Another day, another killer Honda build. This time it’s a build from a relative new-comer to the scene; Indonesia’s Flash Rabbit Custom Garage. Run by celebrity and actor Derby Romero, the shop seems to exhibit all the classic traits of the best builders in this part of the world. Namely, a fresh approach with the guts to do things a little different from the mainstream scene. In this case that translated to a build that took influences from the café, bobber and brat scenes. The results? We’ll let them speak for themselves – with a little help from Romero, of course.
“My name is Derby Romero. I was born in 1990 and I’m an actor in Indonesia who really loves classic and custom motorcycles. In fact, I have loved them since I was a kid and now I run my own custom garage called ‘Flash Rabbit’. This all started as a hobby; I had a small workshop at my house and I started designing custom motorcycles and building them for my friends; they were mainly café racers, bobbers and trackers.”
“I guess my passions counted for something, because after a year or so people started to notice my work. It was then about 12 months ago I decided to take this to professional level, because it was something I always wanted to try. The work is still coming in, and now I even have my own team to help run the garage. I’m still working on our website, but it will be up soon.”
“The bike is a Honda CM 400. The first step for us was to get the bike’s engine checked. It was still in good shape, but we had to change the clutch plate, redo the wiring and change the carbs to a set of Keihin PE28s. After we were finished with the engine, I started working on the looks. To try something completely different, I decided to combine café racer, bobber, and brat-style influences all on the one bike – and I think it really works. The gas tank is a handmade with curves on both sides for a real café racer character, and then I put the leatherwork on the gas tank and rear fender to match the leather seat, which is a key feature of the bike and which really gave it a bobber feel.”
“Then we chopped the rear frame a bit so the seat would fit perfectly and to make the bike just a bit lower. The footpegs, clubman bars and the exhausts are all handmade. I used a medium size custom light for the front. For the finishing touches, we sprayed a battleship grey color on the gas tank and rear fender, with a light brown leather stripe and leather seat. The grips are also grey. And yes, we used exhaust wrap. We really hope you all like it.”
