Written by Martin Hodgson
When Tom Cruise rode a Kawasaki Gpz900R in the hit movie Top Gun, the mix of a flyboy on a motorbike just made perfect sense. Since WWII, pilots have been some of the biggest buyers of motorbikes, with up to 85% of those at the controls in the air believed to have a bike license. So it is little wonder that the two often inspire one another, and when Craig Marleau of Kick Start Garage in Northern California got a commission for just such a build he immediately knew the direction to take. From the bones of a 1976 Honda CB550f he’s built up a beautiful cafe racer with all the right inspiration from a ’50s fighter plane.

Craig is no stranger to bringing great ideas into reality, with his BMW and Bultaco ‘Taco Truck’ a major hit in 2016. The vintage motorcycle ace knows his way around a Honda too, with his CB160 ‘Penny Racer’ providing plenty of influence for this latest build, as he sought to create a cafe racer for his client that ticked every box in their wish list. This not only included vintage aircraft inspiration but also had to be useable and reliable, as well as having the ability to ride two-up. So after some initial consultation, they agreed the 550f was the way to go.
After some hunting the right donor bike came up and it wasn’t just a random choice for Craig to go with the middleweight Honda four. When it was released most reviewers believed it to be Honda’s best bike since the introductio...