Source: Bike Bound
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As Seen at Bike Shed: Five-Star Café Racer…
At the 2024 Bike Shed Show at London’s Tobacco Docks, our photographer Roberto Garagarza (@roga______) captured shots of a lovely ’76 Honda CB550F nicknamed “Cinque Stelle.” The moment we saw the bike we set out to track down the builder, Stuart Crawley (@scaferace), to learn more about the bike and the story behind it.
Stuart always had bikes growing up, from a Honda C90 to a Kawasaki AR50 to a Kawasaki KR1S (the quickest mass-produced 250cc two-stroke ever), but after selling that bike in his teens, he didn’t have another bike for some 25 years. Today he has a small electrical installation company, and when he turned 40, he decided it was time for a project — especially since he has the perfect community for support:
“I have a small workshop on a farm, and I’m fortunate to be surrounded by a group of legendary old school guys with a wealth of knowledge and equipment.”
He started with a ’67 Vespa 150 Sprint, which led to a ’93 Kawasaki ZR550 brat-style build, and then to the 1976 CB550F Super Sport you see here, bought in the fall of 2019. Stuart says he’s a sucker for the café racer look, and that vision would drive the build.
He stripped down the donor and detabbed the frame, looking to streamline the bike as much as possible. To that end, he wanted to hide the electrics beneath the seat — but not in a visible tray, which mars the lines of other builds he’s seen. So he enlisted the help of his friend, neighbor, and “absolute engineering wizard” Maurice, who fabricated a shallow tray that couldn’t be seen from the side.
” I couldn’t do it without him, his fabrication, wealth of knowledge, engineering skillset, and most of all his patience with me — he is true friend i can’t thank him enough.”
Stuart stripped, cleaned, and painted the engine on the bench in his workshop at the farm, and spent a good chunk of pandemic lockdown time cleaning the carbs, which were in a “terrible state.” Paul at Pro-Polishers put the shine on all the aluminum and brightwork — “apparently you can polish a turd,” says Stuart.
The forks are courtesy of a 2013 Triumph Street Triple — a donor for which there are no ready-made conversion kits. That meant a good bit of fabrication to make everything right, with Mike Alder at Hutton Engineering making spacers and milling various bits. The rims were powder-coated and respoked to the original hubs, with an oversized rear rim shipped over from the USA’s Sun Rims.
Stuart’s friend Donk stripped the tank, and the tail section is a generic Dutch item that Stuart modified to work for the build. Gez and Paul at @gezs_trimshop did up the seat itself.
“I knew what I wanted, I drew it out, and they blew me out of the park.”
Vince Simmons at Abingdon Custom Bikes laid down the paint, while Steve Blackwell from Shogun Signs hand-painted the gold leaf work and lettering on the bike. Given his professional background, Stuart appreciates proper wiring, and the bike is running a suite of Motogadget components (“my wife thinks I’m sponsored by them”) with a custom gauge holder courtesy again of Maurice.
“Cinque Stelle” is Italian for Five Stars, and it’s a proper nickname for this stunning café racer. Below is our full interview with Stuart for anyone who wants to read deeper. Photography credit goes to our man Roberto Garagarza (@roga______) for the Bike Shed Show shots, and to Stuart himself for the rest.
Five-Star CB550 Café Racer: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
I always had bikes as a kid, the old Honda C90 as a tracker bike for the gravel pits and field. Then a Kawasaki AR50 when 16 for work use mainly. I then swapped a mini car for a KR1S 250 but never had a full licence back then. Sold that on and didn’t have a bike for 25 years after that. I turned 40 and wanted a small project so I bought a 1967 Vespa 150 Sprint — rewired it and basically put it right.
Decided I wanted to do something a bit more adventurous, so I bought a 1993 Kawasaki ZR550 and stripped it back naked for a brat style of bike — enduro tyres and straight bars, rear end cut off and hoop fitted — all satin black with a grey tank and tan seat.
In November 2019 I bought the CB550F Super Sport with the mindset of a cafe racer.
I have a small workshop on the farm, and I’m fortunate to be surrounded by a group of legendary old school guys with a wealth of knowledge and equipment.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
Honda CB550F Super Sport 1976.
• Why was this bike built?
It all was in my head and I put all my ideas on a Pinterest wall and it all came together — the build was purely for my own gratification.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
I’ve always like the old-school cafe racer look and I just kept looking at it thinking, “just take all the not needed bits off” and it will look cool.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
The frame was stripped down and detabbed of anything not needed. The plan was always to hide all the electrics under the seat — you see so many with a tray underneath the seat and it ruins the lines.
So Maurice (a neighbour at the farm to whom I owe everything in all my builds to — he’s an absolute engineering wizard) made a shallow tray so it couldn’t be seen from the side.
The engine was stripped and cleaned and painted on the bench in my unit — it’s completely standard and anything that shines has been polished. The carbs were a covid lockdown task — I thought I was going to be off for months, but it turned out I was only off work a week as I have a small electrical install company, we were back. The carbs were in a terrible state and the bit spent a long time in the ultrasonic cleaner.
The seat unit was from Holland and it didn’t really fit so that had to be adjusted. The rear light cluster was fabricated so the light sits under the seat .
The wheels were original — powder-coated and new stainless steel spokes. I had originally had the standard rear wheel fitted, then I saw an oversized rim from Sun Rims in the USA.
It came and it meant using the original hub, so the rim was dismantled and new one assembled.
The forks are Triumph Street Triple from a 2013 bike — all refurbed. The original spindle from the ’76 Honda was cut and threaded into the new spindle with a nipple on each end so it would go through the smaller hole in the wheel and then be tightened up on the bigger thread on new forks.
The triple trees have all be altered as they don’t make a conversion kit for the headstock for these forks. The discs were all re-drilled to fit on the original wheel — all alloy spacers were made for the brake caliper difference.
The wiring is all bespoke and incorporates motogadget in all areas — my wife thinks I’m sponsored by them, I only wish she knew.
The speedo holder is bespoke thanks to Maurice.
Virtually every part is bespoke of has been modified to suit what I wanted.
• Does the bike have a nickname?
“Cinque Stelle.” It means 5 star. A friend kept telling me that it’s going to look 5 stars, so that’s where it comes from.
• Any idea of horsepower, weight, and/or performance numbers?
No idea, not interested in going fast. As long as it looks 200mph, I’m happy.
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride this bike?
I’ll be honest, I’ve never ridden it — only down the ramp at Tobacco Dock 🤣
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
The whole thing. It’s taken a long time to get perfection and that’s what I think I’ve achieved.
It’s been together so many times then dismantled, as I’ve found something that would look better.
• Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
I’ve been very fortunate to have some amazing talent on my doorstep and the passion definitely shines through in these guys’ work, all truly amazing.
Maurice Owen: I couldn’t do it without him, his fabrication, wealth of knowledge, engineering skillset, and most of all his patience with me — he is true friend i can’t thank him enough.
Vince Simmons at Abingdon Custom Bikes for the paintwork.
Jimmy Axford for spoking the rims.
Donk for stripping the tank.
Steve Blackwell at Shogun Signs for his stunning gold leaf work and amazing sign-writing on the bike — the man is a true craftsman.
Gez and Paul at @gezs_trimshop for the most amazing seat. I knew what I wanted, I drew it out, and they blew me out of the park.
Paul at Pro-Polishers in Oxfordshire — apparently you can polish a turd.
Mike Alder at Hutton Engineering for making spacers and milling some bits for me.
Follow the Builder: @scaferace
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