SMALL BIKE, BIG FUN | Indonesian Honda Dax Custom

Words Geoff Baldwin Photography Luke Ray

This article first appeared in Fuel Magazine issue 26.

Each year that Luke and I attend the Kustomfest show in Indonesia, we pick out our favourite entries. Obviously Luke is generally more interested in the four-wheeled participants, but with around 150 custom motorcycles in attendance he can’t help but point out a few bikes that tickle his fancy. Our tastes vary somewhat, which is to be expected, but regardless of that each year we seem to find at least one bike that we both agree is a cut above the rest.

This year that bike actually sat much lower than the rest and I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t one of the reasons we liked it so much. This purple flaked mini bike chopper named “Gibby” is the work of Agun Benoel of ‘Garasi Kecil' or ‘Small Garage’.

Another of our yearly habits at Kustomfest is to try and cram as many photoshoots into one day as possible. This year was no different. We had arranged to meet five builders the day after the show with the aim of shooting all of their vehicles before the sunset. We arrived at the venue early to find an appropriate place to shoot. Soon afterwards we heard Agun pulling into the car park and looked over to see him approaching with a huge grin and a pair of fluoro green sunglasses on his face.

It goes without saying that riding motorcycles like these on regular streets is rather unorthodox but it’s clearly loads of fun. The fact that Agun builds bikes like this for a living gave me a pretty good idea of what type guy he was and the green sunnies confirmed it. So, while Luke snapped away on his camera, Agun and I light-heartedly discussed the build of his minuscule chopper.

“The owner is a famous Indonesian guitar player who loves Gibson guitars,” Agun explained when I queried the bikes name. “He wanted me to build this bike for his son, who he named ‘Gibby’.” Aside from the bike’s name the only other instruction Agun received was some colour ideas leaving him with complete creative freedom. With Kustomfest fast approaching he decided this was a good opportunity to transform the ’72 Honda Dax ST70 into something that would grab the judges’ attention, which clearly worked.

Agun is the sole owner and operator of Garasi Kecil, so he completes most of the work himself. For the engine and paintwork, however, he usually outsources to friends which was the case with the Gibby project. For the engine, it was all about reliability as opposed to any kind of performance improvements. Before any other work took place the 49cc single underwent a complete internal rebuild and exterior overhaul to have it looking and running like new. The only performance change came from the addition of a pod filter and custom made exhaust. But I use the term performance upgrade loosely as neither modification adds much to the engine’s stock power figure of 4.5bhp. 

A stand out feature of Gibby is its chunky wheels which add to its amusing proportions. Each wheel uses a mix of custom and donor parts. The list includes Kymco Matic rims, a specially modified swingarm to accept the wider rubber, a custom made front hub and solid rear disc. Front end suspension is standard while the rear uses a pair of sleeved shocks from a 2-stroke Yamaha. In true chopper style, the front end is brakeless and there’s no clutch as the Dax uses a semi-automatic gearbox. This leaves the custom made 20-inch ape bars almost completely free from clutter.

When Honda first made the Dax it was a unique model in their range because of its pressed steel frame. This design feature also happened to limit how much it could be modified. So rather than risking any changes that could affect the frame’s integrity Agun relied on flashy paint and plenty of polished parts to give the bike its unique look.

With small bikes, it’s easy to incorrectly assume there’s very little work involved. This certainly is not the case. It’s just that you need to get up close to get an idea of exactly how much work has been done. With the Gibby build Agun spent countless hours fabricating a long list of one-off parts. The most obvious are the 20-inch ape bars, twin headlight assembly, sissy bar and chunky tuck-and-roll seat. Move in closer and you’ll spot the sleeves that fatten up the forks, a kickstand that was an adjustable spanner in its former life and a Harley Softtail duckbill styled fender.

Move closer again and there’s a custom starter mounted to the chain guard, an ignition key disguised as a fastener in the side of the frame and a custom polished triple clamp. It’s not until you get really, really close that things start getting funny, literally. Hammered into the front of the top clamp is the Garasi Kecil motto, “Small bike big fun”. It’s a statement which sums up what these bikes are really all about. A total lack of common sense in favour of wide-grinned good times. I can’t think of anyone who’d pass up on that.