A CB350 Born in the shadows

'THE DARK KNIGHT'

Every project we take on has to be a shared vision; something we are equally passionate about creating.

We call this one The Dark Knight.

Our customer Scott had some ideas around the shape and style but the only real non-negotiable was colour. The directive was ‘blacked out and simple, yet elegant…with plenty of sex appeal’ - and we were happy to oblige. No prizes for guessing for which AC/DC song was blasting on repeat whilst spannering on this one…

Colours aside, we were given a lot of creative freedom from a design perspective. We opted for a cafe-inspired shape, starting with a full strip back of all the overkill stock metal and plastic. Followed by a comprehensive upgrade and relocation of electrics to create space behind the engine. The donor bike ships stock with risers integrated in to the top clamp, but since cafe lines were the goal, clip-ons enabled us to machine and install a new flawless custom top clamp. We then layered in an all singing-all dancing low-profile speedo unit to sit seamlessly on top, creating a dash that’s so clean and swag, it’s like Tesla’s design team had a mechanical love child with Tom Ford.

'Hold Fast...a family motto to endure'

Scott didn’t want to lose his ability to carry a +1, so we retained most of the length in the seat, before fashioning a new seat pan, upholstering and covering it in a leather barrel stitch. A shock upgrade, minimalist signals, an integrated taillight and re-coating of the pillion pegs/mount were the icing on the cake.

And finally, like Samson without his hair, the Dark Knight wouldn’t be complete without his cape; a satin black tank re-spray, with a little bit of added personalisation. The phrase ‘Hold Fast’ has a lot of personal meaning for Scott as a family motto to endure. So we drew an old-school inspired custom graphic for Scott and added it to the top of his tank. A little daily reminder to keep on going when the going gets tough.

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