Written by Marlon Slack
NCT Motorcycles are a clever bunch of guys. We know that they can build a mean moto, as their folio of stripped-back custom bikes shows. But what we didn?t realise is how good they are at a bit of self promotion. Not ones for t-shirts or stickers they?ve gone all out with their latest creation – a 1978 Honda CB500F that you might just be able to win. That?s right. Play your cards right and this sweet little CB cafe could be yours.
Pete Pegam. Our new favourite photographer
But, after leading with that tantalizing statement we?ll tell you about the bike first. NCT actually scored the little Honda already partially customised. When they went to take a look at the donor motorcycle it sat for sale in faux-racer trim, sporting a slim racing tank with gold GT stripes and a few other tricked-out parts. But the finish was, overall, pretty nasty. But despite the cuts and bruises on the bike the engine was strong so the NCT team decided to pull the pin and make it the basis for their next project.
The plan from the outset was to build a clean, honest-to-god cafe racer that everybody would like to own. No outlandish paint schemes or gimmicks or high performance engine work. Just something nice and neat that would ultimately get lots of people wanting throw their hat into the ring for the competition. And have people like us drooling, of course.

So NCT Motorcycles needed to make the bike a hell of a lot more refined. First came the strip down, with all ...