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Only a couple of weeks to the Speed build now, so I thought it was a good moment to reveal the theme for the bike: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the parent company of the motorcycle manufacturer, is a huge corporation making everything from ships to construction equipment and aircraft. It is that last one here that is relevant, because they don’t just make any old aircraft. They build military aircraft. In recent years they have built jet trainers and transports, but in the dark days of World War Two they built fighter aircraft. It is one of these that is to be the inspiration for the build: The Kawasaki Ki-61 was a single engine monoplane fighter similar in appearance to the Spitfire or more specifically the German Bf109. The allies gave all Japanese aircraft a code name, and the one for the Kawasaki K-61? Tony…what could be more perfect? The bike is a Kawasaki, a distant cousin of the fighter (go with me here). I am a WW2 aircraft nut and my name is Tony. It simply had to be!
The Kawasaki-Ki61 was pitched into battle defending the Japanese mainland against the massed formations of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Pilots of the tiny fighter had even been known to ram the mighty raiders in a desperate bid to bring them down. The 244th Sentai was one of the most famous users of the type and painted their aircraft with bold markings and symbols, an ancient Japanese warrior tradition that dates back centuries .
So the bike will have WW2 fighter theme and am I sure Ben at Bareknuckle Custom Paint will do the theme proud, while Mark and String do the engineering. Can’t wait for the big day!Some background on the Ki-61 here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawasaki_Ki-61
Learn more about the event here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/570463199826725/
https://www.twistediron.co.uk/4hourspeedbuild
http://www.rawsteelchoppers.co.uk
https://www.digital-speedos.co.uk/gauges-c4
Ben the painter..now has a FB page…https://www.facebook.com/bearknuckle.customs?fref=nf
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