Velocity Learn, January 15, 2023

Efficiency and utility are the phrases of the week. We kick off with a 1100 cc Kawasaki endurance racer, adopted by a farm-built Honda mashup, a street-legal electrical utility bike from Cake, and a Ducati Scrambler turned dreamy café racer from Motocrew.

Kawasaki Zephyr 1100 by 72 HKG Efficiency This Kawasaki café racer mission started identical to so many earlier than it, with the easy query of “what else ya acquired?” Jorge and Antonio, the builders behind the Spanish workshop 72 HKG Efficiency, had taken a small highway journey to select up a mission automobile, after they discovered this Kawasaki tucked away within the storage, coated with a blanket of unrealized potential.

The machine that began its life as a Kawasaki Zephyr 1100 was taken to a store years in the past for a full {custom} transformation—but it surely by no means reached a degree that the proprietor was glad with. So after buying the mission automobile, Jorge and Antonio loaded up each machines and took them house.

Choosing up another person’s {custom} construct is never simple, but it surely usually begins the identical approach: by stripping every little thing off. So the fellows started working undoing, unbolting, and bringing the Zephyr again to its naked bones.

HKG labored with the bike’s proprietor, going backwards and forwards earlier than deciding on traditional endurance racer fashion for the construct, which meant a full fairing. So as soon as the bike was stripped down, the fellows fabricated a {custom} body to deal with the bodywork, which might decide the width and remaining strains of the construct. All the hand-formed aluminum bodywork took over 200 hours to create, however suits the construct completely.

The fairing is fashioned across the handlebars, with concerns for cooling, the air consumption and the bike’s exhaust system. The inventory gasoline tank was modified for smoother strains, with the filler cap eliminated and changed. A {custom} leather-based seat was made by Senen Leatherworks and hooked up to the brand new endurance-style tailpiece.

The Zephyr’s 1100cc engine was fully rebuilt, and fitted with small pod air filters and a full new exhaust system, capped with a titanium Akrapovič muffler. As anticipated, the unique proprietor is lastly glad along with his {custom} constructed Kawi. [Via]

Honda Bros 400/Africa Twin by Jonny Kerins If we had a greenback for each wonderful shed-built bike that we’ve featured, effectively…we would be capable of purchase an even bigger shed. This subsequent construct comes from Jonny Kerins, a woodworking trainer from Eire with an obsession for 80s and 90s superbikes.

Though it seems manufacturing facility, it includes a body and engine mixture that Honda by no means produced themselves. The chassis comes from a Honda NT400 Bros—a 400 cc model of the Hawk, obtainable outdoors of the US. However the engine is a 742 cc twin, borrowed from a 90s-era Honda Africa twin.

For Jonny, constructing a Bros 400/Africa Twin hybrid was the results of a long-spanning love for the small Honda platform, and an ideal alternative on the native moto scrapyard. Years in the past, Kerins had owned and restored a Honda Bros 400 for himself, so he was effectively acquainted with the platform, however had all the time needed a little bit extra juice for the squeeze. So discovering a Bros chassis and an Africa Twin engine acquired his wheels turning.

With the correct quantity of finesse, he might harness the extra energy of the Twin’s greater engine within the chassis he had cherished a lot—and naturally, all within the early superbike fashion that he loves a lot. Coincidentally, he picked up the mission simply as a world pandemic shut the world down, giving him loads of time to work on it.

The Bros chassis was outfitted with a handful of high-performance elements from varied machines. Forks from a Yamaha R1, wheels off of a Honda VFR, and bodywork from varied Honda fashions have been modified to suit. A {custom} exhaust, subframe and fairing brackets have been all fabricated in-house.

Jonny even painted the bike himself, within the traditional Rothman’s Honda livery. Buttoned up, it seems like a traditional Honda racer from an alternate universe. [Via]

Cake Åik e-bike CES is without doubt one of the largest tech occasions on the planet, usually internet hosting a number of the yr’s largest bulletins. This yr we see Cake, producer of electrical bikes, announce a brand new addition to its lineup for 2023: a street-legal utility bike with in depth vary and no required registration.

The Cake Åik is basically a step-through eBike outfitted with a wide range of instruments to assist stow, tow, or carry masses. Positive, it’s not technically a motorbike—however it’s an attention-grabbing tackle utilitarian two-wheeled transport.

The Cake Åik is constructed round a cast 6061 aluminum body with a mid-mounted motor offering 100 Nm of torque by way of pedal help. An computerized and stepless Enviolo Excessive gearbox on the rear wheel guarantees easy shifts, to optimize energy output and maximize battery life.

Between one and three batteries might be put in, for a most claimed vary of 360 km [224 miles]. With no battery, the bike weighs 30 kg [66.1 lbs], with every battery weighing a further 5.2 kg [11.5 lbs].

For transferring giant masses, Cake affords a wide range of racks, saddlebags, trailers, passenger seat, and extra. Cake claims the rear rack can deal with a load of as much as 60 kg [132 lbs], whereas the entrance rack can take as much as 20 kg [44 lbs].

If you happen to just like the look of the Cake Åik (and have some stuff you want to haul round), it’s obtainable to order now on Cake’s web site at a beginning value of $6,470.

Ducati Scrambler by Motocrew Ducati’s Scrambler has confirmed itself to be each versatile and succesful as a {custom} platform. From scrambler to abandon sled to café racer, Ducati has carried out a beautiful job of highlighting what this platform can do—and the {custom} world has run with it.

The most recent Ducati Scrambler to bless our inbox comes from Chris Scholtka at Motocrew. The mission started with the seemingly primary goal of constructing a buyer’s dream bike. The one problem is that the client stands almost two meters tall—and the Scrambler is compact.

To provide the bike extra of a conventional café racer vibe, a small fairing was mounted on to the bike’s higher triple tree. The inventory gasoline tank was mounted greater as much as line up with the brand new bolt-on subframe, which additionally helped with match by lifting the seat top. The {custom} rear shock, made by Black T, is 3 cm longer than inventory, additionally contributing to the taller match and aggressive forward-leaning line of the bike.

Maybe probably the most dramatic characteristic is the custom-fabricated exhaust system, extending from the cylinder heads like lobster scales, and snaking down towards a brief Leo Vince muffler. As this bike is designed for day by day use, the Scrambler’s body was cleaned up with small Motogadget flip alerts, and a license plate mount bolted on close to the bike’s axle.

The ultimate cap on this construct is a paint job impressed by Porsche’s Cream White, additional contributing to the bike’s traditional really feel. As for the signature Motocrew chevron motif on the Scrambler’s swappable tank panels, that was carried out with a vinyl wrap, in order that the client can simply change it sooner or later if he needs to. [Motocrew | Images by Sascha Nagel]