15th Anniversary Build: Retrofitted CB500 from Cafe Cycles…
In 1969, the Honda CB750 howled onto the scene as the fastest and most sophisticated motorcycle ever to come out of Japan…and for a price that undercut most European models.
“Thousands have been sold, and there still aren’t enough of them around to satisfy the American’s thirst for this premiere roadster with the performance of a Superbike, the reliability of a BMW and the comfort of a Harley 74.” –Cycle World
To this day, the original CB750 enjoys the lion’s share of attention from motorcycle historians, restorers, and riders. However, the middleweight 500-550 Fours were incredible machines in their own right — in fact, many riders came to prefer them for their lighter weight and superb balance.
The original CB500 Four was a good 80 pounds lighter than the 750, and with ~50 horsepower coming out of the 498cc SOHC engine, the bike’s power-to-weight ratio was only a bit down from big brother. But it was the harmony of all the various elements that made the 500 such a great machine.
“All told, the Honda CB500 is perhaps the finest combination of superb engineering and deluxe features we’ve ever come across. Virtually vibration free performance, high cruising speed, spirited acceleration, good handling qualities, excellent fuel economy, etc., etc. We could go on forever…” –Cycle World
This 1971 CB500 café racer comes from our old pal Pete Chase of Cafe Cycles, who’s been working out of his small Rhode Island workshop for more than a decade and a half, specializing in aluminum fabrication and full custom builds as well as wiring, wheel-building, engine rebuilds, and more. We’ve had the pleasure of featuring a couple of Pete’s builds, including his Yamaha XS650 street tracker and Suzuki GT380 cafe racer.
A few years after opening his shop, Pete bought ten Honda CB frames to began turning into custom bikes. The CB500 Four you see here is one of those, and it went through quite a circuitous path from bare frame to reality — and from one customer to another — as Pete fully details below. The idea was for the build to show the evolution of Pete’s work in the last decade of his shop, and he had full creative freedom to build it according to his own vision:
“This was a special build for me in that it represents my 15th year in business. It was a bike that I had full rein to do whatever I wanted design wise.”
Pete not only mated the CB500 frame to a trick inverted CBR600RR front end, but he converted the bike to a monoshock setup with a swingarm he built himself. In place of a stock engine, there’s a bored-out CB550 mill with a street cam, electronic ignition, jetted carbs, and a 4-into-1 exhaust that puts significantly more power to the ground.
Then there’s the gorgeous bodywork. Pete generally eschews store-bought parts in favor of fabricating his own, and most of the alloy bodywork was shaped in-house. One of the only tasks he farmed out was the upholstery, and the seat would be a very special one for the shop’s 15th anniversary…sewn up from Pete’s old welding jacket!
“Every bike I built put a scar in this jacket until this one, where Wes at Counterbalance Cycles cut it up and made this beautiful seat cover.”
Jay at DGB Paintworks laid down the gorgeous paint, and the “15” is a reminder of all the years of challenges, triumphs, and hard work in the shop. Though this hot-rodded CB500/550 is absolutely show-worthy, it truly comes into its own out on the road — the twistier the better.
“It has about 45 hp at the rear wheel and weighs under 350lbs. The suspension and wheel package plus riding position makes the lanes in the road feel twice as wide… I have found that these bikes are the perfect size for back road riding where you want to use all the gears in the transmission and feel like you are at the Isle of Man.”
A huge congratulations to Pete for this sensational build, as well as the 15th (and now 16th) year of business as Cafe Cycles. Below is the full rundown straight from Pete himself, with more backstory, build details, and studio photos from Empowers Media.
In the Builder’s Words…
My name is Pete Chase, I started Cafe Cycles in 2008 in a small shop space. I specialize in aluminum fabrication, but I do everything in house from wheel building to wiring, engine rebuilds and paint.
This bike started life as a 1971 Honda CB500 Four. Way back in the early 2010’s I purchased about ten Honda CB frames and over the years I turned them into various custom bikes. This bike was one of those frames, so it started with only a bare frame and swingarm.
Back in 2013 I built a Honda CB550 on spec, which sold to a guy named Mike who walked in the shop off the road and purchased it right there. He had the bike in his work office for about two years putting only about 50 miles on it. He came to me and said he wanted to sell the bike. I listed the bike on ebay and it sold to a guy in Maryland who absolutely loved the bike and rode it often. A year later Mike came to me regretting that he sold the bike and wanted to build another, but this time with a more modern suspension and brakes.
I had this CB500 frame and a CBR600rr front end and we decided to put the two together. I went as far as customizing the rear section of the frame, building the monoshock swingarm and installing the front end, when all of a sudden Mike fell off the face of the earth and I couldn’t reach him, so the bike went into storage for a number of years.
About six years later, the guy from Maryland contacted me because he had his CB550 at a bike show and a young kid knocked his bike over, denting the tank and breaking a footpeg. He wanted me to repair the bike and talk about another build. He said he wanted something similar to the bike he had that I built in 2013 but that shows the evolution of my work. Ironically I had this CB500 that was still in storage. It was started for the same customer (Mike) that he bought his first bike from.
We wanted this bike to have an equal blend of vintage and modern. With the monoshock in the rear, inverted front end, aluminum wheels modern tires and brakes, the rest of the bike had to be pretty vintage. I also wanted to build as much of the bike in-house as I could rather than purchasing store-bought items. Also using as many original Honda parts, over aftermarket when possible. Some of these parts include a hand-formed aluminum seat cowl, aluminum belly pan, side covers, headlight ears, and the front and rear fenders.
We wanted to go with a rear disc brake, so I fit a rear hub from a 1975 Honda CB750F1 which was a couple year run where Honda made a rear disc spoked wheel. We built this bike in 2023, which was our 15th year in business, so another special detail is the seat upholstery which was made from my leather welding jacket that I had bought in 2008 when I started the shop. Every bike I built put a scar in this jacket until this one, where Wes at Counterbalance Cycles cut it up and made this beautiful seat cover.
The bike has a CB550 motor in it which was bored out, with a street cam, electronic ignition jetted carbs and a stainless 4 into 1 exhaust. It has about 45 hp at the rear wheel and weighs under 350lbs. The suspension and wheel package plus riding position makes the lanes in the road feel twice as wide. The bike never under or over steers, it is always exactly where you want it. I have found that these bikes are the perfect size for back road riding where you want to use all the gears in the transmission and feel like you are at the Isle of Man.
I am always proud of each bike I finish, whether it is a restoration or a custom build. This was a special build for me in that it represents my 15th year in business. It was a bike that I had full rein to do whatever I wanted design wise. Some people know exactly what they want their bike to look like, from parts used to color. Some people come to me and say they like everything on my website so just go wild and do what you want to do. This was one of those cases.
As much as I was able to do in-house I could have never gotten it done without the help from Jay at DGB Paintworks who I can always rely on for a flawless paint job. Wes at Counterbalance Cycles who crafted the leather upholstery. Whenever I send a seat out to upholstery I always hope it comes out like I plan, unless I am able to catch Wes for a job — it always comes out better than I had in mind. Also thanks to Travis at Empowers Media for this awesome photos. Of course the biggest thanks goes to my customer, Scott, who gave me the opportunity to get this unfinished project out of storage and brought to reality.
Follow the Builder
Instagram: @cafecycles
Seat: @counterbalancecycles
Paint: @dgb_paintworks
Photography: @empowersmedia
A nice story, but an even nicer result of the work. The author made the description easy, but I see great invention, attention to detail, and hundreds hours of work.
I would like to see a little bit of a back fender. These bikes always look an overall a bot unbalanced to me.
But it sure is a neat machine!