many bothans died for this information

4/30/01

"A ratfighter, yeah, that's it, a ratfighter!"

He barked out triumphantly as we gathered snappies of his latest two wheeled beasty.

A ratfighter, we gather, is a streetfighter with a overcoat of flat black, exposed worky bits, wires hangin all over and extras like a furry seat cover. Maybe a few dents in da tank, a rust spot here and there, a needed piece might even fall off at extreme speeds, and the thing just keeps on rollin. It's much more than a ratbike, in the sense that it's bolted tight and tuned to perfection. There isn't any nonsense glued on the tank or big buckhorns or that sort of silliness It's also kinda clean, but it never will look shiny.

Anyone who knows The Great Reverend Floundershorts of The Dark Underworld (or 'Todd" as his friends call him), knows that he's never been one for shiny stockers. And with the exception of a real stretchy Truimph chopper hardtail he built up a few years ago, he's always been know to run with function and leave polishy bits to the bastards.

This particular scoot, a 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550, falls into the category of 'Prime Rice'. One of those standard editions that are versatile enough that you can do just about anything to em. Any kind of bars, from clipons to apehangers, lotsa wheel options, pipe styles, the list goes on. With one of these you can make just about any kind of bike ya want, and that's what Todd did.

So after picking up the GPZy Todd started grabbing bits from here and there to stack it up. Some mini halogen headlights, straight bars, high performance plug wires, a racer tailcone and a case of flat black rattle and a bunch of stickers. He hacked the subframe, pitched the turn signals, coated the pipes, rewired the spine, flushed the carbs, tweaked the valves and of course added his own touch on all the extras. It was one of his quicker projects, not needing the usual gearbox and piston replacements.

As he fires it it up you know it isn't just a stocker given the ugly treatment. The four into two pipes burst forth with a deafening yowl that can only come from Japanese created hoodlums like the Zero jet fighter and the band Guitar Wolf. Todd showed me how easy it was to light up the rear tire until one of the managers of the cafe (who's lot we were currently occupying) came out in a huff. Unfortunately the shortlived festivities were too brief to get any good smoky picts, maybe next time.

Todd is wrenching away at a couple of new projects now. A Triumph Daytona and a CBR600F3, he's also resurrecting his old KZ650 back together. Those are sure to be up here on the gallery as soon as he's got em tweaked just right. Stay tuned....

Year: 1982

Make: Kawasaki

Model: GPZ 550

Uppity performance bits: Drilled stock pipes, K&N lungs, high performance plug wires, other random bits.

Bits Yanked: stock air box removed, turn signals trashed, license plate mount stuffed, broken right mirror chucked, stock seat burned, part o' the subframe hacksawed, the shiny plinky chunks blacked and some little plastic bits that fell off somewhere.

Straight up funky cosmetic stuffe': Flat drag bars, squinty halogen brights, fastback tailcone, a neat leather toolbag, ,lotsa flat black, stickers and dents.

	"A ratfighter, yeah, that's it, a ratfighter!" He barked out triumphantly as we gathered snappies of his latest two wheeled beasty. A ratfighter, we gather, is a streetfighter with a overcoat of flat black, exposed worky bits, wires hangin all over and extras like a furry seat cover. Maybe a few dents in da tank, a rust spot here and there, a needed piece might even fall off at extreme speeds, and the thing just keeps on rollin. It's much more than a ratbike, in the sense that it's bolted tight and tuned to perfection. There isn't any nonsense glued on the tank or big buckhorns or that sort of silliness It's also kinda clean, but it never will look shiny.
Anyone who knows The Great Reverend Floundershorts of The Dark Underworld (or 'Todd" as his friends call him), knows that he's never been one for shiny stockers. And with the exception of a real stretchy Truimph chopper hardtail he built up a few years ago, he's always been know to run with function and leave polishy bits to the bastards.
	This particular scoot, a 1982 Kawasaki GPZ550, falls into the category of 'Prime Rice'. One of those standard editions that are versatile enough that you can do just about anything to em. Any kind of bars, from clipons to apehangers, lotsa wheel options, pipe styles, the list goes on. With one of these you can make just about any kind of bike ya want, and that's what Todd did.
So after picking up the GPZy Todd started grabbing bits from here and there to stack it up. Some mini halogen headlights, straight bars, high performance plug wires, a racer tailcone and a case of flat black rattle and a bunch of stickers. He hacked the subframe, pitched the turn signals, coated the pipes, rewired the spine, flushed the carbs, tweaked the valves and of course added his own touch on all the extras. It was one of his quicker projects, not needing the usual gearbox and piston replacements.
	As he fires it it up you know it isn't just a stocker given the ugly treatment. The four into two pipes burst forth with a deafening yowl that can only come from Japanese created hoodlums like the Zero jet fighter and the band Guitar Wolf. Todd showed me how easy it was to light up the rear tire until one of the managers of the cafe (who's lot we were currently occupying) came out in a huff. Unfortunately the shortlived festivities were too brief to get any good smoky picts, maybe next time.
Todd is wrenching away at a couple of new projects now. A Triumph Daytona and a CBR600F3, he's also resurrecting his old KZ650 back together. Those are sure to be up here on the gallery as soon as he's got em tweaked just right. Stay tuned....