Written by Andrew Jones
?I parked the bike in front of the entrance of our Austin hotel as I ran upstairs to clean up,? says Chris Kent, the mastermind behind this, the ?CK1100? Honda racer. When I returned, the hotel manager approached me smiling and let me know that I had ?just missed it?. ?Missed what"? I asked. He proceeded to tell me that the HRC MotoGP team just came back from the track and had seen my bike. They piled out of the van and proceeded to snap some photos with it – Marc Marquez included. I had missed them by only 3 or 4 minutes.? So just what does it take to stop Honda‘s best in their tracks" This is what.

Chris – an Iowa engineer and a Marc Marquez fan – works with local school friends at Smith Brother?s Classic Cycles & Customs in Cedar Rapids. When they aren’t impressing the world?s fastest riders, their primary focus is on classic restoration and custom builds – mainly for 70?s and 80?s Japanese motorcycles. ?We are currently restoring a ?67 CB450 Black Bomber and a very well-kept ?75 CB750. Our first custom build to get serious attention was the Obersten Regal ?79 CX500 that was invited to The Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Texas where Marquez saw the bike.? Life’s funny like that, isn’t it" The bike met Marquez. Chris wasn’t so lucky
Chris tells us that the bike is ostensibly a Street Tracker that’s meant to be raced; be it on track, at Pikes Peak or on a quiet street, it&...