Written by Andrew Jones
I won’t lie. The first thing I did for this story was hit up the Google oracle and ask the god of the internet, ?What the hell is a Laverda Ghost Strike 668"? An esoteric model, even amongst its quaint Italian brethren, the bike was seemingly named after a Steven Seagal movie. And just like the movie itself, its yellow and black plastic looks have probably not aged as well as they could have. But what if a customiser embraced all that plastic and 90?s posturing and added a little love and affection into the mix. Funnily enough, that’s exactly what North Carolina?s 2topia has gone and done. Here’s the results…

The shop?s Nate Hamlin spoke to us about all this lunacy. ?Our shop is called 2Topia Cycles and is located in the historic gold district of Charlotte, North Carolina. We specialize in the maintenance and repair of vintage and late-model European bikes. We also provide performance upgrades, engine building and dyno tuning services. And every so often, we do some restoration and a few other projects to keep our skills keen.?
Sure, but what the hell kind of bike is it" ?I call it ?Paddock Style,? smiles Nate. ?It’s a combination of factory lines and hand-built modifications like you might see at your local club racing event. We build them so the customer can do just that if they wish.? Track days with a touch of B?s?zoku" Now you?re talking.

?More specifically, it’s a 1998 ?Zane? Laverda Ghost...