1973 Tracy Body Honda CB750

1973 HONDA CB750 TRACY BODY

In the early ‘60s, the Surf scene in California was peaking. Skilled fiberglass workers were in high demand by up and coming surfboard brands. A job building surfboards offered one fiberglasser by the name of Tracy Nelson the opportunity to launch a business building fiberglass components for motorcycles. From here Tracy went on to build a brand that became one of the biggest manufacturers of motorcycle body kits in the USA, Tracy’s Fiberglass Works.

Renowned surf Illustrator Jim Phillips (the man behind the Santa Cruz screaming hand design) worked closely with Nelson throughout the life of the company, creating artwork for marketing, branding and products

The ‘Eliminator’ was a café/street racer styled tank/seat/fairing combo that had clear similarities to the Triumph Hurricane bodywork designed by Craig Vetter. When Vetter and Don Brown presented their body kit to BSA in ’69 they described it as being designed to “show the Brits what Americans wanted their motorcycles to look like”. Tracy’s Eliminator proved Vetter’s theory by being the most popular kit in the Tracy range available as a “bolt on” modification for the Honda CB 450/500/750, Norton 750, Triumph Trident & 650s, BSA 650, Yamaha XS650, Suzuki GT750 and Kawasaki 750.

The kit wasn’t merely a showpiece though. Tracy designed the Eliminator to lower the bikes center of gravity to provide “superhandling” and despite their narrow profile and lightweight construction, could hold a similar capacity of fuel to each bikes stock tank. Included in the price of each body kit was a custom diamond stitched or rolled leather seat with a hinged base to allow access to battery or oil filler depending on the model purchased.

This example from 1973 has been faithfully restored in period fashion. The fiberglass bodywork was fully treated and sealed, to protect against any adverse affects from modern fuel. Hand paint and automotive metallics accent the bodywork, headlight bucket, and fender.

The engine runs beautifully, with original carburetors fed by hand-spun aluminum velocity stacks, custom made for this bike by steel dragon customs.  The finned tappet covers and finned engine covers all sourced and inspired by the 1970’s custom culture.   The Stainless steel 4 into 4 pipes were commission by our friends at Cycle-X for this Tracy build. Custom cocktail shakers and chromes clamps have been fitted and sound amazing.   More high-performance 1970’s components include the lightweight, high-shouldered front and rear wheels, have been fitted, reducing unsprung mass.   Massive dual disc brakes reside up front, sporting drilled rotors. A front stainless steel brake line set and a new brake master cylinder give this Tracy CB750 the extra “bite” that ordinary models of this period once-lacked.

The heavy duty forks and triple trees were sourced from the early Honda Goldwings of that time.  The Mini Speedometer and Tachometer combined with Tomaselli-style headlight ears minimize and clean up the front end, accented by a gold Metalflake grip set on the handlebars.   High performance rear shocks, with adjustable preload keeps the rear tire in check while cornering. A new heavy duty gold chain translates all the power to the wide, 17” rear tire.   The standard cartridge-type oil filter system, has been upgraded to a spin-on adapter, with a chrome K&N filter and fresh oil installed 10 miles ago.

All engine covers have been polished locally by the renowned “DJ’s metal polishing” and wow, do they shine. New battery, control cables, and petcock have all been fitted, for reliability.