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The Joker Machine Custom CX500 Keeps the Café Racer Tradition Alive
The Joker Machine Custom CX500 Keeps the Café Racer Tradition Alive
Jan 12, 2017
The CX500 proves to be an exceptional base for a cafe racer in the hands of Joker Machine
Honda’s CX500 was only produced from the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. There were several variations built around the half-liter motor, including a now rare turbo version. Some call the bike odd, others call it innovative. No matter what you call it, the unique combination of the Moto Guzzi-esque cylinder configuration and the clean, industrial lines of the water-cooled engine has proven attractive to a fair number of custom builders over the years.
Arguably one of the coolest CX500 customs ever built was on display at the 2016 SEMA show in Las Vegas. It was created by Joker Machine, an innovative aftermarket parts company that manufactures beautiful bolt-on accessories for a huge array of motorcycles. The Joker Machine Café Racer is an example of what happens when a unique bike is placed in the hands of a talented builder. The donor Honda is a 1978, making it one of the earliest models. Its rebirth, courtesy of the creative guys at Joker Machine, took place almost four decades later.
Some of the original lines of the CX and tasteful cafe racer touches define the Joker Machine custom
What’s refreshing about the Joker CX is that it retains the basic lines of the stock bike. Café racers have a deep-rooted history of tweaking a bike into a personal statement by removing all superfluous stock items and adding only what will make it go faster. Traditional café bikes were skeletal versions of the models that rolled off the assembly line. Joker Machine honors that tradition, in large part, by not morphing the bike into something unrecognizable. The stock CX500 tank remains – albeit with a beautiful paintjob – and the engine rests as the focal point of the Joker Machine custom. Even the stock Honda 5-star wheels are retained, nicely updated with a unique matte powder coating.
The café tradition of minimalism is also on full display on the Joker bike. The side panels are conspicuously absent leaving a ‘window to the other side.’ Fittingly, the only things occupying the space between the engine and rear wheel are the K&N pod filters! We can’t think of a better way to frame the best performance filters in the world.
Joker Machine's beautiful head covers sit just ahead of the K&N pod air filters
Custom parts abound on the CX. Joker Machine’s amazing valve covers grace those unique, upward-canted cylinders. The billet upper triple clamp assembly is a work of art and holds just enough instrumentation to give vital ride info. Speaking of billet, the fuel access cover is a signature piece that carries the company's winged J logo. The stock radiator has been nicely down-sized and is framed in more of the Joker Machine aluminum craftsmanship. Completing the billet add-ons are the rear-set pegs and foot controls which are as beautifully machined as the triple clamp.
Joker Machine's billet work for the CX is everywhere on build
The rounded tail section and unified seat add to the racing form of the build. That rear end eliminates what may be the weakest styling element of a stock CX – a seat that Honda’s designers seemingly modeled after a gymnastic pommel horse. The low clip-on bars and bar-end mirrors complete the café posture of the bike. The traditional café style of a chopped (or missing) front fender is carried out on the Joker Machine CX with a subtle and close-fit matte black part.
The Lake Havasu City, Arizona-based Joker Machine has created a winner with the CX500 Café Racer. K&N is proud to have our filters on display and protecting the ultra-cool custom.
