Silent but violent! Electric Stark Varg pays tribute to Honda's CR500 in one-off beach racer build

Radical British bike builders Thornton Hundred have turned their talents to one of motocross’ most iconic machines – creating an electric-powered homage to the mighty Honda CR500 two-stroke.

Known for transforming modern-classic Triumphs into ultra-premium head-turners, the Buckinghamshire-based firm have taken Stark’s lightening quick Varg (in supermoto trim), pulled its clothes off, altered the chassis and redressed it as a 1995 Honda CR500 lookalike to take on the 2025 Malle Beach Race – and they pulled it off in just two weeks.

“The project started out from our visit to the race last year with a Bobber,” explained Thornton’s Marketing Manager, Ryan Gaston.

“That bike absolutely dominated the whole event and this year we wanted to make something even more special.”

With the 80bhp electric dirt missile as a starting point, the team’s first job was to tame the Varg’s wheelie-happy nature for straight-line sand racing.

After 3D scanning the rear of the bike, company founder Jody Millhouse fabricated bespoke axle extenders to stretch the wheelbase and calm the front end down.

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Next came traction. With torque that hits like a sledgehammer, they fitted a custom-made ten-scoop paddle tyre to the rear – sourced specially from California to work with the bike’s 17in wheels.

With the drive sorted, attention turned to the visuals: “We wanted it to look like an old CR500,” Gaston continued. “Jody ordered a full set of CR500 bodywork and then the team adapted it to fit the Stark’s frame.”

The replica plastics were mounted to a genuine Honda CR500 subframe, which was heavily reworked in-house. That meant drilling into the Stark’s mainframe to create a secure mounting point, using a through-axle system to ensure sufficient strength.

The subframe itself also had to be extended by around an inch, with final touches here coming in the form of a custom radiator cover to protect the bike’s rear-mounted cooling system.

Elsewhere, the team sourced an original 1990 CR500 seat, reupholstered it in a fresh pink ribbed cover, and wrapped up the build with a custom graphics kit. Paying tribute to the original, the livery swaps the ‘CR’ logo for a Thornton-branded ‘TH’ in the same period-correct typeface.

To top it all off, Thornton Hundred even fabricated a dummy fuel tank – complete with a tweaked filler cap that cleverly doubles as a charging port cover.

The bike is now up for sale with Collecting Cars back in supermoto trim, with bidding ending at 7:24pm on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.