If I Think Of A Kawasaki W650,

this below is the motorcycle I think of,

 the W650 was first produced in 1999 as almost a slow less racy alternative to the Triumph Bonneville,

 so not an ideal choice to make into a ⅛ mile sprint machine, for the Sultans Of Sprint meetings, 

 but Tom Thörig from Schlachtwerk decided to give it a try, no mean feat when you consider the W650 is as it's name implies just 650cc, the class this machine is in is up to 1,600 cc! ‘A 1100cc Ducati 2 valve engine is going to be a lot stronger,’ Tom says, ‘And with a lot more potential for tuning, 130HP without nitrous and 200HP with it is not an issue with that’ but Tom has a plan, ‘Power isn’t everything, there’s also weight, the W650 and W800 engine is a classic beauty, so modifying one wasn’t a hard decision for me, I just wanted to build the fastest W650’,

 and I am pretty sure he did, this bike is very, very light, the frame, which is essentially based around the centre tube, is ultra lightweight, stiff and requires no external fuel tank, it holds 3.3 litre of fuel and weighs in at just 7.3 kilograms,

 the engine itself is a mashup of W650 and W800 components, it has forged racing pistons taking it to 855cc’s, a new cam, ported head, bigger valves and Carillo rods, all extraneous parts were removed, including the balancer shaft, which means the engine is 9.5kg lighter than the standard unit, despite using the factory electric start, it’s a lower compression than usual, because of the wet nitrous system which comes via Nitrous Express, married to their Maximizer 5 control unit, the whole thing breathes in through 36mm Dellorto roundslides,

 and barks out through a 2-2 titanium exhaust, and while we’re talking about weight, it’s worth noting the complete exhaust system, including the connection pipe, runs at 1750 grams,

old dog, new tricks! you can follow Tom and the motorcycle on Facebook or Instagram, photography by Marc Holstein.