Phils 13.

I've never seen this bike but as soon as I heard of it I had to do a feature on it. So I mailed Phil and asked him to send some pic's which he kindly did. Its a very tidy 1985 Z1300 with a difference.

I don't want to point out the obvious and treat you guy's like fools but Phil's very tidily put a ZZR front end the monster. Imagine that power and brakes!!!

Beyond this he has got race cams by Yoshimura and close fitting 6-2-1 exhaust with a Micron end can.

I realise a lot of you believe Z1300's should remain standard but at the end of the day it's horses for courses and each to his own. I really like the finished article and the better braking and improve handling can't be a bad thing. The clocks look very nice and I bet that fairing keeps the wind of you head and saves the 90+ neck ache.

As described by himself the "Fat guy with the goaty" is Phil himself.

The paint is a very expensive pearlescent  gold. It cost £600 but looks every penny worth. The engine is very nicely polished too which always makes a bike look special.

Just a quick note of thanks to Phil for sharing his 13 with us. If you wish to see your pride and joy on this site just e-mail me some pic's or do as Phil did and send some photo's for me to scan. (I will post them back).

It didn't stop there. Phil had a nice bike but it was to get nicer still. May 2003 see's this incarnation unleashed on the unsuspecting world.

The paint is now a Renault Blue (I think it's Renault anyway) not that the old paint job needed respraying anyway.

The addition of a belly pan, complements the whole modern feel of the 13. Also notice to enhance this look the foot pegs are replaced by rear sets (Oh my God how can anyone put rear sets on a 13)

But to me the show stopper of this bike is the casing having been machined out and a glass window inserted. Okay it wasn't that straight forward. Phil drilled a hole in said casing, cut the circle out with a hack saw, filed it smooth and round and glued a piece of glass in...

Two weeks later the window blew out and covered Phil with hot oil. So back to the drawing board. Or not, Phil opted to let a professional do it. The pro finished Phil's casing and closed the shop in case anyone else wanted it doing. So should you like it done find someone else coz Phil's contact went bust. Which is a shame coz I do like it.

Okay here we go again Phils masterpiece continues, in fact I doubt the evolution of this 13 will ever end. If Kawasaki where to build a 13 again I'm sure it would look like this. Phil has insight and vision...........and very deep pockets.

Above is a picture of the near completed machine. The shocks are missing due to ohlins missing delivery dates.

Phil brought a JMC swinging arm from another club member....Hmm he actually gazumped me but hey no hard feelings. The rich southern git then had it sent off along with his wheel and had a 170 rim welded on to the wheel thus it takes a fat back tyre. Very nice, getting slightly jealous...only slightly. To add insult to injury over the swing arm he's had it polished, polished alloy being a personal favourite of mine.

I'm looking forward to seeing some later photo's with the shocks on but these few picture do give the overall picture.

2007 see's the launch of yet another guise for Phil's 13 It looks bloody great and deserves to be featured in some of the top bike magazines.

Phil's eye for detail is amazing and how he manages to blend in the old and the new.

Whilst Phil has kep the overall outline of the 80's bike he's thrown it into the present day with a mix of looks and gizmo's that Kawasaki would be proud to feature on a modern day machine.

The 13 looks ready to grace the NEC as a launch of the big 6.

The thing I like is the more you look the more you see. The more you talk to Phil about it the more you realise you actually missed when you looked.

Nice swing arm too...

No ignition a very nice touch. I can't reveal where it is. When you see the bike see if you can find it. I couldn't.