Whether you like Huxley’s unlikely choice of a 1986 Honda CB700SC Nighthawk or not, you’ve got to appreciate the hard work and long hours that went into making something cool out of something that probably should have been thrown away because of its condition. “I bought it as a mess and it took approximately three months to get it into shape. I’m in the army at Fort Bragg so it’s mostly nights and weekends when I get any bike building done. With help from my son, Hunter, we did all the fab, leather, and paint,” said Huxley. “I’m a tool nut so I have pretty much a machine shop with a 1986 Bridgeport mill and a 1954 LeBlonde lathe with a 19-inch swing and 6-foot bed. All the custom parts on this bike are hand built by me in my garage. I try and get six bikes a year done, but it depends heavily on my deployment schedule.”

 

          What Huxley’s accomplished here says a lot about his skills as this particular model not only originally had a swingarm, but is a shaft drive bike too. He kept the Nighthawk’s main frame and its precious OEM VIN number, but modified it until it was unrecognizable as a perfect example of a UJM (Universal Japanese Motorcycle). Where there was once rear suspension is now filled with a whimsically-nutty rigid rear end of Huxley’s own design that still incorporates the shaft drive. I don’t know if the chainstay’s wild curves came before or after the exhaust megaphone caps were built and installed, but they sure need each other to work. Plus, the bendy tubing end result definitely draws your attention in an all-curves Dr. Seuss kind of way. If that’s not enough to make you think non-OEM, check out the steerer tube with the Huxley-added pointy gusset with ‘SFC’ cut into it for Swamp Fox Cycles aka Huxley Jones. There’s lots of time spent in thought and fabrication throughout the bike and this is just one example of Huxley’s obsession with detail.

 

  The 700cc DOHC four-cylinder engine was freshened up with mechanical changes mostly made right where you can see them like the wild 4-into-2 straight exhaust and the small filter pod air cleaners replacing the massive stock air box. There’s plenty of power to go around as is on this relatively light bobber so there was no need for major power upgrades. “Since there’s no rear suspension, the power goes straight to the rear wheel and you can damn-near pull a wheelie on it. I ride it hard and fast. What other way is there?” said Huxley laughing. 

 

  There were two areas that Huxley had to find new skill sets for and one is that extremely nice hand-tooled leather seat. “The seat with its suspension package was my favorite part to build because at one point I thought I was in over my head with tooling the leather.

      The leather on this bike was definitely the most intricate I’ve done with the sugar skull and rose. My wife, however, got on my ass and I powered through it,” he said. “Plus I think the seat suspension is very pleasing to the eye and totally utilitarian. There are two-inches of adjustable suspension in the seat. Actually the whole bike is adjustable from the seat to the controls.”

 

   Where Huxley met his match was with the paint, though, but he persevered until his black and red paint scheme was done and done. “The most frustrating part of the build was the paint. I did all the paint myself and the boys at Kar Kolors in Fayetteville gave me massive tips on how to paint. The red paint is Ducati red. I dusted the red on the tins with pearl and a real cool reddish/white came out depending on the angle you look at it,” he said adding, “I’m fairly new to paint and it’s definitely an art. My hat’s off to all the bad-ass painters out there.”

 

  

        So looking back on one more finished Swamp Fox Cycles’ junk-to-jewel build, Huxley said, “I did accomplish what I set out to do as it’s pleasing to the eye, uniquely different from the rest, but not gaudy with a bunch of un-needed crap on it. And best of all people enjoy looking it over as it’s definitely not skin deep. The deeper you look, the more craftsmanship comes out. It’s a very nimble, fully adjustable, solid, badass bobber. The bike is finished and will hopefully pay for the next build.”