It’s show season in Japan, and the latest event to draw a major crowd was last month’s 2025 JOINTS Custom Bike Show held at Port Messe, Nagoya. The sheer number of custom bikes on display was out of this world and proves once again that the V-Twin/Harley-Davidson scene is showing no sign of slowing down in The Land of the Rising Sun. But among the endless rows of choppers was a bike that instantly drew our attention and comes from a custom workshop that has been like a trade school for some of the country’s best builders. Run by legendary figure Fumihiko Ueda, A Beard located in Hatsukaichi City has a mighty reputation and to give the Hogs a run for their money, they rolled into the show this Hot Rod Honda CB750 to add some cafe racer cool to the big event.
Located in an automotive precinct of the city, A Beard sits behind a major motorcycle dealership and prefers to see most of the foot traffic head inside the front door and check out all of the new bikes. But if you head down the back lane and find the three faded blue roller doors, you’ve arrived at a very special location. So many of the country’s best builders have done their apprenticeships at major dealers, and some of the biggest names ventured out the back to continue their higher education under the tutelage of Ueda-san, a man with more than four decades in the game.
But age hasn’t slowed down the great builder and mentor, and as 2024 entered its second half, he was on the hunt for a bike to build up that could be entered into the big shows like JOINTS and Mooneyes. He’s built plenty of Harleys in the past, but he’s a Honda man at heart, and so when this 1981 Honda CB750 Custom rolled into his shop, he knew he had his donor. The Custom, known in some markets as the Exclusive Custom, was Honda’s way of transforming its incredibly popular CB750 sport bike into a cruiser for the masses, and in the American market it absolutely boomed, outselling all other CB750 variants two to one.
But Ueda-san didn’t see the Custom living out the rest of its life as a cruiser or chopper. “I was thinking of making one for my son when he grew up and got his driver’s license. I thought I’d take a bold step and customize this CB to look like a cafe racer.” Now sure, it would be easier to achieve that with any of the non-Custom variants, but the 19/16 wheel combination would provide a much-needed challenge for a man who has seen it all. He knew he wanted to keep the classic Comstar rolling stock, so both ends were quickly wrapped in classically styled rubber, with a tall rear to try and balance out the overall diameter at each end.
Just like the decision to keep the wheels, the same went for the suspension, with the iconic air-assisted forks having been rebuilt to suit the build. And there is a dead giveaway this is an ’81, with offset forks and leading axle arrangement engineered at the time by Honda to reduce stiction. A set of clip-ons, however, are far from factory Honda, mounted well down the forks they offer a seriously aggressive angle of attack for the rider. At the rear end, a bunch of time was spent replacing bearings for the swingarm, axle adjusters and rebuilding the hub, and then a reproduction set of short shocks painted black finish out the roller.
“Next is the gas tank. In order to choose a base tank, we tried fitting tanks from various machines, and ended up choosing the tank from a Kawasaki ZRX400.” This is a common way to go for Ueda-san, who has a huge collection of stock tanks, which he then modifies for each custom build. And this is no different, with the Kawasaki metal barely recognisable, with new sides, exaggerated knee dents and a more aggressive slope to the rear. The side covers are completely one-off pieces, designed to sit in the frame rather than protrude out, which assists in amplifying the size of the engine. The rear cowl is a custom piece too, the lines are straight out of the ’80s, squared off and bold, and there’s even a spot to store your wallet.
For the front end, Ueda-san knew he wanted to run a cowl, but couldn’t quite find the right one, until by chance he stumbled upon the perfect piece from GOODS. Their unit was given a nip and tuck, and with the right mounting position determined, all of the hardware was made from scratch. Having completed the bodywork, the paint was next on the list and a black and bold blue colour scheme was chosen, with neat pinstriping to separate the two hues. The Honda badges have been replaced with custom graphics across the build, and the ’60th’ logo on one of the side covers was added at the end to celebrate the builder’s recent birthday. A custom black leather seat has been stitched up to match, and it’s a huge improvement over the stock horror show.
The engine doesn’t miss out either, and it first underwent a full rebuild to ensure reliability and then the cases and covers were given a hand polish. To add some more fuel to the fire, a full bank of Keihin FCR 37mm Carbs gives the bike excellent throttle response, and a feeling of more direct control when compared with the factory CV items. The full exhaust system was built in-house and follows a design used by the company before, with the outside pipes raised to improve lean angle. Yes, we know those tyres won’t allow for it, but it shows potential clients just what Ueda-san can do. He’s finished out the build with a custom instrument cluster and everything to make the bike road legal, and amongst the hoards of Harleys, this Exclusive Honda was a welcome find for the many who ventured the halls for show season.
