Shed built: "I'm proud to tell people that it was all my own work"

Mechanical engineer Simon Bell, who builds under the name Twisted Monkey, has developed a bit of a habit of picking up odd-ball motorcycles for projects – hence his latest creation: a Honda H100 café racer.

Simon started customising motorcycles after buying a stolen-recovered Honda CG125, enabling him to pick the bike up really cheap while also reaping the benefits of having a pretty solid machine to work on. Stowed in the back of his garage currently is also a BMW R45 and a Honda CB400/4.

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After buying the H100, Simon completely stripped the bike before de-lugging the frame. The rear loop was cut and re-welded to help give the bike a better presence. This was also helped further by a cutting and reworking the exhaust to give better lines.

The frame, swingarm and wheel rims were all sent off for powder coating and a one-off seat fabricated by using a plywood base that was moulded to suit the bike by Simon before being sent off to be upholstered.

When back from being powder coated, the wheels were laced with stainless steel spokes to match the stainless fittings used throughout the rest of the bike.

The build took about five months from start to finish, with the most challenging aspect of the build, according to Simon “that I had to wait for parts to be returned” before he could crack on with the build. 

Overall though, he’s stoked with the end result: “I never set out with a budget, I just wanted to build a bike that I could be proud of to a very good standard.

“I’m most happy by the wonderful comments that I get when I’m asked where I bought the bike before proudly telling people that it was all my own work.”

If you have your own shed-built bike then we want to hear from you. Email our Web Producer James with some images and a bit about your project to James.Archibald@MotorcycleNews.com

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