of the modifications they made on this very custom 70’s Honda CB550.

“The build started when we were approached by a customer who had seen some of our previous work and decided that our take on a 4 cylinder café/brat was the order of the day. A large capacity engine was not needed by this client and the opportunity came up to purchase a ’79 CB550 which was promptly stripped and the surgery began… In terms of fabrication it’s a difficult build. The the frame stayed pretty much stock at the place where the engine is mounted. However the entire rear subsection was removed and spliced into a new curved rear section and cowling where we have integrated the rear LED lights.

We had to change the suspension geometry as we removed the rear shocks entirely. It was decided that there was plenty of room under the engine for a pull type shock. So we duly obtained a second hand Buell shock, created a jig that mounted off the bench and began extending the frame. Various other modifications were made to the front end of the frame and to the swing arm to accommodate the shock and damper unit. After many trials and tweaks we got it bang on and couldn’t be more chuffed with the overall classic, uncluttered look it now possesses.

The engine had previously the barrels honed and new rings installed. So we went about upgrading the usual things we inevitably have problems with: new seals, gaskets and a rewound generator and electronic ignition. Then, the motor was soda blasted and repainted. The cases were vapor blasted and the fins polished to get what we think is a fantastic looking little engine. The tank was shimmed forward and knee scallops were added to stay in keeping with the classic Old Empire style. The front cowling, integrating the headlight, was hand rolled. Front and rear stock wheels were replaced with 19’’ aluminum rims and fully rebuilt with stainless spokes and vapor blasted hubs. Then they were draped with Coker rubber. Front end is stock forks fully rebuilt and dumped right down with a rework of the internals to house a custom set of super stiff shocks from Hagon, along with a very heavy weight fork oil. Braking system is upgraded with a dual disc set up rather than the standard single.

We fabricated our own aluminum clip-on bars, rebuilt the control units and levers and then finished with our laser cut leather grips. We wanted a cockpit looking dash, so opted for twin Koso units and remounted a simple ignition barrel between them. The battery is now fitted in a tidy little satchel along with the starter relay. The exhaust, although simple, took quite some time to figure out. The 2 x 2 pipes are neatly tucked along the sides, just long enough to make them run nicely, but short enough to give them some bark!

We matched the leather grips with our universal adjustable leather foot controls which we made as rear sets mounted on two curved struts, carefully integrating them into the stock frame, using stainless linkages and rose joints. Eventually we also replaced the standard Buell shock for a completely custom made unit from AST suspension which has fully adjustable dampening and preload.

Greg from Black Shuck Kustoms created the look we wanted in a deep Smokey blue with gold highlights. Everything else was powder coated black, vapor blasted or plated to get an overall distinguished look. After assembly we were a little apprehensive to see if the shock would work as we intended, but we are proud to say that it works flawlessly!

As usual our thanks goes to all the local independent craftspeople we work with to create our motorcycles: Black Shuck Kustom, Demeanour customs, GB upholstery, Aerocoat, Electroplate UK, Morely brothers, London Motorcycle Wiring, Flying Tiger Coatings, Framlingham Motorcycles, Suffolk Blasting, So Low Choppers, Amal carburettors, R and D moto, Hagon shocks, Electrex, Boyer Bransden, Greensand Foundry and Randals engineering.” Old Empire Motorcycles.