We’re thrilled to present another build from Bj English of Brick House Builds. Bj’s previous build, a CX500 tracker inspired by the two-stroke Honda 3-wheelers of the 1980s, was a huge hit on the blog and beyond. Now Brick House Builds is back with another CX, this time a 1980 Honda CX500 scrambler named “Ranger Green.”
Again, Bj has managed to build a CX unlike any we have seen. He went for a purpose-built, “government issue” design inspired by the National Park Service. The result is a bike that any park ranger would be thrilled to ride. Below, we get the full story from BJ on the build.
Honda CX500 “Ranger Green”: Builder Interview
(Answers by Bj English of Brick House Builds, LLC. Highlights by us.)
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
My name is Bj English and I have always been a gearhead since as early as I can remember. My first bike was a Honda Mini trail 50 that started my motorcycle passion back when I was about 7 or so. From there it was an XR80 until high school where I rode an XL200 enduro daily and loved every second! From there I have always been involved with cars and bikes but in 2016 I decided to pursue custom bike building as my career, as I wanted put my name on something I had created. Over a year in and things are great!
• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
1980 Honda CX500 Deluxe
• Why was this bike built?
This is a commissioned build for a customer that wanted a scrambler made from this specific bike.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
The customer gave me complete creative freedom aside from his only requests being a grille over the headlight and that we keep with the factory design of the rear suspension. From there I got to work and thought that we should go for something that would be understated yet very purpose built and unlike any other CX500 we had seen.
We kept it classy and went for a government issued look with that being from the National Park Service. Something a forest park ranger would ride! Earthy colors bring the vibe together along with a custom-designed logo influenced by the National Parks Service arrowhead logo. “Ranger Green” was born.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
Fabricated items: boxed rear hoop assembly molded to the existing frame after lots of smoothing and shaping, inner splash guard/electronics tray molded into the bike, seat pan, GPS speedometer mounting plate, number plate, 2 into 1 header/crossover, geometric skid plate from 10 individual pieces of steel, battery mount below swingarm pivot, shortened front fender, custom rear fender mounted on factory swingarm, headlight brackets.
Modified items: Smoothed forks, smoothed fuel cap cover/hold down, modified radiator grill and surround, shortened clutch and throttle cables, modified brake lever.
Random: Lots and lots of polishing of individual components, seat is covered with duffel bag material, fuel cap cover is made from duffel bag strap, extensive powdercoating used, in-house designed CNC speedometer drive delete.
• How would you classify this bike?
Scrambler
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
I am proud of the fuel cap cover hold down, the fitment of the skidplate around the header/engine/battery giving the bike a flat bottom, and the speedometer drive delete.
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