De Palma Cycles Punk CB750

Punk isn't the first thing that comes to mind when relating music genres to motorcycles. Considering the Punk aesthetic and attitude, motorcycles seem like the perfect match, but until now I haven't seen many custom motorcycles that merge the 2 styles. Barcelnoa based designer Gregorio Fernández has set up an offshoot of his Punk inspired fashion brand Gori de Palma to do exactly that. De Palma Cycles is his Barcelona based workshop that merges his love for vintage motorcycles with Punk style and the first bike to roll out of the workshop is the CB750 "DE PALMA 01".

To launch the new workshop Gregorio got his hands on a stock '92 Honda CB750. A reliable, well designed and flexible base for his De Palma Cycles debut build. First task was to swap the bikes engine out with a low miles, blacked out CB750 engine from a 2000 model bike. The bulky stock tank was also replaced with a Honda RC110 style tank. Finished in metallic silver the retro tank was mounted by making modifications to the backbone of the frame to create a clean horizontal line along the base of the tank to the seat.

Front end handling was improved with a fork swap from a Honda CBR 900 Fireblade modified to fit the neck of CB's frame. The CBR 4 piston Nissin brake calipers were also mounted to the stock cross drilled front disks while in the rear a new solid brake disk was fashion for a unique look. The wheels are blacked out, spoked rims, 18 inch in the front and 17 in the rear with grippy Michellin rubber.  The blacked out theme was continued with the 4-into-2 exhaust system that was modified to mount a pair of Supertrapp slip-on aluminium mufflers. To free up air flow the stock air box was replaced with cone filters and the carbs jetted to suit. As a result of removing the air bow the battery was also relocated to sit beneath the swinging arm.

The new tail end was hand formed from sheet metal and finished off with a black leather studded seat that has just enough space to squeeze on a pillion. To finish off the retro look of the bike the stock instrument cluster was discarded to make way for a single speedo, a set of Beston style grips went on the alloy clip-on bars and a 70's style tail light in the rear.
While there's no mohawks or Doc Martens in sight the De Palma CB750 has just the right amount of rough edges to fit it's punk theme and a few hand painted, blatant statements to raise eyebrows and upset grandmothers. Next up for De Palma Cycles will be a Moto Guzzi V50 III Monza and Morini 350 sport, which will be approached with a similar raw, unabashed, punk inspired style.
De Palma Cycles    |     Photos by Cristian Di Stefan