Thanks to the interwebs, the custom moto scene is a global village. I’ve never been to T?ebí? in the Czech Republic?and I wouldn’t be able to pick it out on a map. But that doesn’t stop me from ogling this delightful Honda CB500 cafe racer.
It’s the work of David Zima of Rod Motorcycles. He only recently opened his shop full time, but he?s been into bikes since he was a kid?religiously attending MotoGP races at the famous Brno track 35 miles away.

Straight out of school David started work as a mechanic, customizing bikes on the side, both on his own and in collaboration with a local shop. Then a zany Honda CBR900RR streetfighter he built raised his profile, and motivated him to take things to the next level.
So he found an old building that used to be part of a brickyard, renovated it, and opened what he calls his ?oasis of calm.?
But work on this 1975-model Honda CB500 had already started three years ago, with some 800 man-hours spent. Why the long timeline" ?I was building a house, starting a family and working on my shop,? explains David.
Plus the bike wasn’t exactly in stellar condition when it came in. ?It was awful,? he says. ?It wouldn?t start, there were parts missing, and there was rust everywhere.?

The project kicked off with a series of sketches and a round of careful component selection. Then it was time to strip it down and undo years of neglect.
The frame was de-tabbed and cleaned up, and a new subframe built to fini...