Friday 19 April 2024

K-Speed strikes again with a menacing Honda Dax café racer

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
When the Honda Dax was brought back into production a couple of years ago, K-Speed wasted little time getting their grubby paws on it. The Thai powerhouse’s founder, the mysterious Mr Eak, had a 50 cc Dax as a teenager—and the workshop is particularly good at customizing small Hondas. So a K-Speed-customized Dax was inevitable.

Two years on, and K-Speed is still finding interesting ways to cram massive levels of badassery into Honda’s bite-sized mini-bike. This time, they’ve turned the Dax into an uber-sassy—albeit impossibly compact—café racer.

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
Although K-Speed churns out countless custom bikes a year for paying customers, this one was a shop build. Eak wanted to see how far he could push the 2024-model Honda ST125 Dax, visually, without modifying its pressed steel frame (which also houses its fuel tank). Luckily K-Speed has an extensive range of Honda mini-bike parts to draw from, manufactured under their ‘Diabolus’ brand.

Dubbed ‘Puppy Racer,’ K-Speed’s custom Honda Dax benefits most from a radical stance adjustment. The crew started with a new Diabolus front end, comprising upside-down forks and a more modern-looking top yoke. It sits lower than the stock setup, as do the twin Diabolus shocks that now prop up the rear.

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
Dax aficionados will also notice that this one rolls on bigger wheels than the factory items. K-Speed installed 14” hoops front and back, equipping them with solid wheel covers. Jumping from 12” to 14” wheels was reportedly no easy task, requiring much fettling to execute.

K-Speed fiddled with the swingarm too, extending it by four inches and welding in a brace to strengthen it. The brakes were upgraded with new hoses and discs.

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
Given the design of the Dax’s chassis, there’s not a lot of bodywork to modify. K-Speed simply ditched the front and rear fenders, and swapped the saddle out for a café racer-esque unit from the Diabolus catalog. A handmade fork brace replaces the front fender.

Despite the extreme riding position, K-Speed still wanted to add a hint of practicality to the Dax. So they fabricated a small rack to sit in front of the seat, with a tubular frame out back, wrapped around the bike’s generous taillight.

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
The cockpit features clip-on handlebars, fitted with Diabolus grips, bar-end mirrors, and vintage-style micro-switches. A pair of machined plugs fill the holes where the handlebar clamps would usually sit. And if you’re looking for the OEM speedo, it’s been relocated to the left-hand side of the bike, leaving the control area as sparse as possible.

Other modifications to the running gear include swish new rear-set foot controls, a swingarm-mounted license plate bracket, and LED turn signals.

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
K-Speed left the engine’s internals alone, but made it just an ounce more belligerent with a gorgeous Diabolus exhaust. Complete with a dual-exit muffler and a heat shield with mesh-backed cutouts, it wouldn’t look out of place on a bigger bike. A handful of dress-up parts add some visual heft to the engine’s exterior, along with a black cover for the Dax’s chromed side box.

In true K-Speed style, the Dax’s fuselage is painted in matte black, sporting Diabolus branding and darkened Honda badges.

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed
Once again, K-Speed has knocked the diminutive Dax right out of the park. Is it practical? No. But do we care? Also, no.

Just give us a blank Honda Dax and a box of K-Speed parts, and we’ll be the coolest kid outside the local ice cream shop in no time.

K-Speed | Instagram

Honda Dax café racer by K-Speed



from Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/hl1Dixu

No comments:

Post a Comment