Michael Mundy’s Steel Bent Customs is now well established as one of the leading custom shops in Florida, if not the whole south east of the USA. Fifteen bikes rolled out of the Tampa workshop last year, and production is now booked out to April 2013.
Mundy is obviously doing something right in the eyes of US custom fans, and this new 1981 CB750 shows why. It’s the epitome of what the market demands at the moment: sleek, dark and stripped of all artifice.
Called ‘the Hoang build,’ this Honda was a commission. “The client requested that we go fully black, and use a tin color similar to an earlier build called ‘Neck Tat’,” says Mundy. The client also requested a seat long enough to accommodate a passenger, and despite the washboard appearance, “it’s more comfortable than it looks.”
The rest of the bike is super clean and minimalist, a signature of Steel Bent’s work. The blacked-out 4-into-1 exhaust system is terminated with a Cone Engineering muffler, and the motor is now running pod filters with the carbs retuned to match. (“A fine growl with an intoxicating powerband,” says Mundy.) Black clubman-style bars add to the dark and glossy vibe, and the battery is now mounted on the swing arm.
The CB750 is now headed 4,500 miles west to the opposite coast of the US, where it’ll join its new owner in California. Even amidst that hotbed of custom culture, it’s sure to stop the traffic.
Images by Erick Runyon.
