Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Youtube or subscribe to our newsletter.Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer

Nigel Fox is one of those guys with a skill set to die for. Together with his dad he worked with motorized wheels his entire life as a hobby. Usual he works with four-wheelers but he got his hands on this 1986 Kawasaki KZ440 he bought from a friend who lost his interest in the project.

He had no clear idea what to do with the bike, but he simply started stripping the bike down. An English wheel and some youthful enthusiasm quickly got this project running. It consumed all his spare time since he did everything on this bike himself. Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 2

Nigel started on the tail section, “rolling the hump on my English wheel”. This resulted in a professional looking cafe racer seat and cowl with two integrated LED lights. He placed clip ons on the stock fork and in order to keep clearance, he had to improvise and created two dents up front.

To keep the bike “sly”, he fabricated a lot of parts like the front mud guard, chain guard, rear sets and a range of brackets for the license plate speed and some smaller items. To get this oldie back in shape, he overhauled the engine from gearbox to heads, rejetted the carburetors and created a complete new wiring loom. The battery and key barrel are hidden in the tail section. To give the twin cylinder engine some sound, Nigel also fabricated the exhausts himself.

To finish it, he painted the bike in candy orange with gun metal gray on the frame and wheels.

The result is a bike which is “sly as a fox”. Great to see what a single guy with a lot of passion (and some skills) can do. I’m looking forward to a new project of Nigel!

Follow Slyfox Customs

Facebook | Instagram

Photo’s by Chris Sweetapple
Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 3 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 4 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 5 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 6 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 7 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 8 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 9 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 10 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 11 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 12

 

By Published On: March 8, 2017Categories: Cafe Racer3 Comments on Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer by Slyfox CustomsTags: 2.2 min readViews: 516

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the Author: Ron Betist

Ron Betist grew up with motorcycles with a father heading the Amsterdam motorcycle police force. He has been riding (legally) for over 40 years and motorcycles are his true passion. With a life-long career in marketing and sales he has a huge international network. He joined as a contributor at BikeBrewers in 2017 to spread his word about bikes with the rest of the world.

3 Comments

  1. Neil MacDonald March 8, 2017 at 3:17 pm - Reply

    Only one word for this bike, “gorgeous”! The kid’s got serious skills.

    • Joeri March 8, 2017 at 3:21 pm - Reply

      You’ve hit the sweet spot with that comment ;)

  2. johnnie July 16, 2018 at 2:24 pm - Reply

    I like to know the size of the rear wheel

Leave A Comment

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Tags

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Youtube or subscribe to our newsletter.Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer

Nigel Fox is one of those guys with a skill set to die for. Together with his dad he worked with motorized wheels his entire life as a hobby. Usual he works with four-wheelers but he got his hands on this 1986 Kawasaki KZ440 he bought from a friend who lost his interest in the project.

He had no clear idea what to do with the bike, but he simply started stripping the bike down. An English wheel and some youthful enthusiasm quickly got this project running. It consumed all his spare time since he did everything on this bike himself. Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 2

Nigel started on the tail section, “rolling the hump on my English wheel”. This resulted in a professional looking cafe racer seat and cowl with two integrated LED lights. He placed clip ons on the stock fork and in order to keep clearance, he had to improvise and created two dents up front.

To keep the bike “sly”, he fabricated a lot of parts like the front mud guard, chain guard, rear sets and a range of brackets for the license plate speed and some smaller items. To get this oldie back in shape, he overhauled the engine from gearbox to heads, rejetted the carburetors and created a complete new wiring loom. The battery and key barrel are hidden in the tail section. To give the twin cylinder engine some sound, Nigel also fabricated the exhausts himself.

To finish it, he painted the bike in candy orange with gun metal gray on the frame and wheels.

The result is a bike which is “sly as a fox”. Great to see what a single guy with a lot of passion (and some skills) can do. I’m looking forward to a new project of Nigel!

Follow Slyfox Customs

Facebook | Instagram

Photo’s by Chris Sweetapple
Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 3 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 4 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 5 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 6 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 7 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 8 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 9 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 10 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 11 Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer 12

 

By Published On: March 8, 2017Categories: Cafe Racer3 Comments on Kawasaki KZ440 Cafe Racer by Slyfox CustomsTags: 2.2 min readViews: 516

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the Author: Ron Betist

Ron Betist grew up with motorcycles with a father heading the Amsterdam motorcycle police force. He has been riding (legally) for over 40 years and motorcycles are his true passion. With a life-long career in marketing and sales he has a huge international network. He joined as a contributor at BikeBrewers in 2017 to spread his word about bikes with the rest of the world.

3 Comments

  1. Neil MacDonald March 8, 2017 at 3:17 pm - Reply

    Only one word for this bike, “gorgeous”! The kid’s got serious skills.

    • Joeri March 8, 2017 at 3:21 pm - Reply

      You’ve hit the sweet spot with that comment ;)

  2. johnnie July 16, 2018 at 2:24 pm - Reply

    I like to know the size of the rear wheel

Leave A Comment

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Tags