Weekends are when most folks get a chance to work on their bikes, so we’re starting a new series on the Bike EXIF Youtube channel called Saturday Sessions. We’re taking a peek behind the scenes at the Brooklyn workshop E3 Motorcycles, and documenting the rebuild of a 1975 Honda CB550F.
The bike belongs to the New York ad agency Woods Witt Dealy & Sons, a firm populated by confirmed petrolheads who work on a major tire manufacturer client by day. And when they got their hands on a CB to use as a ‘shop bike,’ they called E3’s David Browning.
“Some bikes show up looking like they were sitting out at 90th Street when Hurricane Sandy rolled through,” says Browning. “They’re often half-finished, when best intentions were set aside. I have no reservation about ripping into those bikes—busting out the angle grinder, getting creative, and breathing new life into a tired motorcycle.”
“But when the Honda CB arrived, after a trek up I-95 from Virginia, we went straight into audible mode! It was super clean, 85% stock, and in really nice condition. Not the bike I’d want to do any destructive editing on.”
E3 decided to leave the frame ‘as is’ and play to the Honda’s visual strengths. “It’s a rad bike right off the assembly line. So we diverted our budget into restoration items: Wheels, suspension, and engine work.”
This first video documents the teardown process and day one’s disassembly. Enjoy.
E3 Motorcycles | Woods Witt Dealy & Sons | Previously: E3’s Honda cafe racer