Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/601524
A few years back K&N employee Todd White and his good friend Matt Dawson spent six months transforming a stock 1999 Harley-Davidson XL1200C Sportster into a one of a kind bobber. We featured it in our July/August 2015 issue. The build was described as a melding of Matt's vision and skills, with Todd's hard work and money. The duo was influenced by post World War II era motorcycles, and attempted to create a nostalgic looking motorcycle out of a modern machine. Bobbers trace their roots to the late 1940s and can be considered some of the earliest custom motorcycles. A bobber usually retains stock frame geometry, unlike a chopper, and takes a stripped down, minimalist approach to styling. The 1999 Sportster bobber was Todd's first custom bike build, and he did such an excellent job that the bike earned him and Matt a first place trophy at the Grand National Roadster Show in the bobber class. Still fresh off that build, and full of excitement about all they had achieved, Todd already had plans to build a custom vintage Triumph motorcycle and a classic Ford pickup truck. As it often happens, life threw a curve ball in the duo's direction. Matt suffered some dramatic health challenges and Todd took a timeout to start a family with his wife. In recent years, vintage Triumph twins, known for their parallel twin cylinder engines, have become increasingly popular thus becoming hard to find and expensive when they do pop-up. This has led many custom bike builders to pursue other options such as the Yamaha XS650 twin, or in Todd's case a 1981 Kawasaki KZ440 LTD-A. The Kawasaki KZ400, and later KZ440, falls under the classic "Universal Japanese Motorcycle" or UJM classification common in the early days of Japanese motorcycles. The UJM wasn't designed to excel in any particular category, especially good looks, but simply intended to be a good all-around motorcycle. Keeping this in mind only helps to appreciate all the hard work and effort Todd put into his custom Kawasaki KZ440. It took Todd over a year and a half to build this beauty during his lunch breaks, thus the name: LUNCH BOX. Todd White's custom 1981 Kawasaki KZ440 LTD-A 32 GraceRiderMag.com November/December 2015 Words by: Jeremy Templeman and Peter Kaye Photos by: David Gallegos