Started life as a wrecked 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650 with 457 miles on it. Once the plastic was stripped off and a replacement headlight sourced from one of my other bikes, it was rideable, that is, with a pair of vicegrips in place of the missing right side footpeg.





I should make note here that this is my 3rd of the Kawasaki 650 parallel twins. I love these little engines (bikes). First was a 2007 Versys, one of the first in the state, then a 2009 ER-6N, and now a 2012 Ninja. I ride Naked's and Supermoto's for the most part, and prefer the look of that type of bike. Then when I found a 2012 with the new double tube frame and swingarn that I really love the look of, I jumped on it. A nice bonus was the super low miles and the Kawi candy green paint, my new favorite color.



I also knew that even though The forks, triple clamps, and even the handlebars were fine, I wanted to upgrade the forks and brakes, as my current Naked is a Triumph Street Triple R, which has very good suspension, and the best front brakes of any bike I've ever ridden, with very strong initial bite, and great feel. After riding the Ninja turned ER-6 for a couple hundred miles after my mods, I've decided the Street Trip is no longer needed and will go up for sale in a few months, as the ER-6 turned out so well.

I still have some cosmetic work to do, and possibly next year some engine work. Possibly cams and head work, bored throttle bodies, pistons and such. I'd like to get 80 plus hp at the wheel with corresponding gains of torque everywhere in the rev range, keeping the reliability.

I've been asked why would you want to put all that time, effort, and money into a bike that doesn't have the performance of your Street Triple. Well, I love the street trip R, this is my second one. But for the past 12-15 years I've had nothing but singles and twins in the garage (aside from the street trip's) , and I guess they just really do it for me, although the street trip, has one of the best engines in all of motorcycling, sounds great too. These little parallel twins are great as well, albeit down on hp, but not torque, to the street trip. They are quick, love to rev, and torquey, and you can ride the **** out of them, if the ER-6 can't keep up in the twisties, it's the rider, not the bike. and how much power can you actually use on the street, I have much more fun wringing a bike out. I would say the front end is now comparable to the Street Trip, as are the brakes. There is also the satisfaction of building something that is unique, and almost every time I get fuel, someone wants to know... what is that bike?

So, here is what was done to the bike. Removed the fairings, headlights, forks, triple clamps, front wheel, front fender, brakes, brake lines, bars, levers, perches, coolant reservoir, misc. brackets. With the rear of the bike on a swingarm stand, the front was hung from the garage rafters with winch cable looped around the steering head, so the entire front end could be stripped off, and it could hang for months, without worrying it would fall. It took around 3 months for me to source all the parts and get it back together. First came forks and triple clamps form a 2004 ZX6R, and if I had wanted to use clip ons, that part would have been done. I like superbike style bars, and riding position, so I needed a Z1000 top triple. First I tried a used (ebay) 2003-2004 Z1 top triple (2 pinch bolts per side). That would have worked, from what I could tell, but it was tweaked. I could get one side in, but the other side was at least a quarter inch off from being able to slide over the fork ( I knew the forks and ZX6 triples were straight as they slid right on with no binding as the forks were rotated in them). So I sent that back and got a brand new triple from my local dealer. First ordering an '04 Z1 triple, then hearing that would take much longer to get, ordered an '07-'08 Z1 (1 pinch bolt per side) top triple. Both Z1 top triples also required me to make a 5mm or so, collar to fit over the steering stem and fill the gap between the O.D. of the stem and the I.D. of the top triple, where they meet under the steering stem nut. With that sorted, and the triples and forks bolted to the front end, I sourced a 2005 ZX6R front wheel. The stock wheel could have been used, but the hub would have needed to been machined out from, if I remember correctly, 42mm to 47mm to accept the larger bearings needed for the ZX6R's front axle. And the machine work would have cost at least as much as it did for me to buy a used "straight" wheel, online. Then the stock Ninja 650 300mm rotors were put on the ZX6R wheel.



With the bike now on the ground, I got an '04 ZX6R front fender and wrapped it with 3M DiNoc carbon fiber vinyl film, as well as the headlight shrouds, and the trim piece above the taillight (none of them matched the Kawi candy green). The calipers were spaced out to accommodate the 20mm larger rotors, and custom Galfer stainless brake line were added.

On to the controls. A Renthal aluminum 7/8 bar was installed (I would have put on a fatbar, but I knew the instrument cluster would sit on top, covering it), with the bars installed, I had very little steering lock. To resolve this I cut down the vibration isolators in the top triple clamp to move the nut up higher that attaches the bars to the triple clamp, and also ground the top frame tube down a few mm to give me adequate steering lock, not as much as stock, but more than my Street Trip. So now the stud and nut that attach the bars to the triple clamp act as my steering stop, odd, but it works. Pazzo shorty levers for the ZX6R perches were next, so I could use the radial master cylinder (instead of the stock Ninja 650 unit, which I have heard will work), with a universal reservoir mounted to the brake lever perch. Then aluminum bar end mirrors. Also the coolant reservoir was relocated under the seat in a 10oz. liquor flask, for a clean right side view.

What to do for a headlight? I had been using the stock headlight from my '07 BMW G650XMOTO (Supermoto) zip-tied on, so I could ride it around before the teardown. I thought it matched the look of the bike pretty well, so I fabbed up some mounts and on it went. The stock instrument cluster was attached to the headlight bracket, angled toward the rider and set on top of the bar mount, for a functional and clean look. A pair of BMW turn signals were bolted to the triple clamp via a Suzuki DR-650 front turn signal bracket that I had laying around. Also the horn was relocated to the lower triple clamp.To go with the greatly improved front end, a Penske 8900E shock is being built for me as I write this, and should be a huge improvement over stock.

On the engine side of things, a Leo Vince full system, with a Power Commander V. While the tank was off I removed the secondary throttle butterflies, de-snorkeled the air-box and capped the P A I R valve. No tuning as yet, because it runs well, and is stronger than stock, and in the winter I might decide to do some engine work.

Was it worth all the time and money (my running total is still much less than a new Ninja 650)? I think so, it's a fun little ripper, and after riding it back to back with the Street Trip, I'm confident I wont miss it (though my son thinks I'm crazy). I'm more of a twins and singles lover.

I hope this helps someone do the same front end mod on the new Ninja or ER-6N, or inspires someone to transform a bike they already have into something different, or a wreck into something new.