There are certain bikes out there that grab your attention, The Black Diamond CR500 is one of those bikes.

I’ve come across this bike several time and each and every time I sit and stare in amazement on what has been done. I don’t think that anyone out there has missed this bike.  So we contacted the builder, Jeff “Taffy” Buckham from South Wales in the UK to find out more about this beast, what inspired him to build it and what he’s got in store for the future.

Q. What inspired you to build the Black Diamond?
A. Having built various 4 stroke supermoto specials, I thought it was time try a 2-stroke project. The CR500 although being quite rare seemed the perfect choice.  (We couldn’t agree more on this point!)

Q. What has been done?
A. BLACK DIAMOND spec:

Engine:

  • 91 cr500 engine stripped and vapour blasted
  • rebuilt and balanced crank with prox conrod
  • all new bearings and seals
  • stan stephens moderately tuned barrel with oversize prox piston 502cc
  • pro designs polished billet coolhead with multi compression inserts
  • boyesen radvalve and block carbon reeds
  • talon clutch basket/ebc drc clutch with standard springs
  • boyesen clutch cover
  • boyesen ignition cover
  • pwk carb
  • polished engine parts/head/kickstart/waterpump cover/coolhead/
  • carb/engine bolts etc
  • wrinkle paint finish to casings and barrel
  • samco engine hoses
  • silicone carb hoses
  • modified crf radiators
  • cr 250 airboot with custom airbox plate
  • new crf 450 airbox and standard filter
  • high output coil.

 

Chassis:

  • 07 crf 450 frame
  • pro fabricated to fit cr 500engine, powdercoated graphite
  • aprillia rxv swingarm,powdercoated graphite
  • modified subframe powder coated graphite
  • costom made billet headstay
  • marzzochi shiver 50 forks pro-action setup
  • marzzochi triple clamps
  • ohlins ttx rear shock
  • polished crf shock linkage
  • ohlins 2.1 steering damper
  • all bearings replaced/headstock/swingarm etc
  • trail-tech sidestand
  • pro-circuit platinum expansion chamber with crf 250 carbon/titanium
  • akropovic twin cans
  • goldspeed carbon wheels with polished hubs
  • goldspeed ultra road legal tyres
  • beringer radial caliper/factory polished
  • beringer master cylinder/factory polished
  • beringer clutch lever/factory polished
  • beringer front disk
  • aprillia rxv rear brake
  • pro-carbon fuel tank
  • pro-carbon tank shrouds
  • pro-carbon front fender/shortened and modified
  • pro-carbon frame guards
  • carbon wrapped rear fender
  • crf 450 sidepanels
  • new honda rad guards
  • driven racing carbon bars
  • composite art handguard sheilds with cycra probend handguards
  • icon racing billet fuel cap/polished
  • sdg step seat
  • GFX designs custom graphics

 

Q. Build time?
A. Approx 12 months

Q. What is the bike used for?
A. Track day weapon / Show bike

Q. Do we dare ask what it cost?
A. Dont ask lol

Q. Previous Bikes Built?
A. Various Honda CRF models and also some Husky models.

Q. Next Project?
A. Currently working on Husqvarna SM450RR

Q.So Taffy racing is it a racing team?
A.Yes we are a UK race team ( www.taffyracing.co.uk )

Q. Where do you compete?
A. We compete in The Southern Supermoto Championship, British Supermoto Masters, Welsh Hillclimb Championship and various enduro / XC championships.

Q. How many people are part of taffy racing?
A. Currently there are 4 Riders in various classes from Youth upto Experts.

 

Now let’s see some of those pics you’ve all been waiting for:

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsors:

TFP Fire & Security
LR Designs
SIlicone Engineering
MX Torque
Moto Extremes
NMN Soundproofing
GFX Designs
MotoWorks NZ
Promototive BMW

Needless to say that this is one impressive build and we’re looking forward to see more Jeff!
Big thanks to Jeff and Taffy racing!