We’ve found the recipe for moto-goodness: take one Kawasaki W650, roll it through Tom Thöring’s workshop, and then wheel it in front of Marc Holstein’s lens. We got our first taste a few weeks ago?and now we’re back for seconds.
Operating as Schlachtwerk, Tom’s turned out his fair share of W650-based builds. But this is by far the most unusual yet, with seriously radical paint inspired by tattoo iconography.

Let?s get the mechanicals out of the way first. There are eight more horses going to the back wheel now, bringing the output up to 58 hp. According to Tom, that comes from swapping the airbox for K&N filters, rejetting the carbs, and fitting a two-into-one exhaust from the Schlachtwerk catalog.
?It isn’t a race bike,? says Tom, ?but it?s a fun bike, with all the necessary features for daily use.?
As any race engineer will tell you, if you really want to make something faster, make it lighter. And this is where Tom’s W650 really shines?he’s trimmed it down to a mere 165kg, dry.
The W650 comes from the factory with both electric and kick-starters; one of Tom’s favorite tricks is to remove the former. ?To remove the electric start with all components takes an hour, and saves nearly seven kilos,? he explains.

He’s employed other trickery to shed even more kilos?like borrowing a lighter swing arm from a Kawasaki Zephyr 550. There’s a smaller battery too, with the entire electrical system trimmed ...