That could’ve come out of the Kawasaki Factory…
Words: Motomedia
Pics: Deon van der Linde
Streetfighter styled custom bike builds are generally a very difficult thing to get right. Often, they come out looking like the owner didn’t have enough funds to purchase fairings to repair their crashed superbike properly.
When Sonia Mosca dropped as an email asking if we would like to feature her husband Franks custom ZX14 we were intrigued as the last ZX14/ZZR14 we had featured was a beautifully done 2021 ZZR1400 Fat Wheel conversion by Fernando, which we featured in the February 2022 edition of Ridefast magazine. And that was a very sexy build, (you can check out that video here).
Frank Mosca is an ‘Old School Biker’ and an accomplished custom bike builder with several of his creations winning concours competitions and being featured in prestigious publications like Bike SA. Back then, they were shot by our own Glenn Foley – so when the mail arrived, he was intrigued.
“This guy builds amazing bikes – go and have a looksee!”
Upon arrival, it was all very evident.
The workshop itself is a space that any true Petrol Head really wants to hang out in, which means we didn’t have to travel far to find an appropriate backdrop for the photo shoot. And in said workshop there are many projects on the go in various stages of completion, some a little bit more ‘Top Secret’ than others, which we have been promised the first look at once they are done – and believe me You’re gonna wanna keep your eyes on Ridefast when those get published.
So, about the Streetfighter:
It started out life as a 2008 Kawasaki ZXR1400, (which was and still is Frank’s pride and joy). Sonia, his wife refers to it as his other wife or mistress with a wry smile. That bike was mildly personalised over the years. A few years ago,Frank decided that his reaction time was getting a bit too slow to be howling down the highways and byways of South Africa somewhere around the triple ton, so he needed to do something to remind himself to slow down. He got rid of the wind protection knowing that his Mighty Mouse stature, (he is probably going to moer us for that), would have a hard time remaining astride the big green beast at anything nearing illegal speeds.
Once the fairings were off Frank set to work making all the custom parts himself for the most part. First up was the custom radiator cover and belly pan and side cover, which all look like they came out of the factory. The air intakes had to be cut, modified and then capped off, which Frank also fabricated to look as though they are genuine Kawasaki designed and built parts. The coolant bottle is also a custom fabricated jobbie that Frank made.
Next up was the single seat conversion, into which he modified a 2007 ZX10 tail piece and made a custom seat. The taillight is a once off custom fabricated part. Still around the back of the bike, Frank wanted a chunkier look but didn’t want to have to affect the geometry or handling of the bike, nor did he want to modify the swingarm.“This bike can be put back to standard in a few short hours in the workshop”.
He first worked out what was the widest tyre he could fit in the swingarm, as well as the widest 17 inch tyre readily available on the market. This turned out to be a 240 section, so with a few clever mods and a bit of widening of the rear, the wheels were wrapped in Pirelli rubber and fitted back to the bike. This conversion also negated the need for an extra long chain or sprocket conversions that go along with a fat wheel conversion. The bike still attained that lekker muscular look. So, that is pretty much the rear of the bike sorted, but what about its face?
Kawasaki aficionados will recognise the headlight and cowl from a Kawasaki Z1000 circa 2006 or thereabouts. That was massaged to accept the ZZR14’s original instrument cluster. Some aftermarket grips, shorty levers and bar-end mirrors are all mounted to a BMW handlebar and attached to the bike via custom fabricated top triple clamp. A couple of crash bobbins were added and the coolant hoses were all wrapped in a braided sheath both for looks and for accidental touch heat protection. Some BMW LED flickers were procured and fitted; the rear ones also work as extra high visibility brake lights. Some modifications were done to the wiring harness by Franks mate Riaan, to convert it from a traditional key to a remotely operated key fob. The back end of the exhausts have been dumped both for styling and sound and replaced with a sexy little SC Projects unit – which is very LOUD!
The paint job is really quite special. The spirit of the original paintwork was pretty much adhered to with all the correct paint colour pantones and to a large extent that the original graphics design only added to its very OEM look. However… If you look really closely you will notice some ghosting in the black paint, with spider webs and skulls grinning back at you as they fade in and out of vision as the light changes. This paint is courtesy of Timothy Scheegman who developed his talents at Phantom Graphics
Out on the road, this ZX14 is a real head turner, and Frank really looks the part cruising around on it. It also looks like it might handle better, or rather more nimbly than the original bike it is based on. This bike is a reminder to look forward to the next ride, and to live to ride. It was built as a tribute to his mate Vernon Hureld.
She is a beauty. A big Thank You to Sonia for inviting us along to come take a look, Frank is ever so grateful, (and lucky), to have a wife that shares his passion for motorcycles and supports him in all his builds.
(Incidentally, Frank was the first person to introduce South Africa to the frozen instant Pizza – Thank You sir…. And my goose thanks you as well).
If you have a special bike that you would like us to feature please drop us a line at info@motomedia.co.za
