The husband/wife team behind Droog Moto has quickly established a signature style, building post-apocalyptic trackers, scramblers, and desert sleds that Mad Max would love. Recently, Max and Erica Droog moved from scorching Arizona to Washington State, where they can’t wait for perfect summer riding weather. This is their first build to come out of the PNW, and we are honored to give you the full story below.
Droog Moto CX500 Scrambler: In the Builder’s Words
(Words by Droog Moto. Highlights by us.)
The bike is a 1979 Honda CX500D. We both really wanted to build a CX and especially another Honda. We found this bike in Seattle and made the drive south to go get it. It had already been hacked up by the previous owners. Luckily for us it was stored inside for a number of years. We got the bike home and got to work right away. We wanted to build a true one of a kind scrambler out of this bike. In our opinion, the CX has perfect lines for a retro-modded scrambler.
The first thing up on the list was the mono shock and new subframe. We did a similar setup on our previous CM400 build and it worked perfectly. Once the rear was set and we decided on a height we moved our attention to the front.
A fork swap was a must for this build. The stock CX forks are very small in diameter and contain no adjustability. We found a good set of Yamaha R1 forks that we got setup with. The front wheel was also used off the Yamaha so that we could run matching tires and a better brake setup. We settled for a single caliper setup as the R1 caliper is a dual piston with a serious bite, we matched that up with an R1 master cylinder and braided brake line. The wheels were painted black and then wrapped in Duro HF904 tires; they are big and chunky just like we wanted for this setup.
The fuel tank was given the special Droog Moto treatment — this one is a bit new to us but we really dig the style it adds to the build. We matched up a custom tracker plate and a 5” headlight. We installed oversized handlebars with Biltwell Grips and a TrailTech speedo.
Moving on to the motor, we wanted to keep it in true scrambler fashion so high pipes were a must. We decided on a nice tight setup that exited towards the rear keeping the rider and bike safe from heat. The motor was given a good cleaning and gone through along with a fresh coat of paint. Lastly we installed a Lithium battery tucked into the swing arm paired with a new Mosfet Regulator/Rectifier to keep it all working in order.
This bike is a true one of a kind CX that we personally think kicks ass! The bike will be up for sale soon on our website!
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