TRIGONOMETRY Cafe Brats 1978 HONDA CB550
“AFTER ASSEMBLY, WE WERE A LITTLE APPREHENSIVE TO SEE IF THE SHOCK WOULD WORK AS WE’D INTENDED”
ONE theme common to all the new breeds of customs is to declutter the rear of the bike. Sidecovers, batteries and airboxes are the first to go, after which the stock seat and supporting sub-frame are binned. The more adventurous then go a step further, often replacing twin-shock swingarms with triangulated monoshocks or rigid rear ends. Old Empire Motorcycles has now taken it a step further, with what looks like a dual-sided swingarm but with no suspension at all! It doesn’t get any less cluttered than that!
OEM is a bespoke bike builder based on Great Britain’s east coast. We’ve featured two of their bikes over recent years, the totally radical 900SS-based Typhoon in issue #18 and a hardtail XS650 bobber, Tempest,
