Modified Honda Rebel 500 By K-Speed Customs Is A Brawny Bobber

The Thailand-based custom house has transformed the cruiser into a bobber, called umm… The Bob

K-Speed, a custom house from Thailand is well known for its eclectic custom creations of a variety of motorcycles, scooters, mopeds, you name it. The brand has recently sold a custom Honda Rebel 500, called ‘The Bob’ for THB 189,000, or around Rs 4.44 lakh.

K-Speed has transformed the iconic cruiser into a very clean-looking bobber with tons of attention to detail. The stock headlamp has been replaced by a sleeker LED unit and the handlebar has been swapped for a mini ape-hanger unit. To make it just about practical, the brand has thrown in a rear view mirror on the right side too. 

Bobbers are generally quite minimalistic, so K-Speed has moved the LCD instrument cluster from the handlebar clamp to the left side of the engine for that clean look, though. It may not exactly be safe as you’ll have to take your eyes off the road and really look down to know the speed. The custom house has also replaced the chunky stock switchgear with sleek, old-school flip switches. 

Of course, in a typical K-speed-style, there are plenty of attention-to-detail elements like a slotted tank brace with the tank cap finished in carbonfibre, a premium seat with diamond stitching, chopped custom front and rear fenders, custom engine casings with an engine cowl, and a slotted chain guard with a side-mounted rear number plate holder.

The 45.5PS, 44,6Nm 471cc parallel twin engine is likely to be stock but it features a custom stubby exhaust for a more macho note. It also gets crash bobbins for added protection. The covered, blacked-out wheels are reminiscent of the solid disc Lakester wheels that the Harley-Davidson Fat Boy rocks. And to maintain an old-school look, the 16-inch wheels are wrapped with vintage-style 5-inch-thick Firestone Deluxe Champion tyres at both ends.

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While the front fork is gaitered for a more muscular look, the rear twin shock absorbers have been replaced by Diablo units, K-Speed’s proprietary performance parts sub-brand. The disc brakes at both ends appear to be unchanged, though. 

Overall, this is a very tasteful job by K-Speed, as usual. Interestingly, this custom creation is a lot less expensive than the 2021 stock bike, which retails at THB 222,800, around Rs 5.24 lakh. A solid bargain, for a bike that’s done just 13km on the odometer. A solid bargain, we say!