Today’s feature a Honda CB77 Cafe Racer is the result of Len’s obsession and passion for motorbikes; a fine example of craftsmanship and killer fabrication. Len Higa is the founder and owner of Oni Motorworks, California.
Oni Motorworks offers a full service fabrication shop; welding, machining, sheet metal forming, Len does it all.
This cafe racer is based on a 1961 Honda CB77 Superhawk, powered by 305cc engine with high performance cams, 27mm Keihin carburetors installed with open megaphones exhaust. Len bought this bike around 2007 and built it in his spare time, the project was finished in 2009.
The frame was sandblasted, unwanted tabs were chopped off and new mounts were welded on for the seat pan and the gas tank. The magical hand fabrication on the tank is jaw dropping, by using only aluminum sheet Len handcrafted the seat and the gas tank. Len also built an aluminum tail section, and had the upholstery custom stitched on the seat.
The bike also features a CB160 headlight bucket customized to fit CB77 gauges with custom headlight brackets. The front forks are fitted with vintage Magura clip-on handlebars. Honda CB77 cafe racer rolls on 18 inch WM2 front and WM3 rear shouldered alloy wheels laced with stainless steel spokes, wrapped in Avon Roadrunner Race tires. The foot pegs are another interesting fabrication; Len used cast urethane to make two foot peg covers.
Our personal favorite on this custom Honda CB77 is the OEM Honda gauge cluster, featuring a speedometer and tachometer in the same unit. What makes it different and pretty cool is that the tachometer runs clockwise and the speedometer runs counterclockwise, all part of the same gauge.
The custom Honda CB77 Superhawk also won the Best Original Award at the Born Free 2 Show. We can’t wait to see another build from Len’s workshop!
