![]() Note the rear wheel’s offset to accommodate the belt drive. Especially when the wine and roses turn out to be Australian spiders and their egg sacs. Budding young customisers please take note making sick bikes for a living is not all wine and roses. “But it’s nothing we haven’t dealt with many times before,” notes Andy. “Once we’d shifted the brief and got stuck into the teardown, we were able to get our creative juices flowing with a warm bottle of sake – which took a while considering the condition of the bike when it came in.” They boys went on to say that the KZ was in a very sorry state, with a whole bunch of cobwebs, leaves, dust and grime covering it. With lines this clean, who needs rear view mirrors anyway? Image via Machines That Dream “So customising it with a certain amount of American flare isn’t as far-fetched as it may seem.” As mentioned, the customer’s brief was actually for a cafe racer but as the bike is the cruiser model, Andy and Giles had to turn away from that brief and gently suggest to the owner that a cruiser-style build may be something more suitable to the frame – especially with that big belt drive for all to see hanging off the rear wheel. “These Kawasaki units were part-built in Lincoln, Nebraska,” Says Andy, the other half of Sabotage. Image via Machines That Dreamīut you may (as did I) assume that the bike was therefore built in Japan, but no. Call me a sissy, but I’m really digging that passenger backrest. As such, that would make it part of the wave of Japanese Cruisers that had Harley Davidson concerned enough to lobby the US Government for protection. Interesting, huh? Abstract thoughts aside, we do know for a fact that the donor bike was a 1984 Kawasaki KZ440 LTD, which to my eyes looks a lot like Yamaha’s Virago from 1980. In our heads, we see it as a Japanese Mini Chopper kind of a thing, but for some reason, we ended up calling it a ‘Chopper Chaser’ as it’s physically smaller and has a lower capacity than a fully-blown Harley…” So did they just invent their own category of bike? “I guess we just came up with the idea while brainstorming how the KZ could look. So, exactly what sort of bike is it? Giles responds by saying, “It’s a little Japanese ‘Chopper Chaser.’ A Chopper Chaser? It doesn’t take a genius (or a quick Google search) to realise that up until now, there’s no category of custom bike that fits that description. Image via Machines That Dreamīut I digress. “The latest news is, we had chicken burgers for lunch.” Nice one, mate. I asked him what the latest news was from the shop, now located in Sydney’s Inner Western suburb of Marrickville, but instantly regretted it. Specialising in restoration and customs for vintage and modern classic motorcycles, the two started off building bikes in Giles’ suburban garage, which also happened to be less than a kilometre from where I’m writing this story (and living) right now. “We are a full service custom motorcycle shop based in Sydney,” says Giles, who makes up one part of the shop’s dynamic duo. A bike so cool, they had to invent a new custom category for it. ![]() But when he came back with a “what do you think we should do with it?” question, they relaxed into it knowing that they’d pretty much have carte blanche to do whatever they wanted to. Originally tasked with making a Kawasaki KZ400 into a cafe racer, when they pushed back on the bike’s owner saying that they didn’t think it’d look any good, they probably expected the job to be taken elsewhere. You’re just relying on muscle memory and letting the bike do its thing.Īnd in a similar mindset, Sydney Sabotage Motorcycles seem to have knocked it out of the park with their latest build for very similar reasons. Now, would you believe that it’s common for riders to set their best times on these laps? The logic is pretty sound, too you’ve got the track down pat but on a cool down lap you’re not consciously trying to go fast. You’ve got to keep up with the Joneses, but usually you’ll just back off a little bit from your previous ten tenths riding. Usually there’s still other bikes on track, so you can’t just crawl around the track at walking speed. Ever heard of a “cool down lap?” It’s the circuit you do of a racetrack on your bike between trying to set your best time and pulling back into the pits.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |