ULTIMATE HONDA CRF110: BEHIND THE BUILD

When building any type of project bike, it’s always smart to start with a budget and stick to that budget; however, we are definitely not smart with our money when motorcycles are involved. We will be the first to admit that almost every build goes over budget. Truth be told, you can count on one hand the number of projects that have come in under budget in the last 10 years. Our “TNT” Honda CRF110 project is no exception to that rule.

Test rider Jacob Tilley at the controls of his CRF110 project bike.

The pit bike world is on fire right now, and the crew at Motowhips has expanded into the pit bike market, building bikes for the likes of Ken Roczen, Ryan Villopoto and even DJ Pauly D of the reality TV show “Jersey Shore.” We wanted our Honda CRF110 to turn heads, so after a brainstorming session with Motowhips owner Justin Myerson, his crew got started working their magic.

This project is admittedly overkill, but with companies like Elka, BBR Motorsports, Fastway and Bill’s Pipes making cool parts, and Motowhips putting them all together like artwork, it was hard not to get carried away.

The only part of our CRF110 that didn’t see major modifications was the internals. The engine was basically untouched on the inside, but the outside received specialty coating on the cases, valve cover and intake. We did add some performance parts, such as a complete Bill’s Pipes exhaust system that featured a custom black ceramic coating topped off with a carbon fiber tip and a high-flow air filter from Twin Air. In stock trim, our CRF110 had some issues bending the shifter, thus bending the shift shaft that goes through the cases. BBR Motorsports eliminates this problem with a bending shifter and a super-trick billet-aluminum shift shaft brace with a pressed-in bearing with a built-in countershaft sprocket cover.

The engine is stock on the inside, but you would never know by looking at the outside.

The Bill’s Pipes exhaust and Twin Air high-flow filter added some extra horsepower.

All the major modifications were made to the chassis, starting with stripping down the frame and going through a multi-layered welding and coating process to get that “raw” look. Up front, the fork received just about every specialty coating offered by Motowhips, plus BBR Motorsports suspension upgrades internally, and BBR clamps powdercoated Candy Apple Red. In the rear, the stock swingarm was replaced with an aluminum BBR Motorsports Carson Brown signature-series unit and a custom Elka Stage 2 complete shock that came directly from their Canadian facility. The shock also features adjustable preload; rebound damping; a lightweight, hard-anodized aluminum body; 16mm shock shaft and triple-seal head design. This is a huge upgrade from the OEM unit. Other chassis bolt-on items include ODI grey Emig lock-on grips, ODI Podium handlebars, a Motowhips kick-starter elimination kit, Fastway pegs, a Supersprox drivetrain, LUX kickstand, LUX brake pedal, and a Motowhips billet-aluminum flush-mount gas cap.
When the dust cleared, the budget for test rider Jacob Tilley’s Honda CRF110 was basically blown to smithereens. We could blame it on global supply-chain issues, COVID-19-induced inflation or a war going on somewhere, but the real cause was our lack of self-control.