When Harry bought Alan’s fiance’s Honda Civic, a relationship was formed based on the love of vintage motorcycles. Harry had recently been bitten by the vintage motorcycle bug with his Honda CL360 and wanted to experience more two-wheeled toys. Luckily / Unluckily, Alan introduced him to Revival Cycles and the potential to build anything he wanted.

After a few meetings with the team, a Kawasaki W650 was chosen to be the ideal candidate for a cafe racer-style build that could still be ridden regularly. The bevel drive engine, the affordable platform, and the classic UJM style were perfect for a cafe racer-inspired custom build.

The nearly new motorcycle was stripped down to the frame, a custom rear frame hoop was built, and all of the electronics were relocated and hidden as tightly as possible to give the modern bike a very classic stripped-down aesthetic. With the packaging out of the way, a Gilera inspired fuel tank was hand-formed out of aluminum to give the motorcycle a unique vintage look. After the fuel tank was shaped, a hand-formed solo seat was built from scratch to complement the fuel tank seat and continue the minimal aesthetic. A bespoke aluminum nacelle was created inspired by a Velocette Venom to hide the headlight, cables, and other unsightly requirements of a real motorcycle to complete the bodywork.

Since the bike was intended to be ridden often, a pair of Yamaha R6s forks were fitted with a couple of custom CNC machined triple clamps, and a Yamaha TZ 4LS front drum brake was fitted to the forks w/ bespoke brake stays and axle spacers. Out back, a pair of Progressive shocks completed the suspension updates, and a pair of Borrani-inspired Excel deep-dish aluminum rims wrapped in Avon tires finished the rolling stock.

The final step was to finish out this cafe-inspired custom with a full custom wiring harness and a compliment of modern electronics. A MotoGadget M-Unit Basic was installed to control the M-Blaze disc turn signals, LED headlight, and a pair of custom-made LED rear turn signals/tail lights by Revival Cycles. A MotoScope tiny gauge was fitted into the custom triple clamps, and a set of custom cables with splitter were hidden under the nacelle for the TZ front drum. The last step in the workshop was a full stainless steel exhaust with a custom silencer built into the tubing to give the look of a straight pipe exhaust. The wrap-around, sectioned, high-mounted exhaust completed the brief of a stripped-down, vintage-looking modern cafe custom.

The aluminum bodywork was then body worked and covered in blue and gray for another juxtaposition in modern and classic colors to compliment the hand-formed polished fenders to complete the bike’s look.