It is with a heavy heart that I have finished my second motorcycle build.

The bike belonged to a close friend of mine, Scott. We rode together and would cross paths socially several times a week. At 71,000 miles the engine died and he didn’t have the means to replace or rebuild it so he abandoned the bike and financed a new Triumph instead with a small deposit.

A few months later he rode out on one of our favourite canyon roads, sat under a tree looking out across the beautiful Santa Monica mountains and took his own life. I had seen him the day before. His beer was still in my fridge. I, along with his two daughters, friends and family were devastated.

Since then I have poured my grief into rebuilding the abandoned Honda to as close to perfection as I can manage and finally finished it last week. It has a new engine, bodywork, and every conceivable upgrade.

More importantly it rides like a dream and is fast enough to penetrate the horizon. Exactly as Scott would have liked it.

Specs in the comments for any moto-nerds. Thanks to my dear friend Panos Damaskinidis for the photos.

See this post on LinkedIn