W/NW : Motorcycles

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A friend is turning a Yamaha WR 450 into a cafe racer. Stage One.

Photographed at night in his living room. Studio lighting: One 40 watt bulb. Canon S95, ISO 400, 1/14 second.
 

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Trying to get out and use the 28mm Elmer a bit more and fund these sightly more modern cafe style motorcycles.

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Kawasaki W650. Is it just me, or is this one of the most beautiful bikes made? Oly OM-D, 45/1.8, 18th St WDC.

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Cheers,
Kirk
 
I bought a W650 when they first came out. It was a real conversation piece, people thought it was a) a Triumph Bonneville from the sixties, or b)a BSA from the sixties. Then they would compliment me on the beautiful restoration. A resident in town also had one and she took the badges off the tank and it became a mystery motorcycle. Then she took it to a master tank painter and had him use the Triumph lettering style and he painted Triumphant on each side of the tank. Again, virtually no one noticed. Kawasaki even got the vintage exhaust note right.
 
It's a mix of BSA, Triumph and a Diana (twin!?), with a KZ650 kickstart lever.

I wonder if they copied the loosening footpeg and muffler mounts (yes, I used new lockwashers and a BFW).

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KEH said:
Kawasaki W650. Is it just me, or is this one of the most beautiful bikes made? Oly OM-D, 45/1.8, 18th St WDC.

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Cheers,
Kirk
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I have to agree with you on this with the qualification that it is one of the most beautiful "classic style" bikes made.
Then there is the Ducati 900 Super-Sport for those partial to clip-on bars & rear-set pegs. :D

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mynikonf2 said:
I have to agree with you on this with the qualification that it is one of the most beautiful "classic style" bikes made.
Then there is the Ducati 900 Super-Sport for those partial to clip-on bars & rear-set pegs. :D
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Nice, but I always preferred the blue and silver 78s with Borrani wires, personally. Black and gold are colours suited to much slower machines (like HD), for instance.
Regards
Brett
 
Sarcophilus Harrisii said:
Nice, but I always preferred the blue and silver 78s with Borrani wires, personally. Black and gold are colours suited to much slower machines (like HD), for instance.
Regards
Brett
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This is true but I did not have a photo of the 78 machine. :eek: Wheels with spokes are a must on vintage & retro machines, for example the "06" Paul Smart 1000EL but those huge black silencers on the 1000EL were just awful! :bang: ...and for the more modern sport bike I find the 998 & 996 are 2 of my favs. We did not mention the 1974 750 Super Sport where I believe the SS Ducs began.
 
mynikonf2 said:
This is true but I did not have a photo of the 78 machine. :eek: Wheels with spokes are a must on vintage & retro machines, for example the "06" Paul Smart 1000EL but those huge black silencers on the 1000EL were just awful! :bang: ...and for the more modern sport bike I find the 998 & 996 are 2 of my favs. We did not mention the 1974 750 Super Sport where I believe the SS Ducs began.
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That is a 78, isn't it? Or maybe a 79. We surely got black and gold 78s in Australia as well as the much prettier blue and silvers. At that point in time, because of various emission and noise laws in many countries, I'm fairly sure Australia was--perhaps surprisingly--Ducati's largest export market.

The first SSs trickled out in a very small batch during 1973. They featured leading axle forks and a few other details not common to the main production run of "Green Frames" in 1974 (such as some of their brake components for instance). There is at least one such example in Australia, possibly two.

At the risk of being labelled a philistine, I always thought the first 750SS green paint scheme was dowdy and that they were overrated, and overpriced. For a lot less money, a 750 Sport with a set of Desmo heads is much better looking, and just as fast, to boot, sans trick conrods... but market values suggest mine is the minority view.
Cheers,
Brett
 
Originally posted by bigeye

I've ridden one. It's quite special. Most memorable bike of the '90s.
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Thanks bigeye. I've put a lot of work into this one (944 big bore kit, race carbs, OZ wheels, complete exhaust, flywheel.......the list goes on and on).
 
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