Has Mile Zero Racers cracked the code for the perfect neo-retro Honda CB750 café racer?
When Mile Zero Racers’ first Honda CB750 café racer broke cover three years ago, we immediately knew that founder Thomas Manno was onto a good thing. Drawing inspiration from Porsche Clubsport racing cars, his vision for the venerable CB added a modern edge to the classic café racer genre. But that was just the beginning.
Since that project, Thomas has quietly been evolving the Mile Zero Racers Honda CB ‘ClubSport’ concept. Now he’s ready to share his vision with the rest of the world, in the form of two drop-dead gorgeous prototype builds.
The Mile Zero Racers ClubSport V2 Dot 1 [above], finished in BMW Velvet Orchid Metallic, is a 1976 Honda CB750F with traditional café racer proportions. Dot 2 [below], with its handsome Porsche Baltic Blue Metallic livery, is a 1977 CB750K with upright ergonomics that favor longer days in the saddle. Both have undergone extensive work, and both would make a fine addition to any garage.
Based in Rochester, New York, USA, Thomas runs Mile Zero as a one-man army, only outsourcing specialist jobs. For the ClubSport V2 series, he roped in Ryan at Choice City Moto to help design and develop a flourishing catalog of CNC-machined Honda CB parts that he plans to offer—many of which are shared between these two builds.
The common modifications start with each Honda CB750’s running gear. Both bikes use repurposed Kawasaki ZX-6R forks that have been rebuilt and re-anodized, with Mile Zero Racers (MZR) CNC-machined yokes. The rear shocks are adjustable YSS units.
The braking systems are identical too. They use refurbished Nissin calipers and new rotors up front, and rebuilt OEM CB750 calipers out back.
To nail the ClubSport V2 stance, Thomas opted to design his own 18” forged billet wheels. Showing hints of vintage snowflake designs, they’re wrapped in Bridgestone Battlax BT-46 tires. The rear wheel is built to use the stock CB750 rear hub assembly, eliminating a lot of guesswork when fitting it.
There are several parts bearing the MZR brand—including the CNC-machined chain guards, and the rear-set mounting brackets and controls. The bikes also sport matching front fenders and belly pans. The fenders were fabricated in partnership with Raw Metal Racers, while the fiberglass belly pans were shaped in-house.
The two CB750s share a lot of their cockpit components, too, but their layouts are fundamentally different. The MZR top yoke features riser mounts to clamp regular handlebars on the V2.2 bike, while the V2.1 bike gets a clean top yoke with MZR clip-ons. Both top yokes include an integrated housing for a digital Motogadget dashboard; Thomas confirms that the yokes can be manufactured with any of the aforementioned options.
Thomas went all-out on the electronics, treating the CB750s to identical wiring harnesses. Each uses a Revival Cycles wiring kit with a new starter solenoid and main fuse, an electronic ignition with Dynatek coils, a Motogadget mo.unit Blue controller and RFID ignition, an Antigravity battery, and weatherproof Deutsch connectors for easy maintenance. Other Motogadget bits include the switches, mirrors, and bar-end turn signals, while the fluid reservoirs come from Purpose Built Moto in Australia.
An MZR headlight cowl adorns the front of each build, 3D-printed using a high-strength resin. The headlight itself is a Choice City Moto LED headlight with a billet aluminum housing.
Thomas designed two different 3D-printed tail cowls—one that’s designed to sit on a level subframe and one that can accommodate a kinked rear loop. The V2.1 bike’s rear bump sports a pair of recessed Motogadget three-in-one taillight LEDs, while V2.2 uses an LED strip taillight with integrated turn signals. Mile Zero will offer both configurations, along with custom seats that feature quick-release fiberglass pans.
A Cognito Moto oil tank sits below each seat, just behind a row of DNA filters. But it’s here that the spec sheets really begin to diverge. For starters, keen eyes will notice that all of the billet aluminum MZR parts on V2.1 are finished in silver, while those on V2.2 are blacked out.
The bikes also feature different engine configurations. With V2.2, the emphasis was on daily reliability rather than outright performance. So the motor was rebuilt to OEM spec, with a four-into-one Delkevic exhaust system finishing it off.
V2.1 was designed as an out-and-out café racer, so Thomas went to town. The engine build uses 1 mm over pistons, an upgraded cam and slotted cam sprocket, stage two head porting, and Keihin CR29 carbs. Its exhaust is a screaming four-into-one system from MotoGP Werks.
Between the paintwork (done by Joey B’s AutoWerks) and the luxe leather upholstery (by Rich Phillips Leather), both of Mile Zero’s Honda CB750 ClubSport V2s hit the mark between sporty and elegant. The perfectly encapsulated Mile Zero’s ethos: “Timeless design, modern reliability, and handcrafted detail.”
If you agree, Mile Zero has you covered. Thomas is currently taking orders for a limited run of 10 builds, two of which are already spoken for, and will soon have an online store stocked with the MZR parts on display here.
But if you lack patience, V2.1 and V2.2 are currently for sale. Interested parties, please form an orderly queue.
Mile Zero Racers would like to thank Revival Cycles, Bridgestone tires, Joey B’s AutoWerks, Choice City Moto, Raw Metal Racers, Purpose Built Moto, and Antigravity Batteries.
Mile Zero Racers | Instagram | Images by Adam Zarowny
