Dromos Motorworks originally built this one-off cafe racer – entitled “The Grey Mare” – with the intentions of utilizing the CB project to attract future clients and generally garner some hype within the industry. According to the shop, the build’s aim was to create a cafe-racer that, in its own words, “didn’t look like all the other cookie-cutter racers”, and whether or not you feel the shop achieved its goal in that regard, it’s hard to deny the hard work and expert craftsmanship that went into the creation of this cafe racer.
The project started out as a 1975 Honda CB550 that was wheeled into the Dromos garage and then completely stripped down. From there the stock frame was de-tabbed and shortened before new sub-frame-esque “rear pillars” were mated to the rest of the chassis. A rear cowl was cleverly fused to the frame and pillars too – adding structural integrity while simultaneously looking pretty damn clean. Next the frame and cowl were hit with a coat of “Ferrari Grey”, the same color adorning the tank, swing-arm and headlight cowl.
The build also included replacing all bearings in both the neck and swingarm prior to the Grey Mare’s suspension being added to the mix. The suspenders up front were given new stanchions, dust-covers, and springs and bushings while in back a pair of adjustable 13.5” Hagon shocks tacked on. The build retains the CB’s stock braking hardware only with the disk calipers having being reshoed in front, while the rear drum unit was copper-plated. Kustomtech levers and a master cylinder were added and married to the brakes via custom braided lines from Motion Pro.
One-off handmade clip-ons and rear-sets were fabricated and then fitted to the CB via bespoke brackets. Kustomtech controls were also added up front, as was a custom-built headlight housing unit (or what the shop calls a “half fairing”) that was paired with an LED headlight from Brightlights, as well as a Smith tach which sits flush in the headlight. The custom tail section has been fitted with a Radiantz “Half Moon” taillight and topped off with a Napa leather saddle. A fuel-cell off of a CL350 was sourced and then modified before being dropped onto the build.
The bike’s electrical system received a complete overall, getting a new wiring harness, rectifier/regulator, Motogadget M-Unit, four-cell lithium-ion battery, and new electronic ignition and coils courtesy of Power Arc. The entire custom now sits on a pair of aluminum Excel Takasago rims – 19” fore, 18” aft – with Buchanan stainless spokes and nipples, all wrapped in Avon Roadmaster rubber.
The build’s air-cooled, 544cc, eight-valve, SOHC, traverse four received a fair amount of work. The engine was reportedly bored out slightly before getting new pistons, springs, timing-chain, etc. New nuts and bolts were also used throughout the entire scoot. The stator cover has been replaced with a bespoke copper unit to match the rims. A complete hand-built exhaust system was also fabricated with burnt fumes now being spit out of a short single pipe on the customs right-hand side.
According to the folks over at Dromos, “no expense was spared” when generating this cafe racer, with the shop’s owner even going as far as to say that the build’s asking price is a “fraction” of what it cost to create. It may be a bit of a stretch, but either way, this is one pretty nifty cafe racer.
You can find this custom 1975 Honda CB550 (VIN: CB550F1004033) cafe racer from Dromos Motorworks for sale here on CafeRacersForSale in New York, New York for $11,000 or best offer.