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Got the wheels back from powder coating, they are a bronze/gold, fitted used but good set of discs. Next need to fit new bearings, tyres and then the bike will be on its wheels at last..

Norton is great, better brakes and suspension than I'm used to, and much quicker steering. Only sold in the UK so it doesn't have to meet euro regs on noise and emissions.. so the fueling is spot on and it sounds good. Looking forward to seeing the brand new Nortons which will be revealing in...

The turbo gets a pair of eyes..

Progress may slow a bit this summer, as I've just bought my first new bike since 1999...

Headlight brackets are now made in steel, painted and on the bike. Haven't fitted the the sealed unit yet as there are a couple of fasteners that need to be replaced, as they are the wrong size. The gold bars are just for setting up, they won't be used in the final build.

Test fit of the R6 wheels before they go off to be coated, while gauge bracket done and now also needs to be ceracoated. Next need to make brackets for mounting the headlight.

Progress should speed up soon, as just rented a small workshop on a local farm, its very cheap, but has no power. But its mainly going to be used for storage so I have room to work back home. The owner tells me the deeds of the farm show it was built in 1777..

Made a start on the headlight. indicator and dash mount. Started by making a template.. then making it in 5mm stainless bar..

The R6 fork legs were painted black from silver, while the yokes were not such an easy task. Some welding and machining were needed to fit a Kawasaki Zed stem into the R6 yoke. The top yoke also needed work to fit risers in place of the OE clip ons. A front fender from a XJR1300 looks good, but...

And having got the fairing back from paint, here it is on the bike at last..

Having finally found a decent tank, though it does have a couple of small dents, the bikes bodywork is slowly coming to together, while a rare Giuliari seat was fitted, swapped from my other 650.

For my own bike, the goal was to make it as light as possible, while increasing power, and fitting modern suspension and brakes, all to be done on a sensible budget and completed in a year. The original Z650 as standard made around 62 bhp at the crank, and weighed a hefty 510 lbs with mag...

The turbo owner wanted to create the bike he'd always wanted back in the 90's, when he could never afford it. Therefore the forks, brakes and wheels are from a Kawasaki ZX7R of the era, but all rebuild and restored of course. The forks are shorter than they need to be, therefore thick billet...

Back to the turbo, a problem was found with the engine, a big problem. Turning over the crank by hand, didn't result in the transmission turning.. not good. With the engine removed from the frame and the sump removed, the reason became clear. The transmission input shaft is turned via a hyvo...

Before my ZRX swing arm went away for powder coating, stainless top hat spacers were machined, so that the bigger ZRX bearings would work with the 16mm swing arm pivot bolt. The latter was another homemade part, in stainless too.

Meanwhile in January my own project got off to a slow start as I spend hours on Ebay hunting down all the many parts I'd need for my own build. With a good tank being particularly difficult to source. But some damage to the alloy ZRX1100 swing arm was repaired, and some welding was done on the...

Since these two bikes are being built at the same time and both are the same model, with only a year difference in age, they should make an interesting build thread. I am behind compared to the turbo bike, as that arrived at my friends workshop with the turbo engine already built by another...

What about the second Zed of the title? Well, the old 750 engine, which hadn't been run for more than 24 years, was bought by an idiot.. me ! As it would be needed for my own project for 2024. In early January, I bought a frame for a 78 Z650, which most importantly had its logbook/V5...

A few months ago a friend, a bike mechanic, started a project for a customer, the aim of which was to restomod an old late 70's Kawasaki Z650. The end result wasn't to build a bike with the latest tech, but to build a bike as if its from the 90's. The owner has owned the bike for more than 35...

Seems a lot of photos have vanished. so here is a more recent one of the bike with its new carbon fairing, before that went off to be painted..