When I heard the name Gold Digger Kawasaki W650, I was expecting a motorcycle gaudily dressed in Midas’ favorite metal, like those ridiculous luxury toys you see selling for ostentatious prices. Turns out the guys from Ton-Up Garage has a lot more taste than me and actually came up with something fitting of the name while exercising restraint.
Based out of Portugal, the crew didn’t just get a stock W650, throw on every high-end aftermarket part they can find and wash it in gold paint like I would have done. Instead, they actually turned out something that’s got gold as the primary hue of choice without going overboard, retaining the bike’s retro charm and injecting it with a fresh style.
Ton-Up Garage describes the Gold Digger Kawasaki W650 as a “flat tracker,” which sits in the middle of an off-road and a street motorcycle. They retained the original 2004 Kawasaki W650’s stock engine, opting to just replace the airbox with a pair of pod filters and re-jet the carbs to squeeze that extra boost of power. Updates include a shortened rear subframe (for better off-road performance), a slimmer tank (to make it narrower for riding in bush tracks), an off-road handlebar, upgraded shocks, handmade exhausts, single seat with a tracker style tail section and a stronger brake system.
The bike’s aesthetics, of course, are why we’re gushing: knobby tires, glossy black wheels, racer-style plates at the rear and a three-tone paint scheme (black, gold and pearl white). Oh yeah, and since badass gold-themed racing motorcycles look better without mirrors, they threw all of those unnecessary safety thingies out.
Want it? Too bad, the Ton-Up Garage Gold Digger Kawasaki W650 is a one-off and has been snatched up quickly after they offered it for sale at the beginning of November.