We all know that most Kawasaki owners are a little – um – different to people who buy other brands. They like their bikes to be quick and they like them to have a heart and soul. That’s why Kawasaki motorcycles of all ages are so often used to build the café racers and stripped down bobbers that are growing so fast in popularity worldwide. We’ve encountered loads on the Internet, some great, many good and a few that have been built on a budget but look as interesting as the rest. For a video showing just how much work went into the beautifully simplistic café racer illustrated on this page built by Stavros from a very tatty version of the humble KZ400 of the ‘80s, see HERE
Then there’s THIS superb Z1 lovingly built by Japanese custom bike manufacturer AC Sanctuary and shown on Bikexif.
Fancy an iconic two stroke triple for your project? You could do a lot worse than look at Tobias Guckel’s amalgam of the 500 H1 triple’s frame and the 750cc H2’s motor on Bikexif’s splendid website.
Although many of the tastiest Kawasaki customs are based upon classics, some are thoroughly modern – and expensive to start with. Look at THIS supercharged Kawasaki H2 digital concept bike by Ulfert Janssen of Gannet Design that, if it’s ever built, will be a show stopper. With no wind protection, they may as well drop the gearing for a top speed of 240 km/h or so and see just how fast it gets off the line.
We know there are some beautiful custom Kawasakis right here in South Africa. If you built, own or know somebody who has built or is building a top class Kawasaki custom please e-mail a decent pic to us HERE and if it’s up to scratch we’ll put it on show right here on this site.
by Gavin Foster.