We've featured a couple of Josh Mott's bikes in the Shed already, and his work is always top notch, but this latest JMR build is probably one of the nicest CX500's I've seen. It's striking, clean and has a very unique stance, with a tracker vibe in the seat and tail with with an upwards slant that almost has a bobber feel to it. Maybe we should just let Josh tell you more about how this unusual build came about... "I'm Josh, owner of JMR Customs out of Boise, ID. This is my latest creation, a 1979 Honda CX 500 Custom. I've always wanted the chance to put my own twist on a CX so I put the word out around the Boise area and a couple months later Boise Vintage Cycle had one that they donated to us. The bike was in very rough condition but like always I do my normal checks. If it has spark and compression than 9 times out of 10 I can clean the carbs and fire it up. The bike had both so I cleaned the carbs and it fired right up." "As soon as I knew I had something to work with I started coming up with ideas. First I had to strip everything off the bike I would not be using. Once that part was finished my dad and I started brainstorming. I had been noticing that almost everyone building the CX model has done a low built exhaust. The idea was to do 2 into 1 up pipes and have it exit out the center of the rear fender right above the wheel. I was able to have them come straight back and connect right in the center of the rear wheel and rear section of the frame. The rear fender I made around the exhaust in 3 sections of 16 gauge steel. I believe the rear fender came out amazing. I made the seat out of fiberglass. This was my first time working with fiberglass and I have got to tell you I won't make a seat any other way. The seat fits perfect." "By building the exhaust up the center of the bike meant I had to relocate all the wiring, battery, CDI, and the regulator rectifier. The only place I had room was underneath the motor. I built a battery box that I could mount all of it cleanly on to the bike. The wiring now runs down the frame in between the carbs and into the battery box. The Headlight assembly was all hand made. The headlight itself is off a xs650 yamaha. I wanted to make a cool looking dash and head light bucket all in one piece. The speedo/tach/temp gauge (Trail-tech), choke, and ignition switch are all mounted on the dash." "After most of the chassis was mocked up I noticed the stock suspension and triple clamps made the bike look slightly like a chopper with its up-hill stance. I found a set of CL 360 clamps that surprisingly fit the frame with no modifications and it dropped the stance of the bike 1 inch. It helped but it still was not where I wanted it. I began to shorten the forks 1 inch from the inside then installed 1 inch longer eye to eye shocks on the rear. By doing this it gave a bull dog look so to speak and made it look level." "The wheels were something that I took a chance on. I thought it would be cool to pre-drill holes 2 inches apart all the way around the wheel, powder coat them black, then drill them again to give it a high lighted look. With the white wall Shinko 777s I think they came out pretty nice." With the slender profile, low seat and wide bars, this has to be the perfect city bike, maneuverable, agile and a smooth ride, we here at the Bike Shed would certainly love to chop our way through the London rush hour on it and I'm sure that stunning exhaust system sounds just as sweet as it looks. Josh has done a great job on Honda's CX500 work-horse. Everything was done in-house at JM Racing except the powder coat and upholstery. Paint credit goes to Josh's dad Randy Mott and photo credit goes to Josh's girlfriend Kate Robbins. If you would like to follow JMRacing, check out facebook, web or instagram or see more of his work here on The Bike Shed. And there's more on this build, from Josh, on video... Thanks for sharing Josh, we're already looking forward to the next one.