"For the Fish, I guess what I want is to take the best elements from the traditional keel fin fish that has been around for ever and bastardised by every shaper in the world and put our own take on it, improve it 's usability in not so great daily waves, make it a little more friendly for pushing harder in turns, better off and in the lip than the traditional keel fin fish, while not taking away from the speed, trim and down the line characteristic of the fish that make them so special. A more modern shortboard rail blended to a reasonably flat deck, low but just enough rocker, a single concave to slight vee double out the back from the fins, a slight hip or bump in the rail at the trailing edge of the fins to bring in the width of the swallow and allow it to release more for tighter top turns etc. Nothing to drastic just the right mix of subtle curves."
Heralding from a thirty-year lineage, this 1998 CB400SF was rescued in Java and reborn with a single purpose: to become a proper weekly rider. Lifted in stance and sharpened in spirit, the Viridis Viator, the Green Traveller, lives for clean lines, quiet power, and the long way inland.
The ambition for this Kawasaki W800 was simple: dial down the stock noise, while creating something that was subtly custom, runs clean, while building something that wouldn’t look wildly out of place doing the sacred scoot down to Bondi for an overpriced long black.
This year’s playground was Pantai Kelecung, raw, remote, and still clinging to the Bali of old. Coconut palms, undulating black sand beach, riverbanks, and open fields formed our trackside theatre. This wasn't a doddle, this was a test of dirt and devotion.