I always enjoy when custom builders utilize cheap, small displacement donors for thoroughly involved projects, and this Honda is a wonderful example of such. This little runner started its life as a very used 1998 Honda Cub C90 that was stripped down to the frame. The headstock off a modern pit bike was sourced, prior to being chopped up and welded to the C90’s chassis in order for the same pit bike’s inverted forks to be married to the build. This required modifying the yokes and lowering the forks which left room up top for a set of clip-ons to be tacked on.
Next, a new crossbar was fabbed up and attached to the top of the frame — not only serving as a structural member of the chassis but also accommodating the build’s top-style fuel cell. A mono shock was borrowed off an older Yamaha R1 and attached to the frame via bespoke brackets located where the donor’s gas tank originally sat. The swing arm also had to be modified in order to accommodate the liter bike’s rear shock, and a new hand-made loom was created and then hidden beneath the build’s seat. A set of blacked-out, spoked allow rims were also selected for the Honda before being wrapped in skinny Metzeler rubber.
Sheets of 1.6mm 1050AH14-grade aluminum were hand-beaten to form the Cub’s custom bodywork, with the side panels mounted to the machine’s engine bolts and the bikini fairing held to the yokes via a hand-bent, 6mm alloy bar. The sweeping one-off fairings visibly show the hammer marks from their hand-beaten creation, while the rest of the machine is adorned in the builder’s signature cream color. Other minor accouterments decorating the Honda include aftermarket switches, Russian army ammo pouches, a Koso tachometer, a handmade leather saddle which matches the ammo bags, tank strips, and grips, as well as a new vertically stacked pair of round super-bright bulbs that are fixed to the lower forks.
Because the monoshock modifications take up so much room in back, the builder — Pip Davidson — said it was a major challenge to shoehorn the rear disc brake and caliper into place. Pip told Pipeburn that he’s personally pushed the custom Cub past 80mph — nearly double the stock donor’s top-speed. Of course this is only possible because the Honda’s air-cooled single was hopped up with a new race-tuned 160cc mill that was ported and “ram-aired”. The new race-tuned engine also now inhales via a Mikuni carb and spits burnt fumes out of a surprisingly large underslung exhaust unit.
This build definitely isn’t for everyone, but I think that’s part of what makes it cool. Ordinary is boring. Considering this example was just featured on Pipeburn earlier this month, it’s a bit surprising to see the seller’s asking price is under $5K — a rarity on Pipeburn, even with small donor bikes. You can find this 1998 Honda Cub C90, Pip Davidson project—entitled “Eris” for sale here on TheBikeShed in Newbury, UK with a price of $3,150 (or £2,370).