Maria custom Kawasaki W650

 

“No Time. No Territory. Just an atitude inspired in the past and dressed to impress.” – Maria Motorcycles

 

“Hurricane Jane is based on a ’02 Kawasaki W650 donor bike.It was inspired by classic cars of the 60´s , a golden era where cars were simple and beautiful. Silver and black paint, brown leather interiors and sparkling chrome. We aimed to recreate that simplicity and look of class with the Hurricane Jane.”

 

Maria replaced the cruiserbars with Ace Clubman handlebars for that vintage café racer look. The headlight was changed to a smaller one which we integrated into a front number plate (here without a number). On the rear we choose a tail lamp used on early Harley Davidsons (1915-33).”

 

“Although some fear to fall in a common place with the Firestone Deluxe tires, we tried several other options, but finally concluded that these were perfect to match this kind of bike. To reduce the bikes bulk we cut both front and rear fenders into custom sort ones. The tires are mounted on alloy rims with new spokes and painted hubs.”

“Hurricane Jane really comes alive when you fire her up. The two, parallel cylinders are amazingly powerful, and with the carbs re-retuned the bike was able to challenge British 900cc nikes. Noisy as it can get, the vintage mufflers gives us a feeling of riding a real beast.”

Judging by their write up they are getting just as much fun out of their W as I do out of mine. There’s nothing quite like the mix of modern techniques mixed with vintage engineering. Kawasaki hit the nail on the head with their W650 and workshops like Maria are happily demonstrating just how cool these bikes can look.

Maria Motorcycles

By some bizarre coincidence Maria Motorcycles last 2 custom builds are based on the 2 motorcycles I personally own. Last time we featured a Maria bike it was a Yamaha XS650 the same as the one I am currently building in my shed and this time around it’s a Kawasaki W650 just like my current ride. This, of course, means that I applaud their taste in motorcycles and have a keen interest in what they are up to. This bike is the Maria Motorcycles ‘Hurricane Jane’ and although their approach to the bike is very different from the direction I took with me bike I certainly approve of the outcome.