“The Bear” from Darling, South Africa.
Shawn U’ren of South Africa’s Darling Motorcycle Works spent a 15-year stint in competitive enduro, slogging through the mud, sand, and rocks of such punishing races as The Roof of Africa. When it comes to building custom scramblers, that’s quite the pedigree. Here we have “The Bear” — a 1982 Honda CX500 scrambler with a rugged, military theme.
Below, we get the full story on the build!
Honda CX500 Tracker / Scrambler: Builder Interview
Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
I am Shawn U’ren from Cape Town, South Africa. I started riding bikes some 40 years ago and started early in my motorcycling life with prepping bikes to race and customize. Had a big love affair with sidecars as well as vintage and classic bikes. I started racing 50s and then 125s on track, which then led to motocross and eventually a 15-year stint riding competitive enduro like the Roof of Africa, Desert 1000 etc. Recent years have seen my love for Café racers and, old Classic Racing Bikes.
I recently competed in classic track racing and short circuit for several years until recently when I stopped due to injuries. Our shop, Darling Motorcycle Works specialize in the sales of classic motorcycles, service repairs, custom builds, full restorations, bobbers, old school retro builds, cafe racers, flat and street trackers etc.
We pride ourselves in bringing these legends of a past era back to life.
What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
Our donor bike is a 1982 CX500 Honda.
Why was this bike built?
We built the bike as a project for the shop and ultimately to sell so that we can promote specialized building in our area.
What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
The design concept was military and a rugged look which could also be practical to ride.
What custom work was done to the bike?
The custom work was done in house by our talented builder Deon Janse van Rensburg.
Work included:
- Rear frame to house electrics.
- Custom rear mono shock.
- Custom leather grips, and seat.
- Pro taper fat bars and high lifts.
- Custom CB650 fuel tank.
- Custom carb air filter shrouds.
- Custom headlight bracket.
- Metzler Karoo tires.
- Complete rewire front to back.
- Led custom tail light.
- Custom crossover exhaust system.
- Custom cooling fan.
How would you classify this bike?
The bike is a Custom Scrambler.
Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
I think the exhaust system and custom tail tidy turned out really well. It sounds awesome and looks very cool. Everything just came together from our concept drawing inspiration to a reality.
Follow the Builder
Website
http://www.darlingmotorcycleworks.co.za
Instagram
@DarlingMotorcycleWorks
Facebook
@DarlingMotorcycleWorks