Wrenchmonkees 1977 Z1000

Here's a beauty on Bikeexif. Gorgeous bike. What's with the rust on the outside of the tank? Gives it a cool grungy look, but I don't know...

www.bikeexif.com/kawasaki-z1000#more-13071

i guess it gives it a bit of a rat bike look.
not bad realy. i like the overall look.

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KZ250LTD wrote: Nice looking bike! A lot of the builders seem to like the rusted look lately like classified moto, another bikeexif regular

I know those classified moto guys, they are fans of the wrenchmonkee style, I bite their sh!t too.

But WM executed a very balanced z1000 bike there i believe

I'm not into the rusted look; makes it look unfinished. Of course, the bike in the pics is not going to be ridden much, so I guess it doesn't matter if it's just going to sit in someone's garage. The reason I say it won't be ridden much is that it is built to sling dirt, oil, water, and everything else to be found on roads into the pods. Not smart. The monkeys should have used a rear fender of some sort without the gaping hole between the tire and the back of the engine. A sure case of putting form before function. Same can be said of no mirrors; that's a death sentence where I live. Ed

650ed wrote: The reason I say it won't be ridden much is that it is built to sling dirt, oil, water, and everything else to be found on roads into the pods. Not smart. The monkeys should have used a rear fender of some sort without the gaping hole between the tire and the back of the engine.

That's a really good point about the lack of rear fender.

Thanks for the link, nice bike!

I have sooooo much respect for those guys, they've been my inspiration to buy my bike & build it into something different.

Oh, & thats not rust, this is! (same guys again & they make it look cool!)
www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-...ionable-ar83896.html

Whoa :blink: I just finished a custom shortened kz tail-piece that looks almost identical to that. I had the same idea for the seat too. Crazy. Nice bike, but i agree that its kinda stupid to build a bike without a rear fender.

To each their own.

Personally, I like a few of their bikes, they're nice to look at, but the normal person will never come close to touching them (kind of like Giselle :dry: ). Living in SoCal, where there are more hipsters per capita than anywhere else on the dang planet, these cafe bikes turn me off. I'm a fan of REAL [read- BRITISH] cafe bikes, not these rat rods that guys buy to look cool and have no clue how to ride, then wear brain bucket helmets riding around with MC permits instead of a real full-face helmet and spending time getting a motorcycle license. I'd much prefer retro to the max in the form of Sanctuary and Bull Dock, the beautiful lines of the bikes aren't altered nearly as much.

mtbspeedfreak wrote: To each their own.

Personally, I like a few of their bikes, they're nice to look at, but the normal person will never come close to touching them (kind of like Giselle :dry: ). Living in SoCal, where there are more hipsters per capita than anywhere else on the dang planet, these cafe bikes turn me off. I'm a fan of REAL [read- BRITISH] cafe bikes, not these rat rods that guys buy to look cool and have no clue how to ride, then wear brain bucket helmets riding around with MC permits instead of a real full-face helmet and spending time getting a motorcycle license. I'd much prefer retro to the max in the form of Sanctuary and Bull Dock, the beautiful lines of the bikes aren't altered nearly as much.

very true, Richmond is prob #2 per capita :laugh: I wanna walk around with a cordless mustache trimmer and just shave a big stripe in their dumb staches! hahaha

hal0tw0 wrote:

mtbspeedfreak wrote: To each their own.

Personally, I like a few of their bikes, they're nice to look at, but the normal person will never come close to touching them (kind of like Giselle :dry: ). Living in SoCal, where there are more hipsters per capita than anywhere else on the dang planet, these cafe bikes turn me off. I'm a fan of REAL [read- BRITISH] cafe bikes, not these rat rods that guys buy to look cool and have no clue how to ride, then wear brain bucket helmets riding around with MC permits instead of a real full-face helmet and spending time getting a motorcycle license. I'd much prefer retro to the max in the form of Sanctuary and Bull Dock, the beautiful lines of the bikes aren't altered nearly as much.

very true, Richmond is prob #2 per capita :laugh: I wanna walk around with a cordless mustache trimmer and just shave a big stripe in their dumb staches! hahaha

With your good arm? Sorry, I had to, couldn't resist. So how you feeling these days?

Back on the subject, I used to have a certain interest in these types of bikes, but now I'm not the biggest fan of the rat look. Many of the current rat or ratty cafe bikes just strike me as a very cheap way of having something custom. I would see the value of a rat bike for urban use where you might have a high potential for vandalism or theft, but certainly not one of the Wrenchmonkees high dollar rat bikes. Meh.