La Busca Motorcycles, they must be some guys doing super cool stuff with bikes somewhere on the Iberian Peninsula right? Not quite, La Busca is a one man operation based in the green and pleasant land of Yorkshire, England. We first encountered Jez when he submitted pictures of a rare and lovingly customised Honda VRX400 to the ‘Shed, that was followed by a second VRX before Guzzi and Bonneville builds departed his stable. For his latest creation Jez has once again delved deep into the rare donor pool to give us this Suzuki Savage based bobber entitled, The Kraken.
In Español La Busca means “The Search” – Jez takes up the tale of his discovery of the Savage.
“On a cold and snowy December morning I was considering a Suzuki Savage Ls650, my head was saying ‘walk away, it looks like it’s been at the bottom of the sea, it’s too much work’ but my gut was saying ‘the motor’s real nice though’ . With a quick ‘what the hell’ The Kraken project was born.”
The plan was to do a simple classic looking bobber, neat and slick. Jez was in for the long haul with the Kraken, as other builds were worked on he kept this aside for a change of scenery. The standout feature of the LS650 donor is the beautiful motor which was destined to headline the show.
“The engine on these bikes is a standout feature in both performance and looks and sits perfectly in the Savages frame. After an overhaul and valve setting it was put aside for painting. The carburettor was serviced and re-jetted to match the Pipercross filter and Tulip exhaust, opening up the super punchy engine these 650 singles possess.”
With the engine internals sorted the covers were stripped and powder coated satin black while the main body of the engine was re finished in aluminium. After receiving numerous alterations and tweaks from Jez the frame and swing arm were also dispatched to the powder coater along with a host of other parts for some fresh lustrous black adhesive dust.
“Next up it was into the loom and the electrics. The handlebar switches were disassembled and resident spiders evicted. I wanted a more stripped out look than I usually go for so all the major electrical components were re housed within the rear of the frame and a simple clamp style battery box fabricated to house a smaller lithium battery.”
Jez adapted a raw steel mudguard to get the classic hugger look and went for simple bicycle style fixings for the stays. The rear light and plate were positioned centrally to keep the bikes profile slim and new black progressive rear shocks were fitted to blend cleanly with the frame. A Harley-Davidson headlight with the tri-spoke lens adds a splash of chrome to marry with the bars and rims.
“Right from the start I knew what colour I wanted, unfortunately it’s a colour that only time produces. To be more specific the colour a Gibson Les Paul custom from the 70’s looks like now! After a lot of searching I went for a Volvo white from around the same era and for me, it hits the spot.”
“Road testing certainly had its highs and lows…. the drop in weight combined with the engine work meant the bike pulled like a train but pushing hard into corners revealed the bike’s rather wayward front end. I hadn’t come this far to leave it at that so some full length, heavy duty progressive springs were fitted to stabilize cornering and give more feel to the front end.”
Under Jez’s care The Kraken has arisen from the murky depths to reveal itself as quite the beautiful beast, but with that thumping motor at its core maintains the punch to live up to its monstrous name. The Kraken now temporarily dwells within the Bike Shed Custom Classifieds so if you like what you see get in quick.
via The Bike Shed
