J Moto Gallery’s Nostalgic Kawasaki KZ900 Café Wins the K&N Prize in Chicago

24 Feb 2017

J Moto's ZX900 custom cafe racer at the Chicago International Motorcycle Show

J Moto's ZX900 rests proudly on the carpet of the Chicago IMS

What you get with any custom bike crafted by Joe Morris of J Moto Gallery is a completely original and unique theme. Morris’ custom Kawasaki KZ900 café racer is no exception. The KZ drips with nostalgia, history, and retro-cool.

The J Moto Gallery KZ900 claimed the K&N Performer Award at the final stop of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in Chicago, Illinois. In each of the seven cities that have been lucky enough to host the IMS, K&N has been a major sponsor of three of the classes of the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Bike Show.

J Moto Gallery’s custom started life as a 1978 Kawasaki KZ900. The late ’70s Kawi 900 is a fantastic donor bike for a café custom. It was fast, reliable, and a reasonably sharp handling mount for the time.

J Moto's ZX900 custom cafe racer tank at the Chicago International Motorcycle Show

A close inspection of the artwork on the ZX makes for great reading

J Moto did all the right stuff to the motor to get the beast back to top form. They added a Vesrah clutch and rebuilt the carbs. Fittingly, those carbs are dressed with individual K&N pod filters for the ultimate in performance and protection.

The J Moto KZ features a very cool custom one-off GP-style exhaust. The front forks are rebuilt to keep the front end settled and low-bend clubman-style café bars are bolted to the KZ triple-clamp. The hand-crafted seat fits the café motif perfectly. Classic styled Firestone Coker tires are fitted to the Kawasaki cast rims.

Now let’s get to that paintjob done by Joe Morris Art. It’s as unique as any custom coating you will ever see. The tank features vintage Police Gazette Magazine articles and a classic Texaco-style oil sign star. The entire paintjob is done in a way that gives off a vintage vibe that looks like the bike wears the patina of time.

The J Moto build is vintage cool in every detail

“The motor and frame were hand painted like no other to give it a pre-war vintage racer look,” says Morris. “The idea was to make it feel handmade.” That vision was realized in a very visceral way with the KZ.

K&N congratulates Joe Morris on a build that carries the vintage café look to another level. The J Moto Gallery KZ900 does the café culture proud.

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