Honda FT500 - Fox
Honda FT500 - Fox
This was the second Honda FT500 to find its way onto the BGM work bench. Our first FT was a military themed scrambler built over 5 years ago, which received great reviews and got the BGM phone ringing!
We had many discussions on the direction to take with this build, eventually agreeing that a street friendly flat tracker was the best way to go for the big single. So as per every project a Photoshop mockup was produced, along with a parts list and timeframe for the build. The plans were nailed down and all sorted right up until Mr Fox was introduced to us through a good friend of BGM. Then once Kevin saw the FT, all ideas were scrapped, and a new plan was needed asap.
After a several Saturday morning chats accompanied with crazy amounts of coffee, a completely new direction was cultivated for the FT.
We all agreed that a city orientated adventure bike with a pinch of off-road capabilities and a dash of 80’s BMX!
This design was dedicated to Kev’s BMX racing days of glory, but still holding onto the practicality of a daily rider and the weekend road trip.
Now we had a plan! No more mockups… straight to the work bench!
One of the few clients bikes we’ve done without a detailed mockup. But it didn’t seem to matter as we had such a bond with Kev, that every part we designed and created was exactly how he and we imagined it!
Starting with an “adventure” style aluminum headlight assembly, incorporated custom crafted mudguard. Through to the adventure style electric under tray, engine and chain guards, finished with a short aluminum motocross style rear mudguard and taillight/reg number assembly.
Kevin insisted on having a luggage rack for those long camping weekends. This gave us a chance to design a laser cut a custom aluminum panniers/ side number plate, which fit 7l Kriega bags incorporating Kev’s name and number (FOX 07). All that finished in a 80’s racing red and satin clear coated brushed aluminum. Tasty!!
We kept the original tank scheme but gave it some style. We matched the two tone grey with the frame/swing arm colours, finished off with an airbrushed version of the original Honda logo. The builds name was the easy bit (for once) F-ox-T500 was agreed on and custom acrylic side badges were made to suit.
The finished product is a light city scrambler with plenty of torque from the single 500. The adjustable suspension can be dialed in if you want to take an off-road shortcut or a quick trip to the local coffee shop for that Sunday flat white. The white BMX alloys give it that retro 80’s style and the custom luggage racks can hold all the gear needed for a weekend getaway.
The team at BGM had a great time working on this build and working with Kevin. He really understood the time and effort that went into hand crafting aluminum components and making an idea come to life. We would like to say a special thanks and hope the bike keeps him smiling as he has done throughout the project.