Honda CB750 by Ellis Brothers Garage

It’s always cool if you can share your passion with friends, but it’s even better to share it with your brother, just like Blake and Brandon Ellis. Since the late ’90s, they run a workshop called Ellis Brothers Garage in California. Blake: “We started out restoring muscle cars back in the late ’90s, but our attention turned to bikes around 2015, and we haven’t looked back. What started out as a hobby became a passion, and now, a business”. With this Honda CB750 they’re looking for some recognition.

Just like with most custom bike projects, they’ve stripped down the bike till it was just a frame, engine and a bunch of parts. The 1982 base bike was in a so-so shape and had some issues. So a lot of time was spent on mechanical and cosmetical work. The result is this cool bratstyle slash cafe racer.

After stripping down the bike, they’ve modified the rear end of the frame to fit a new custom bratstyle seat and removed all unnecessary brackets. Then the frame and other frame parts got powder coated in gloss black. Next, they’ve rebuilt the forks and painted them black. Just like the wheels and the engine. The worn-out wiring loom was ditched and they’ve rewired the entire machine and relocated the ignition just between the two classic gauges. After fitting a new 4 in 1 exhaust with open headers and pod filters, the carburetors got a necessary refurbishment and were rejetted.

Of course, the bike got a wide range of new parts including head light, rear shocks, chain, tires, gauges (DCC), clip-ons, grips (Biltwell), levers, and the typical works like valve shims, plugs, oil, filters, etc. Blake: “Basically the bike feels and rides like a new bike. The only thing we left to remind us of the 80’s was the original foot peg brackets. Other than that, every single thing on this bike has been removed, and either refurbished or replaced”.