The crew over at Blitz Motorcycles in France have released another build, this time taking the wrench to a 1977 Kawasaki Z650. There's a very defined trend of 'raw yet refined' vintage bike building that's been steadily growing over the past few years, and Blitz, along with Wrenchmonkees, seem to be leading the way. This "Blue Blitz" is yet another prime example.
The "raw" aesthetic can be seen through the early model beat up tank, chop-welded custom exhaust, and vintage bicycle head and tail lights.
The "refined" approach is usually in the details or in unseen areas of the bike, such as the motor, which got a complete rebuild. Blitz went through the engine and threw in new crankshaft bushings, metal connecting rods, piston rings, valves, generator, regulator, and ignition coils. Time and money is spent in the right places, while still giving an overall evolved-rat-rod feel.
Although don't just think you can rebuild an engine and throw some rusted parts on your bike and be on par with these folks. To bring it all together there needs to be a cohesive overall message to the bike. This is one thing Blitz and the Monkees do exceptionally well. Blitz was able to tie in a very contrasting theme for this Kawa. The basis of the bike is done in dark grays / blacks against stark bright whites. They were able to get a strong differentiation between the mass of the bike, yet still were able to get the blue's in the tank and grips to pop.
The matte white powder coating of the wheels and fork tubes were matched to the high-temp matte coating of the exhaust and custom muffler.
Mini switches, refined wiring, and smaller gauges were fitted up front on to some Triumph T140 bars.
I'm excited to see future builds from these guys, and where the vintage builder community takes and modifies this new approach.
I just noticed the lacing of the rear wheel, awesome.
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