The Rat Racer rebirth.

rebuilt for the 3rd time...
once you start, you just can't stop heh!

That diamond plate is gonna split a lot of people, but I dig it! True spirit of the rat. Love the tail light too.

thanks man,

Yeah, I kinda expect there to be alot of purists on here. which is cool. I know alot of guys like to rebuild these bikes to their original glory, I have always loved KZ's, but I really like the range of things that can be done with these bikes with a little bit of creativity.

And also, those plastic side pieces are pain in the A$$ to repaint and refinish! Heh!

I don't mind the diamond plate nearly as much as the hard tail. Shocks just make too much sense not to use them...

Looks great, some black header wrap would be a great addition in my opinion. If you did that and painted the lower fork legs black, that would be really nice. Then you would just be showcasing the silver engine, and everything else blacked out.
I like it though, looks like it would be fun to cruise around town, dont know if I would want to take it on the highway though!

Jornum1 wrote:

looks like it would be fun to cruise around town

Try taking a hard tail around a bumpy corner and see how much fun it is.

The header tape is definitely on the "to do" list...guitargeek...I'd be lying if I said that it was always a comfy ride that's for sure I've spent plenty of time standing on my pegs to avoid breaking my tailbone on some less than flat roads....the shocks allow too much play in the rear tire to get the low look that I wanted without having my fender rub against the tire, I guess it's fashion over functionality really.

It goes way beyond a question of comfort. Shock absorbers do more than protect you from bumps in the road, they work to keep the back tire in contact with the pavement. When you take away that ability, the back tire will bounce off the bumps and take longer to come back down. This results in a marked decrease in control.

If you're wanting to lower the rear end, try some shorter shocks and set them on the stiff side. Try it with and without shocks and you'll notice a big difference in the handling.

Cool looking bike, different strokes