CMBL's Bike Shed show-stoppers

Hailing from the depths of Cornwall, CMBL mastermind, John Eldridge has a pretty busy lifestyle to say the least. When he isn’t running his popular destination restaurant, Strong Adolfos near Wadebridge and fulfilling his duties as a father, you can find him shaping surfboards and building bespoke motorcycles under the CMBL banner.

He brought a couple of new machines along to the Bike Shed Show so we caught up with him…

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So, what have you brought to the Show and what’s new?

I’ve brought an SR250 and an SR500.

And what have you done to them?

“Both were ground-up custom builds, the 250 was a commission for a chap in London, so we worked closely together to build something really personal for him and I built the 500 for myself.

“With the 250 we completely remade the subframe. Not just the loop, because I wanted a much straighter line from the tank, and when I pulled apart the donor it was pretty ugly from underneath. So that was the main modification on the frame.

“It’s also got a Suzuki TS100 tank with a modified cap, custom mudguards, anodised aluminium rims with stainless spokes, polished hubs and stainless downpipe.

“I also changed the carb to a Mikuni M32 carb instead and fitted a custom seat.

“Lots of custom!” 

And what have you done with the 500?

“So, I kept the original tank because it was really nice, made a simple modification to the frame with the rear loop but made major modifications with the stainless pannier rack on the back and the board rack on the side.

“I also got some stainless spokes put on, polished hubs, aluminium rims, stainless exhaust system that’s been tucked underneath, nice and neat that one.

“I wanted to give it a bit of a Street Scrambler kind of look.”

How long have they taken to build?

“Well, I do this in my absolute spare time around running Strong Adolfos and being a dad. So I pick up on these things when I can.

“I started building the SR500 a year and a half ago.

“The commission for the 250 is probably around 9 months, from the chap getting in touch to the hand over. The actual build time was probably about 6 months though, but like I said, it’s all part-time.”

And have you got any other bikes on the go at the moment?

“I’ve got an SR400 for a chap in London that’s on the go, that’ll be completed over the summer sometime.”

And how have you found the Bike Shed Show?

“It’s been amazing, I had some bikes here three years ago but I haven’t had anything to show for the past couple of years because I’ve been really busy running the restaurant, so wasn’t able to make it up here as it starts to get really busy in Cornwall about now.

“It’s grown so much though, this year it’s massive! And there are so many motorcycles, everything has been done to such a high standard, it just blows me away.”

Looking for the perfect two-wheeled companion? Visit MCN Bikes For Sale website or use MCN’s Bikes For Sale App.