Dave Mucci popped up on our radar five years ago with his first build, a slinky CX500 that revealed the potential of Honda’s much-maligned V-twin. By his own admission, it was a “low-budget, quick turnaround build”—but it was a hit, and anyone who’s built a CX500 since has undoubtedly pinned it to their inspiration board.
The secret to this success lies in Dave’s background; he’s a trained industrial designer, with a sensational eye. Since building the CX, space in the Moto Mucci studio has been dominated by client work. But he’s finally managed to build another personal bike—with more time, a bigger budget and a head full of new ideas.
Dave’s CX was designed to traverse Chicago’s city streets…but he’s now based in Portland, Oregon, so his needs have changed. The new bike would have to be capable of handling everything from carving canyons to light camping trail duty.
“I gravitate towards minimalism in my design work so the Husqvarna TE 570 made sense,” says Dave. “It was Husqvarna’s no-frills platform; one of the most stripped down modern bikes that’s still street legal. One cylinder with no starter, battery, key, center stand or steering lock.”
“Aluminum was substituted for steel throughout all major components. Husqvarna even removed the counterbalance on the crank to save weight. The result was a 55hp, 260 pound (118 kilo) package with a water cooled motor…that vibrates like a palm sander.”
With a six-speed transmission it was a trail bike that had legs; something that could pound pavement and fire roads.
On paper it made sense, but we wouldn’t be writing about it if Dave was satisfied with its stock looks. “In person it wore a shoddy plastic cloak” he says. “With all the shrouds and guards pulled off I was able to start redesigning the bike from its foundation.”
“Husqvarna’s TE trim is geared towards dirt, so I began digitally sketching the blend of on- and off-road capability I was looking for.”
Dave wanted to push the 2001-model TE 570 over to supemotard territory a bit, so he lowered it and fitted 17” hoops at each end. He then wrapped them in Shinko 705 tires, and upgraded the front brake with a 320mm rotor.
Then it was time for serious changes. “I knew I wouldn’t be using the plastic tank, and didn’t want the added weight of a steel replacement,” he explains. “I sourced an aluminum Husqvarna CR360 tank that had great patina and all the purple.”
The TE 570’s built like a Tetris grid, so swapping out the tank meant that the radiators had to find a new home. Dave got the idea to run a single Mishimoto unit up front, so he designed an arrangement with a stainless guard and two LEDs for lighting.
There’s more engineering trickery out back, with a unique, cantilevered subframe forming the center point of the bike. Dave designed it to move the rider’s center of gravity toward the core of the bike, and to free up the visual space around the rear wheel. “This also provided a major design element many other components could work off,” he explains.
“The exhaust was tucked up to follow the belly line of the subframe while the tank continued the top line forward to give the bike an aggressive direction. Variations of cool grey and champagne gold were used in place of black to give the bike a bright look.”
Tapping into his industrial design skillset, Dave did everything on paper before tackling the hard graft. “After refining the design direction digitally, the rendering got tacked to the shop wall and I started hashing it out in metal,” he says.
“I built many components in CAD first, like the subframe and radiator grille. Having detailed dimensions for bend angles and mounting points saved me a lot of trial and error during the fabrication process.”
He’s added several performance mods too. The motor was decked to raise compression a bit, and a Surflex billet clutch fitted to nudge the rotational weight down. Between the stainless steel exhaust and the K&N filter, Dave had to re-jet the Dell’Orto carb to pump more fuel.
Even lowering the bike was a careful consideration. Custom suspension springs and valving were made to match Dave’s weight, stiffening it up for canyon twisties and lowering the bike four inches in total. “The leftover eight inches of travel is plenty for dirt service roads,” Dave quips.
He’s also adapted and fitted an Öhlins steering damper from a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, and adjustable levers from ASV. The seat was carved from high-density foam, to help reduce the vibrations from the motor, and there’s a smaller rear sprocket to bring the revs down at highway pace.
With just the right mix of wackiness and raw performance, Dave’s ‘Husqy570’ might be the raddest dual-sport we’ve seen this year. As expected, it’s a total blast to ride too…
“During a 2,000 mile shakedown run around Montana it proved to be a light, nimble, wheelie-machine worthy of our new home in the PNW. Now that my new shop is set up in Portland and my adventure mobile is ready, I can open the queue for customer builds.”
Mark our words: that queue’s going to fill up fast.
Moto Mucci | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Jenny Linquist
Specifications
1973 Husqvarna CR360 Tank
320 mm EBC front rotor
Suspension lowered 4” with custom springs, pre-load and valving front and rear
Custom subframe
Custom two-into-one stainless exhaust
Custom stainless radiator guard
Surflex billet aluminum clutch basket
Up-jetted and rebuilt Dell’Orto PHM40 carburetor with K&N filter
17” Husqvarna SM450R wheels
Husqvarna SM570R triple clamps
Mishimoto radiator
XVision LED driving pod lights
Supernova LED taillight / turn signals
Kawasaki ZX-10R Öhlins steering damper
ASV adjustable levers
Biltwell Inc. Kung-Fu grips
Custom alcantara and vinyl seat
Shinko 705 tires: front 120/70R17, rear 150/70R17
Decked cylinder head with new valves, guides, rings, and gaskets
40T Rear sprocket
Hammerhead billet shifter
Golan billet fuel valve
