CF Moto V5 Captain America Custom
CF Moto V5 Captain America Custom | |
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CF Moto
V5
Captain America Custom
When you look at the many custom bikes featured on
various forums, online blogs and printed media, we
imagine there are plenty of times youve asked the
question why would you. Whether youre referring
to the bastardisation of rare or classic models,
seemingly poor quality work or just bad taste, were
sure youve asked the question.Were also
guessing that plenty of you will ask that same
question about our latest build. But were hoping
that after reading this story youll change your
view to why not.
Bike owner Zach rolled in to Ellaspede one
Saturday, had a coffee and casually mentioned hed
like to have some custom work done on his bike. When
he led us to a red 2010 CF Moto V5 we thought, ok,
havent seen one of these before. Hes probably
after some new indicators and fairing adjustment
Yeah, Id like it if you could turn my bike into
Captain America from Easyrider
Goes to show you
should never assume anything.
Our initial thought was (you guessed it), why
would you, or more accurately, are you serious?
But
after closer inspection we thought that Zach may
have something here. Looking through the fairing
clad outer-layer the general frame shape kind of
lent itself to a chopper look. Always interested in
a challenge, we said yes, lets give it a go.
Of course the idea of turning a Chinese scooter
into a replica of arguably the most iconic
motorcycle ever built seemed silly, but I think this
is what we liked about it. Whos to say that a
custom build must be based on a CB750 or R series
BMW and must be a cafe racer, street tracker or
bobber?
Anyway, with the jokes subsiding we got to work
on stripping the panels to reveal a surprisingly
compliant frame shape. It was then we saw this thing
could actually look like a half decent version of
Peter Fondas movie steed.
Through the process of researching the build we
learnt more of the original Captain America bikes
made for the movie by Ben Hardy. Because of its
popularity there are still many aftermarket copy
parts available. We ordered a tank, seat (didnt
think there was any point trying to
reinvent-the-wheel on this particular unit),
taillights and sissy bar. 12 narrow ape style bars
and a fish-tail muffler were also sourced to
complete the look.
The CF Moto 250 V5 is an oddity in that it has a
swing arm mounted motor and is automatic like a
scooter but has a backbone frame, fuel tank and
wheel size like a conventional motorcycle, with the
overall size being closer to a small cruiser.
Another interesting feature of the standard bike
is a stereo. Zach said that had to stay as he used
it quite a bit. Our answer was of course why not!
When the parts arrived we mocked the bike up to
see how much work would be required to convey the
idea
surprisingly little. With all these purchased
parts you may think this more of a bolt-on custom
far from it.
The frame was adjusted with many tabs and excess
items removed. The original mid 20th Century Harley
was a hard-tail whilst the CF has springs, so we had
to retain the frame above the rear wheel to hold
things up.
With some adjustments to the underside of the
(rather heavy) seat we had it sitting as best it
could. The stainless rear guard married up to the
seat quite well and the sissy bar was docked to a
visually suitable length and mounted to the frame
and seat back.
The replica 4 lower taillights mounts were
adjusted to suit the CF rear, locating quite well.
The post-baffled fish-tail muffler was angled to
visually suit the layout of the bike with a bit of
custom stainless pipework up stream.
The 2.2 gallon (8.3L) tank fitted the frame very
well and was an easy mount. The two petcocks T
into one to feed the CFs single carb.
The most striking feature of the original bike is
the stars and stripes color scheme. Our painter did
a great job re-creating this on both the tank and
Zachs helmet.
A posh gauge was mounted forward of the adjusted
and freshly polished top fork clamp. A replacement
Blaupunkt marine stereo mounted behind.
Wiring to the switch blocks runs internal on the
tall bars but in general, many modifications were
required to make the electrics visually disappear,
to be more in-keeping with the original Captains
aesthetic.
New cables and brake lines were of course
required.
A blank stainless frond guard was shaped and
mounted whereas the original had none. The original
bike had 12 extended front forks at a 45o rake
but
we werent about to open that can of worms for this
particular build.
Probably the most difficult part of the build was
what to do with the space where (on a conventional
bike) an engine normally sits. On the CF this area
normally houses the battery, electrical items,
speakers, radiator and plumbing, clad in plastic
panelling. We still needed those things but didnt
want to fill the whole area. As a part homage to a
Harley V-twin we fabricated a box with a shaped top
to house the gear including larger, upgraded
speakers. It was all very tight but everything
functions as it should after some initial teething
problems.
We decided not to chrome the frame (and
everything else) as per the original, as the budget
didnt allow, opting for satin black on many parts
offset by chrome and polished features.
An under seat wallet / phone compartment was made
to fill the gap the seat and frame angles created
and custom side panels now cover the majority of the
engine which now breaths through a restricted pod
filter.
Many hours cleaning, polishing and painting odds
and ends brought the bike together along with new
Avon Venom tread.
Naturally we copied Born to be Wild onto a USB
stick for Zachs first ride of the re-vamped CF
Moto. He donned his matching helmet and jacket, got
his motor running and got out on the highway
with a
grin from ear to ear!
As mentioned earlier were hoping you view is now
why not rather than why would you, but if youre
still not convinced at least appreciate Zachs
foresight and guts to put his money where his mouth
is on a pipe-dream.
I dont think Zachs Captain will ever achieve
the $1.35 million sale the original Captain recently
did, but to Zach, its was well worth the effort.
For us its been one of our most fun, interesting
and challenging builds and one of the greatest
transformations weve done to date. Thanks Zach.
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