That’s not so for metric builders other than maybe Triumph twins which have a big following and a big aftermarket following too. Usually the only things we see other than Triumphs are old CB750 or XS650 builds, anything else is pretty unusual and open to even more criticism than usual as admirers of custom motorcycles are wont to do. Building around anything other than our beloved Harleys requires a lot more work to bring up to a high standard of style, finish and acceptance than most metric builders are willing or possibly financially capable (nothing wrong with that, it happens to all of us sometime) of achieving. But that’s not always the case.

 

   Some bikes just have it and this Kawasaki something-or-other powered hardtail has it in spades. Whoever built this bike has the “eye” when it comes to customs no matter what it’s powered by. This is one tidy hot rod of a bike that makes me want to hop on, stab it in gear and twist the throttle to the stop and see ‘wottle she do?’ One thing that pops out that makes me feel that way is the quality way she was built including some high tech parts that don’t look out of place.

 

  I’ve got to assume this is probably a 1000cc engine from one of the many versions of Kawasaki’s DHOC four that’s been in a staple of the ship building company’s motorcycle division. Just by the clean appearance that could easily pass for new, it looks like a nice running engine with more than enough power for any occasion. Perfect for cruising around or risking flashing blue lights in the handlebar-mounted underslung mirror. It’s doubtful that other than refurbishing as needed, it’s stock other than individual K&N filter pods and the slash cut dual exhausts. The old adage “Leave well enough alone” probably applies here for reliability and financial reasons and that’s perfectly okay by me anyway.

  The hardtail frame looks to be a modified stocker and mostly modified towards the aft section. A bit of stretch gets rid of the mini-bike chopper look and provides plenty of room for the wide laced rear wheel sporting Dunlop Elite rubber. The drop seat aspect of this hardtail gives it the proper feel of riding in not on the bike and certainly ups the custom quotient by quite a bit. The rear end merges seamlessly to the mid section and it wouldn’t surprise me if some top tube renovation occurred to get such a smooth curved flow.

 

  An interesting frame-inspired tidbit, the Hurst-handled Power Drive contraption is mounted on the left chain stay outboard of the chain line from the engine’s sprocket. This little doo-hickey is just a two-sprocket shaft to carry the power outward to the wide wheels chain line. At first I wondered if this was some hi-lo range because of the ‘shifter handle’, but I think it’s there for a bit of humor. The mystery builder just needed a way to transfer a narrow engine chain line to the wider final drive. Hey, if you’ve got any better ideas, please let me know. It is a neat take on overcoming an obstacle no matter how you look at it.

 

   Up front, a set of extremely modern inverted forks surprisingly don’t look the least bit out of place on this somewhat retro-styled bike. Maybe it’s just the shiny finish blends in instead of the usual sport bike finishes they originally came in.  Keeping a fairly steep steering angle allows these beefy forks to go about their business with no hassle and makes riding at low and high speeds a breeze. Where there were two, there is now only one four-piston disc brake up front with one of the most drilled out discs you’ll ever see. Same goes for the rear where the wide rear tire should be able to handle a lot of pedal before screeching for mercy. Being able to pull in the reins at will on the high revving Kawasaki mill had to be a necessity instead of some Flintstone’s stopping routine.

 

   The profile of this bike is very, very nice even with the inline four. A tire-hugging, yet simple round fender covers the rear wheel in a very stylish, yet practical manner. And, how can you go wrong with a nicely mounted Sportster-style tank? You’ve seen a bazillion of them, but they still look good as any true classic should. Our mystery builder did his own bung-to-bung fuel gauge with a long curve connecting the two instead of the usual straight line. Just a nice bit of the builder showing through here.

 

Thumbs up for a decent looking retro all-chrome bullet headlight that also has a lens big enough to light up the night. Yes, this bike gets ridden on the street even though there are probably shows where this would fit right in and do just fine. I sincerely doubt that was the owner’s/builder’s original intention, though. A nice fat sprung saddle sits low to the mini-apes which gives then extra altitude as well as attitude. The hard mechanical aesthetics are complimented by the eye-pleasing metal flake paintjob featuring simple red panels on the gold tank and sort of a reverse-pattern, wide red stripe in the middle of the gold fender with only the touch of black pinstriping outlining the colors. The urge to add any unnecessary graphics to such a clean paintjob must have not been easy to do. The old “more is more” unfortunately too often applies to paint jobs. Someone knew when.

 

    This is just another example of building a custom on a budget, but not without good taste. This bike’s got the “it” factor from stem to stern and that’s all due to its mystery builder. Personally, I’d love to cut something up and go at it, but I’d prefer not to exactly do that to my Harley as that’s perfect pretty much as it is. I’m going to start checking my local craigslist and see if maybe there’s something there that catches my eye and I wouldn’t be bothered screwing it up. Hey, you gotta start somewhere.