A new project is calling so it is time to let go of my R65 Bobber.
This bike was featured in Bikeexif, the link is below:
Here is the back story:
Having always been a fan of the boxer engine and some of the amazing builds people create all around the world I was always inspired to try and create one for myself.
A project R65 finally popped up on Facebook marketplace which I thought would be perfect for a build as it had already been stripped apart and the pervious owner had already begun to attempt to build so I jumped at the chance to grab this bike.
With the bike back at Zen Motorcycles it was time to come up with a plan, which did take a while as we wanted to build something a little bit different than the usual café racers which seem to be everywhere.
Finally, I decided that the bobber style was the way to go, and I wanted it to look as simple/minimalist as possible.
Joel, the then apprentice tech at Zen Motorcycles and a passionate Harley guy took the lead and we stripped down to the bare frame, de-tabbed it and modified it to fit the Biltwell Solo 2 seat. Joel cleverly came up with the idea of using a fork tube and spring from a Royal Enfield that we had lying around the shop to create the rather unusual springer seat look which is actually very functional.
Next, we started playing around with a number of vintage tanks we had in the shop and finally settled on a Kawasaki KZ tank which is fairly small and narrow which gave the look we were after.
While the bike was on the hoist, we started playing around with the exhaust, once we invert the exhaust pipes I knew we had the look that I wanted as you don’t see many airheads with the exhaust pipes in the opposite way than intended. The first try at this was not very successful as the inside of the riders’ legs would get pretty hot even after installing a heat shields, so we enlisted the help of Edi Buffon from the famed Machine 1867 and he modified the pipes to angle in and under the seat and the result in my eyes was perfect and more importantly comfortable to ride.
A new rear fender was fabricated, and we did away with the front fender which shows off the vintage Firestone tyres have been fitted.
With everything mocked up and feeling like we pretty much had the look we were after, we stripped the bike and sent it out for powder coating .
The bike was completely re-wired and new bars, switches, mirrors, levers and grips were installed along with Acewell multi-function speedo
A 7.7 inch vintage style headlight with some CNC machined brackets along with Kellerman ATTO mini indicators were installed at front and 3 in 1’s in the rear for that minimal look.
Vintage style shocks were added along with the peanut style rocker covers and the battery was re-located under the engine.
Custom ZEN badges were inserted where the reflectors go on the front forks and custom paint in a vintage shade of light green with some unique stripping was applied by Aaron Turner which turn out amazing!
The final addition was the Filthy Leather Tool Roll!!
The bike is on Club plates which are not transferable.