What to do with a spare Honda Nighthawk frame

[Laverda Dave]

Something left field seen at the Kempton Park Classic Bike show today.

This special uses a Honda Nighthawk frame with the two downtubes cut off and replaced with a single downtube that splits under the engine into two loops that are bolted to the single downtube and rear frame section to enable the engine to be pulled out. The motor began life as a Norton ES2 500cc. The builder made his own barrel on a lathe from solid billet to enable a bigger but shorter liner and high comp piston that came with the dismantled engine to be fitted and so therefore shorten the stroke. The guy who originally began the project was a Ford development engineer who had a hand in designing the Sierra Cosworth. There was a lot of development work going on to obtain the best performance for the new Cosworth engine to power the car. At the end of one trial the pistons and liners were removed ready for the scrap bin. The development engineer saved a liner and piston for his bike project but never got round to starting it and sold everything on.  The guy who bought the pile of parts and built this bike has created a work of art in the three years it has taken to build it. The lines are spot on and the bike could almost be factory. Who would have thought a Nighthawk frame could look so good 

[Rozabikes Tim]

Pretty! Very well executed, envious of those skills.
Like the Norton "ish" on the tank.

[Laverda Dave]

I forgot to mention in my original post about the blue Yamaha TZ sitting behind the Norton'ish'. The Yam is sitting on a sidecar platform and the bike hauling it is a CBX with leading link forks