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Honda CX500 Blubber by Ton-Up Garage

The bike you see here is the work of Ton-up Garage – a Portuguese custom workshop with an established name as one of the best in the business. Their attention to detail is second to none and the amount of time invested in getting this CX500 into better-than-factory condition is clearly apparent.

Ton Up Garage says that Blubber is a motorcycle based on a Honda CX500 and like some marine mammals need that extra energy, to swim. We all need an extra inspiration to achieve freedom in our lives. Blubber was, in fact, named after the special skin storing fat, that provides the energy to this sea animals. The analogy emerged by the different, efficient and essential character both Blubbers stand for (the fat layer and the bike).

Shoichiro was responsible for the design of the original Honda CX500. He began developing Honda’s first V-twin.

It was decided that the new design should have water-cooling (a rarity on motorcycles at the time), a shaft drive and a counter-rotating transmission to offset the gyroscopic effect of the longitudinal crankshaft. The heads were rotated 22 degrees to slip the carburettors into the traditional air box area under the seat, and to get them out of the way of the legs of riders.

Where the CX500 fell short was in the looks department, it had a plastic headlight fairing and a poorly conceived overall appearance – it quickly earned the nickname “plastic maggot” and it’s been blighted with a bad reputation for decades.