Recognizing the potential in a donor motorbike is an important ability for any customized builder. But it surely’s loads more durable when the bike in query has already been personalized, significantly if the present mods don’t harmonize along with your imaginative and prescient.
The person behind the HB-Customized identify, Holger Breuer, is aware of this all too nicely. When this 1978 Kawasaki Z1000 arrived at his workshop in Hussum, Germany, it had already been was a streetfighter with a hodgepodge of expensive elements. But it surely was a far cry from what Holger’s shopper wished, each aesthetically and virtually.
“It got here with a 180-wide rear tire, a Okay&J swingarm, and excessive handlebars,” he explains. “It had a brief rear with a Giuliari seat for one individual, and a really loud Marving four-into-one exhaust system. I used to be given the project to construct a basic two-seater appropriate for on a regular basis use, as a result of the shopper likes to journey along with his spouse.”
Holger began by stripping the bike all the way down to its body and refitting the OEM swingarm. Subsequent, he fine-tuned the Kawasaki’s stance by reducing the forks, retrofitting them with upgraded springs, and putting in a pair of latest YSS rear shocks. 18” laced wheels full the working gear, fitted with basic Dunlop Roadmaster tires.
For the bodywork, Holger paired a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 gas tank with the Kawasaki’s unique aspect covers. “The tank was very tough to adapt,” he says. “Since there’s a gas pump constructed into it, the complete tunnel needed to be modified.”
A two-up saddle sits atop the kinked and looped subframe, wrapped in trendy automotive-inspired upholstery. Holger fabricated stubby entrance and rear fenders, ending the latter off with a Motone taillight and a customized license plate bracket.
The thought was to maintain issues trendy and timeless, with a factory-like really feel. To that finish, Holger specced the bike with the unique Kawasaki Z1000 headlight and brackets. The ignition barrel, which holds the headlight in place on the left-hand aspect, is from a BMW boxer—as is the fashionable fold-flat key.
Additional again you’ll discover a set of Gazzini handlebars, fitted with a Domino throttle, a Magura brake grasp cylinder, and a V-Trec clutch lever. The speedo, switches, grips, and bar-end flip indicators are Motogadget elements.
Going deeper, Holger revised the Kawasaki Z1’s wiring with Axel Joost Elektronik elements. The engine advantages from a Dynatek ignition, a financial institution of Mikuni RS38 carbs, and Okay&N filters. A four-into-two exhaust from Shark provides an applicable soundtrack—and a touch of classic café racer fashion.
Completed in contrasting matte and polished metallic, the Kawasaki’s 47-year-old four-cylinder motor appears to be like model new. Much less apparent particulars embrace discreet LED rear flip indicators and braided stainless-steel brake traces.
The remainder of the bike wears largely black finishes, save for a couple of notable exceptions. The delicate gold striping and period-correct(ish) logos are pitch good, as is the chrome ring on the taillight that matches the headlight.
So far as no-nonsense basic roadsters go, we’d take H-B Customized’s Kawasaki Z1000, seven days per week.
HB-Customized | Instagram | Photos by Emayat Wahab
