Honda has a long-standing custom of constructing middleweight bikes which might be extremely succesful however visually boring. The mid-2000s Honda CB600F Hornet is a first-rate instance. It makes just below 100 hp, handles effectively, and boasts Honda’s legendary reliability… but it surely’s ugly.
We don’t see an entire lot of {custom} Honda Hornets, which is an actual disgrace. The punchy four-cylinder bare has tons of potential—if you know the way to therapeutic massage it into form.
This {custom} 2006-model Honda CB600F Hornet (often called the Honda 599 within the US) comes from Francis Von Tuto in Florence, Italy. Francis is not any stranger to older Japanese sportbikes, so he got here into the mission with a transparent concept of learn how to take it from bland to lovely. But earlier than he might deliver this practice Honda Hornet to life, he needed to get his shopper on board.
From the shopper’s perspective, the mission had been off to a rocky begin. He’d initially given the bike over to a unique {custom} builder—a very good buddy of Francis’ who makes a speciality of efficiency bikes and manages a WorldSBK race group. But, because of unexpected circumstances, the workshop by no means obtained additional than stripping the bike.
Francis was known as in to take the mission over. The shopper agreed, however he was understandably annoyed on the prospect of getting to clarify all his concepts to a brand-new workshop. But one take a look at Francis’ portfolio set his thoughts comfy, and the 2 slowly began constructing a rapport.
“He initially had ideas that didn’t really match the style of the build, or in some cases that would compromise the rideability,” says Francis. “In many cases, it doesn’t help when you look for inspiration on the internet, since people post everything from six-figure builds to unrideable showpieces. It’s sometimes difficult for the average user to tell the difference.”
“After a few mock-ups and meetings, we found a way to straighten things out. Let me say this is nothing uncommon, it happens more than you would expect… and I get it! Luckily in the end we found a compromise and it all started to make sense.”
“One of the downsides of the Honda CB600F Hornet, apart from its terribly long and tall rear frame section, is its voluminous tank. But the owner wanted to keep it—so first I had to create a new design to work around it. That meant the exhaust, dash, and headlight all had to go, and the whole rear section had to be shorter and narrower, but still comfortable for a pillion.”
Francis began by remodeling the Hornet’s subframe; a chore in itself. The OEM subframe is an oblong tube affair that was designed to be hidden beneath bodywork—however the redesign was going to depart it uncovered. So Francis minimize the tip off, did some even handed de-tabbing, and welded in a brand new rear loop, fabricated from spherical tubing.
Extra care was taken to make sure that the brand new setup wouldn’t have an effect on the rear suspension geometry, and that there would nonetheless be room to squeeze a passenger on. Next, Francis formed a seat pan out of fiberglass, then handed it over to BF Tappezzerie, an auto upholsterer in Florence, to complete it. It now wears double-density foam and a vinyl cowl, with stitching particulars that have been requested by the proprietor.
Lower down, Francis ditched the Hornet’s airbox to slim it down extra. Alloy facet panels now flank the bike, wrapping across the remnants of the oblong subframe for a extra cohesive aesthetic. Hiding behind the facet panels are a Lithium-ion battery, a coolant reservoir, and the important electrical bits.
A row of filters from BMC deal with consumption duties, with crimson bases that match the opposite crimson accents on the bike. Francis additionally put in a stage three efficiency package from Dynojet, to be sure that the bike runs easily with the open filters.
The Hornet’s upside-down forks and 17” alloy wheels have been retained, however the forks wanted a rebuild. An elegant sculpted fender sits above the entrance wheel; it seems prefer it’s been borrowed from a contemporary sportbike, however Francis truly formed it out of aluminum utilizing an English wheel, a hammer, and a sheet curler.
The bike’s proprietor equipped a brand new LED headlight, however the remainder of the cockpit’s format was as much as Francis. He put in the sunshine on aluminum stays, then added a laser-cut fly display screen above it. A laser-cut dashboard sits flush with the display screen and hosts a digital Motogadget speedo, whereas low-rise handlebars and bar-end mirrors full the bundle.
Since the bike wanted to be street-legal and considerably sensible, Francis wanted to create a number of additional items to decorate the rear. A fiberglass hugger retains muck away from the rear shock, whereas laser-cut chrome steel brackets maintain the license plate, bolted to new CNC-machined chain adjuster plates. There’s a custom-made chain guard again there too.
Highsider LED flip indicators do obligation up entrance, with three-in-one Highsider gadgets doubling up as flip indicators and taillights on the again. The Hornet’s completed off with a pair of gnarly chrome steel mufflers, hooked as much as the OEM headers through a {custom} connector pipe.
The Hornet’s proprietor needed his bike to match his Jeep, in order that took the guesswork out of choosing a colour. The livery wanted a number of small particulars although, so Francis enlisted the assistance of a buddy—an illustrator who operates as The Junkers—to create a number of renders. In the tip, all of the design wanted was numbers on the facet panels, a touch of black alongside the underside of the tank, and traditional Honda logos.
“I owe him,” says Francis, “because he hates this kind of work and never does it. So the fact that he did it for me is a big plus!”
Like all the pieces on this practice Honda Hornet, the livery is straightforward, tasteful, and hanging. It’s proof that the vanilla donor bike has oodles of potential—and that Francis is aware of learn how to extract that potential.
Francis Von Tuto | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Rafael Montañes Ruiz | Francis want to thank Aero Club Serristori and Etruria Volo
Source: www.bikeexif.com
