"BeastBot" Honda CBR900RR
This is the quintessential Dogmeat Enigma bike.
It came to me in 2010 as a 1996 900RR (Fireblade as they call it across the pond) that was used and abused on the track. The previous owned raced it and binned it on the track quite a few times, resulting in some damage to both sides. Then he started to take some parts from it for use on his other 900RR, notably the subframe.
My first task was to decide on a tail. I wanted the tiny-tailed german streetfighter look, but without the $500 german tail price. Taking some inspiration from a thread on Customfighters.com, I set out looking for pocket bike tail plastics. The replacement plastics I found online still went for a couple hundred, so I set my eye to craigslist again. I found a whole "not running" pocket bike for the same price as the replacement tail, so I grabbed it, stripped it of all the bodywork and lights, and sold the chassis back to someone else on craigslist. I ended up with a tail that complimented the lines of the tank and gave me the proportions I was looking for. Not to mention, it came with the added bonus of a bolt-in tail light with integral turn signals.
The next order of business was to figure out a subframe so I could sit on it. The subframe of the pocketbike was a meager single loop designed for 80 lb kids, not 180 lb dudes. I decided not to use any part of it. I opted to design and build my own to ensure that my genitals would stay safely and permanently suspended over the rear tire and chain. As I was still stuck with the oxy-acetylene welding rig back in those days, I did not feel confident in welding structural aluminum, so I built the structural parts from mild steel and the sub-subframe from aluminum.
Once I had a structurally sound bike, I set up a temporary exhaust and got it running. I made up a custom belly pan by chopping and plastic welding the stock fairings. The tail, once mounted to the subframe, was trimmed and plastic welded to flow into the lines of the gas tank. The gas tank needed a lot of bodywork, including filling in the bottom seam to make it flow better with the tail. I settled on a paint scheme of rattle can Ace Hardware fluorescent marking paint with a layer of Autozone metal flake clear over it. It looked great while it lasted. Many little modifications were made to the radiator, the gauges, and the wheels to get the desired look. I also came up with a crazy idea for a headlight shroud while traveling for Army duty. I made a little sketch on a cocktail napkin at the airport and needed to try it out on this bike. The first attempt was not the best because the stainless steel that I got for free was some knife-grade alloy and would not hold a bend whatsoever. I tried to make it work by welding multiple sheets together, but it still ended up rather boxy looking. Oh well!
I always knew I wanted an undertail exhaust, so I made one using the stainless downpipe from a CBR600RR by hacking and welding until it went up through the swingarm and terminated under the subframe. After a few failed attempts at making my own can from sheetmetal, I found a set of stock Ducati 1098 cans on craigslist for less than the price of scrap and pounced. One of those cans nestled perfectly underneath the stainless undertray I made for the pocket bike tail, so I went with it. While taking my machining class, I made a billet brake fluid reservoir, manual cam chain tensioner, bar end mirrors, and some bar brackets.
The fluorescent paint started to fade in the sun, so I hit it with some metallic green. I remade the beastbot shroud properly with some bendable stainless and it turned out faithful to the drawing. Drawing on inspiration from a bike seen in Streetfighters mag (as always), I made up some clear radiator tubes from Pyrex so you can see the blood flowing through it's veins. I also swapped the radiator for a Ninja item because the custom 900RR rad exploded due to the failure of the cooling fan.
Once I got the CNC Mill running, it was time to start the blingification. To complete the Ninja 636 fork swap, I designed and machined a top triple clamp with integral bar clamps, a mild steel steering stem bushing, a wheel bearing sleeve, brake rotor spacers, brake caliper spacers, axle spacers, and fender adapter brackets. I designed and machined one-off rearsets and heel plates sporting the logo of the Enigma. While watching Antiques Roadshow, I was inspired by the old Colt pistol factory engraving and designed some filigree to engrave on the top face of the triple clamp. It seemed fitting to put my dog head logo in it, reminiscent of the Colt wolf head logo engraved into their handguns. I drew the design on paper and scanned it into the computer. The CNC engraving took two hours.
The inverted 636 forks and radial calipers greatly improved the handling of the bike and bring the suspension into the current millenium. The gauge cluster came from a single batch of gauges imported from China. The Triumph round headlight had to be donated back to the Speed Triple when it was sold off, so in place of it went a halo projector unit.
Eventually, the green paint showed to be very fragile and took a beating. It was ultimately repainted with a durable and chemical resistant metallic orange. The failed old remote reservoir shock was binned and replaced with a nifty black 08 CBR1000RR shock. Fork stanchion covers were made from aluminum sheet and now house the LED turn signals.
