when I was As a kid, my skateboard took me everywhere. It’s a stout Variflex (that’s all I can afford in our small town), complete with neon light rails and a tail shield. I can’t do somersaults and I can barely ollie—but I can go anywhere and I’m happy along the way.
These days I ride a motorbike, but the feeling doesn’t change; equal wheel of freedom, with a bit of self-expression thrown in for good measure. And that’s the idea behind this cute little custom Honda CRF250L, built by Deus ex Machina Japan.
Inspired by a disturbance person Built by outpost Deus’ Bali, the client of this project wanted something to revive his youthful passions. “When it comes to custom builds, you’ll find your customers’ preferences, tastes, careers and childhood memories,” said our man at Deus Japan, Lloyd Seino. “Then you realize that these custom claims are often generated by a person’s mid-life self-reflection.”
With the brief closed, the customer has one final request. “He added, ‘let’s put a skateboard stand on it while we’re at it,’” said Lloyd.
Tomoyuki Soeda, Deus Japan wrench, started with an original Honda CRF250L. The hugely popular dual sport is known for being lightweight and practical, but also incredibly reliable. Perfect for the needs of this scrambler project.
Soeda-san got rid of the CRF250L, removing all the plastic, in favor of the OEM fork shields. Then it’s time to wear the lucky little single again.
Honda’s new outfit uses a mixture of aluminum flakes and newly formed parts with fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) — an increasingly popular option on custom bikes. Deus Japan used FRP for the CRF’s asymmetrical side panels and vintage-inspired headlight covers. A pair of mismatched LED headlights poke out the front.
The ‘fuel tank’ is another FRP part, but it’s really just a cover. Hidden beneath it is a Honda OEM fuel cell, accessible through a classic polished gas cap.
Standing out against the clean white background of the bodywork is a collection of polished aluminum parts. Tomoyuki built a new radiator shroud (on the left) and a custom electronics box (on the right), which now also houses the igniter. Classic enduro fenders at both ends.
Handcrafted crimped steel guards decorate the left and right sides of the bike. Tomoyuki also made a new holder for the original tachometer and a holder for the front fender.
Out the back, the frame has been shortened and repeated to accommodate CRF’s slim new synthetic leather seats. Behind it, an LED taillight resides in a custom housing that also acts as a license plate mount. The rest of the mods are minimal and tasteful.
Deus Japan keeps the original handlebars but equips them with new handles and a rearview mirror. The suspension and wheels are also original, but new Shinko rubber has been glued on. The Yoshimura muffler completes the specifications of the parts.
One of our favorite mods takes a few turns to detect. Check out the gearshift lever, and you’ll notice that Tomoyuki has welded a brake lever to it, facing backwards, to act as a gear lever.
And yes, the customer also has his skateboard stand. It sits to the left of the bike and is designed to hold a cruiser-sized board. A strap holds the board securely and the whole thing can be removed with a few socket wrenches.
For some people, riding around on a custom bike with a skateboard strapped to it feels like a midlife crisis. But for us, it’s like the most fun you can get on six wheels.
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