When Lars Schau decided to build a cafe racer, he knew he wanted something different, to ride the road less ridden. But that wasn’t all; his cafe racer would be different on a tight budget. He achieved the first of these objectives through his unusual choice of donor machine and the second by tackling the fabrication of most of the custom components himself.
The machine you see before you today began life in 1980 as a Honda Gold Wing GL1100 Interstate and looked a lot like this:
1980 Honda Gold Wing GL1100 Interstate
In this form it would have weighed in at around 683 lbs (310 kg). From this, Lars reckons to have stripped away in the region of 106 lbs (48 kg) or a little over 15 per cent of the original weight.
The “Wing” is powered by the standard 1,085cc liquid-cooled, flat-four with the original 4x30mm Keihin carburettors breathing through the standard air filter in an open air-box (no lid). Sparks are provided by Iridium plugs which, it is claimed, give improved throttle response, economy and service life in addition to reduced emissions and a 1-3 per cent increase in power. The exhausts were fabricated by Lars himself from stainless steel and feature small built-in DB killers.
Stylistically, the “Wing” has been given a menacing look with the flat black treatment with bright red highlights to the valve covers, exhausts and wheels. The “tank” and “side panels” are original but the GRP seat unit and front mudguard are aftermarket items sourced from eBay and all are painted in Rosso Corsa (Ferrari red) with a gloss white racing stripe running down the centre of the bike. The script on the “tank” is the word “Honda” written in Kanji (modern Japanese characters). The handlebars are clubman-style and are fitted with bar end mirrors.
Forward illumination is provided by a 7″ Cree LED headlight with integrated amber LED indicators. Tail/brake light and rear indicator duties are performed by a combined unit purchased from eBay.
The Nitrous-Oxide bottles are a testament to Lars’ sense of humour and are intended to turn heads (and possibly intimidate everyone else at the traffic lights!).
An extensive collection of photos taken throughout the project can be viewed on the Danish motorcycle site Motorcykelgalleri and a short video of the “Wing” where you can hear the bike running is available on YouTube.
What are you waiting for?
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