Who Knew That The Honda CX500 Would Become The Basis For Cult Customs

I blame BikeEXIF. Before its features, the Honda CX500 was cheap, Craigslist fodder. It was a bike consigned to the history bin as the "plastic maggot" for its ungainly looks. But now, CX500s are regarded as prime suspects for transformation.

This example hails from Polish garage Wena Customs, and it's a bold take on the CX500.

Dubbed, “The Twister” this is the first custom bike from builders Przemek and Andrez. After being inspired by CX500s from overseas, they embarked on their own take, after a history of riding trials and working on the the high-performance side of motorcycling.

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And what a first effort.

The largest impact is from the hand-formed tail section and mono shock conversion. This significantly slims the profile of the bike, and takes a serious amount of fugly away.

From there, everything was disassembled, sandblasted, and refinished. As for the go, the engine received minor tune-up work and cone air filters, along with that neatly integrated exhaust.

Finally, clip-ons, a new gauge cluster, headlight with internal indicators, levers, mirrors, and rearsets were added to modernize the look from its dour beginnings.

Since Andrzej and Przemek are deeply competitive, their work wouldn’t be done without a couple trophies added to the cabinet. And win it did, with a surprising first-place finish in the Café Racer category in the Polish Championship of Custom Motorcycles 2016.

Sure, the orange could go, but the craftsmanship and design choices are pretty interesting for a model that has been thoroughly retread in the custom scene.

Great effort Wena Customs, and we’ll definitely keep an eye out for more Polish builds. And hats off to BikeEXIF for giving an ugly duckling a second chance to shine.

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