kawasaki 1000z ezekiel 21 'the sword' motorcycle is honed and ready

kawasaki 1000z the sword motorcycle: ed turner motorcycles is a custom bike workshop based in nantes, western-france. karl renoult — the man behind the brand — is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of the ‘storytelling’ nature of motorcycles. he received a project from a survivor of a recent shooting in paris, who ultimately decided that his dreams must be achieved in his lifetime. luckily, karl also has the skills to back up his active imagination.

the vision was for a powerful tail frame, that wasn’t too low, with a spring fork and pretty finishes. the base of the bike is taken from a kawasaki ‘z1000st’. the original few hundreds of horsepower on a very light chassis was enough to get some strong emotions, and allow karl to devote the majority of the time and budget on the design of the machine. 

the one area of his designs that karl will never compromise on is that they must be radical, and in his own words, he has ‘a sick brain, always a little monopolized by the drag US vintage vibe’. as proof: the grand proportions of the tires and the aluminum tank, sat just below 5 liters, leaves no room for compromise. for the sake of ‘street legal minimum’, he masks two small flashing lights and a LED brake light behind the leather saddle masterfully .

after a couple of nights of ‘holy’ readings, he chose a few lines of ‘ezekiel 21’ from the new testament to decorate the mini tank. a rather creepy passage which speaks of a sword sharpened and polished and a god who, for once, seems enraged and ready to fight. after several months of work and a last little sign of the cross the craft is ready to fire. 

a leather flask, home made handlebar, some homegrown details as the chain selector, the juxtaposed stainless steel exhaust and a renovated mill all adorn the dramatic custom, but inevitably, this is a kawasaki. after several months of work and a final round of polishing, ‘the sword’ from ed turner motorcycles is honed and ready to go.