Want to have the new kind of café racer? Do like Larry Houghton: take a 1983 6-cylinder Honda CBX and build an origami-like frame for it from a one-inch thick aluminum sheet and then bring in a pair of 17-inch Marchesini wheels from a Ducati 916. Create a radical front end, but retain the Ducati’s single-sided swingarm and the thing can go off the stand.

The engine and gearbox is pretty much all that remains from the Honda CBX and because the powerplant makes it look so wide it’s called ‘Wide Boy’. But it’s no Harley, just a custom bike trying to make it in this business. It actually came third in the Freestyle class at the latest London Ace Cafe Motorcycle & Custom Show, so it rides on the good track.