By Chris Kelland’s admission, he and his partner Elijah Reese will “build bikes for anyone that wants to throw bundles of cash at us.” But that doesn’t mean they’re not at least a little discerning. When a client asked them to turn their father’s 1974 Honda CB750 into a café racer, they said “no.”
“Cafés are uncomfortable and annoying, and everyone and his cat does that,” says Chris. “I thought, ‘Let’s build something more fun and unique.’ After all, who builds flat track CB750s? No one… that’s who.”
Chris, a British ex-pat, and Elijah, a Texas native, run Limey Bikes in Austin. They specialize in the maintenance, restoration, and customization of older Japanese and British bikes—and yes, they occasionally build café racers, too.…