It might have immaculate retro style, but you wouldn’t pick the Kawasaki W650 for its performance. With 50 horses on tap it’s a fun enough runabout?and you could squeeze out a little more out with exhaust and intake work. But it’s no wheelie machine.
No one bothered telling Tom Thöring of Schlachtwerk though. Every time he builds another W650, he finds new and creative ways to extract more goodness from the long-stroke parallel twin. We’ve seen W650s with 58 and 70 hp roll off his bench?but this time he’s pulled out literally every stop.

This 1999-model W650 (now a ?W854?) delivers a healthy 82 hp to the back wheel, and excludes excludes the extra kick from the nitrous system. Yes?this W comes with a liquid boost. Tommy built the bike for a friend in nearby Frankfurt, who regularly accompanies him to the Sultans of Sprint races. ?He loves the sprint series,? says Tommy. ?At the race he helps to push start my bike, and he gives me last minute instructions like a coach.?

Tommy’s friend?nicknamed Macaco?decided he wanted a race bike of his own for next year’s Sultans of Sprint series. So he commissioned Tommy to build him a light and sporty W650 racer that’d still be practical for sunny weekend rides.
Tommy obliged, and straight away bored out the Kawa motor to 854 cc. It’s now sporting ported heads, race camshafts and a reinforced clutch. The stock carbs are still in play, but they’ve been rejetted and mated t...