The husband/wife team of Droog Moto has become one of our favorite builders. Their bikes are burly, raw, knobby-tired machines built to blast down fire roads and tackle the daily commute. These are not the metal-flake trailer queens of the show circuit. They are gritty, mean builds meant to be ridden hard.
Each month, the duo puts together a signature build for someone to buy. Next up is this Honda Nighthawk brute, based on a 1982 Honda CB650SC. We like the hybrid of go-fast tracker looks with scrambler ground clearance and knobbies. The headlights are hidden behind the perforated mesh of the tracker plate — a nice detail. Personally, we would love to give this bike a rip on a local fire road!
Honda Nighthawk Tracker/Scrambler: Builder Interview
(Answers by Erica and Max Droog. Highlights by us.)
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
We are a husband and wife build team and our primary focus is selling online all over the world. We don’t have a set build pattern really. All of our builds are a big mix of what we love from Scramblers to Trackers so we like to add a bit from each to every build! We do our best to be not like the others!
• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
The donor bike was a 1982 Honda CB650SC NightHawk.
• Why was this bike built?
This particular build is part of our Moto build collection. Every month we do another Droog Moto signature for someone to buy!
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
We wanted this bike to be big and burly but still easy and fun to ride. With the chunky tires and tall ground clearance you can really get into the rough terrain. We love the raw and open aesthetics on builds and wanted to keep this bike looking light and aerodynamic. You have the ability to take this bike anywhere really. We personally do a lot of service and fire road riding and wanted to fit this bike into a category where some one could do so comfortably and still ride it daily on road as well! We get a lot of interesting comments about our builds and not running fenders but to tell you the truth all of our builds kick ass off road and if you have a doubt, don’t dog it until you’ve ridden one 🙂
• What custom work was done to the bike?
There was a ton involved with this build. We did a custom subframe and new rear shock mounts along with an integrated LED tail light. The original gas tank was swapped out and then we gave the donor tank our signature treatment. We made a custom steel tracker plate with 6 small LED headlights hidden behind the perforated steel.
New handlebars and Biltwell grips. We installed a small digital speedo as well. A custom battery/electronics tray was welded up and hidden under the seat. The wheels where re-done in black and then wrapped in a new set of chunky adventure tires. We did a custom 4-2 exhaust which we then heat wrapped. The stock air box was ditched and we installed the pod filters and necessary jetting.
• How would you classify this bike?
Our builds are always a mix of tracker, scrambler and brat style. It is a big mix of everything. You have the fast tracker look along with the tall scrambler style. The low pipes, tracker plate and knobby tires really set this one off to be it’s own breed. It is the perfect mix for everyday commuting and weekend getaways!
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
We really dig the tracker plate on this build. The hidden headlights give the bike a cool modern, retro appeal. We are a big fan of knobby tires so that was another feature we like a lot. In a whole, we personally think this bike kicks ass 🙂
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I love the work of Droog Moto, this couple simply rocks! Congratulations! Keep doing this amazing work!