There’s a lot to love about Honda’s current crop of pint-sized modern classics—particularly the iconic Honda Dax. But for some riders, the modern amenities hiding under the new Dax’s retro aesthetic are a major turn-off. Not everyone wants (or needs) fuel injection and ABS-equipped disc brakes on their scoot.
Mike Chen is a firm fan of the old school. He runs the custom workshop Mike’s Garage in Taipei, where his focus is on building wheels and customizing sub-400 cc motorcycles. He has a thing for street trackers but also loves American chopper culture—so his bikes often resemble the former while borrowing cues from the latter.
Mike’s latest custom build is all chopper and all retro. Inspired by the new Dax but wary of its modernity, Mike developed a sudden urge to put a classic Honda Dax chopper together. So he shoehorned a Cub-clone engine into an old Dax frame, and then went wild on the finishings.
Mike earmarked two donor bikes for the project. The chassis comes from a 1980 Honda ST70, while the engine was scalped from a 1996 SYM Cub 90 that had been gathering dust in a corner of the workshop for years. Once Mike confirmed that the engine swap would work, the ‘ST90’ project was officially underway.
Both the frame and engine were showing their age, so Mike had to refurbish everything. The engine was rebuilt and treated to an upsized intake, a new carb, and a custom stainless steel exhaust system. The muffler is particularly curious; a trumpet-like affair with ripples worked into its shaft.
The Dax’s unmistakable pressed steel frame needed even more work than the engine did. It took hours of sheet metal shaping and welding to bring it back to a usable state. In the process, Mike welded in one of the best features of the bike—a 70s chopper rear fender from Crazy Frank.
The Crazy Frank fender not only hosts the taillight and looks bananas, but it also makes the perfect bum stop to compensate for the Dax’s extreme riding position. This pocket chopper stands impossibly tall, thanks to a set of lengthened forks that measure a whopping 45.3 inches. They’re held in place by a set of yokes from a 125 cc Kymco commuter bike.
The rear end is propped up on a pair of aluminum struts that, from a distance, could pass for a set of shiny new shocks. Mike turned them on a lathe to create the faux spring effect, machined down the ends, and polished them to a brilliant finish.
At the opposite end of the Dax, narrow risers grip an equally narrow set of custom-made drag bars. They’re adorned with little more than a set of white grips, a throttle, and a vintage switch for the turn signals. The cockpit is devoid of any instrumentation, while a tiny headlight hangs off a handmade bracket up front.
Mike relocated the ignition barrel and a couple of key switches to the left side of the frame. And he ditched the front brake lever by lacing the 12” front wheel to a brakeless spool hub.
If you’re having a hard time recognizing the front tire, it’s because it isn’t a motorcycle tire at all. It’s a 12” Vans x Cult BMX tire, and is only on the bike for photos and shows. A 12” whitewall trailer tire from Duro does duty out back.
Pushing this zany Honda Dax chopper over the finish line is a retina-searing hot pink paint job straight out of the 70s, courtesy of Jeffery Chang. A furry wool seat extends the length of the frame and adds a massive dose of unapologetic impracticality to the build. (You need to use a wrench to remove the seat every time you want to fill up.)
Mike’s ST90 chop will no doubt have its detractors (there’s no front fender, after all), but he can count us as fans. As far as we’re concerned, a custom motorcycle doesn’t need to make sense if it leaves you with a big enough smile on your face.
Mike’s Garage Instagram | Images by Persist Motorcycle Co. | With special thanks to Barry Lim
