A modern day Road Warrior
In typical Deus style, their custom Kawasaki Z900RS is as outlandish and it is unique. For inspiration, the Deus design team referenced what is arguably one of the most iconic gasoline culture films ever made, the Aussie cult classic, Mad Max. George Miller’s original Mad Max film is well known for the number of Kawasaki Zeds it featured making it a fitting muse for the Deus project. In the film, many of the bikes were ridden by members of the villain Toecutter’s gang. For this project, however, Deus took inspiration from a motorcycle ridden by one of the film’s protagonists, Max’s best mate and fellow member of the Main Force Patrol (a fictional police task force), Jim Goose.
In George Miller’s original film, Jim, or Goose as he is known by his fellow officers, rides a fully faired, police issue blue and silver ’77 KZ1000. In order to replicate the look of Jim’s MFP police bike, Deus kicked off the project by contacting the crew at fiberglass bodywork specialists Airtech Streamlining. Along with a comprehensive range of race replica bodywork Airtech produce a replica Goose body kit to suit the ’70s Z900 and Z1000 motorcycles. The Airtech kit included the upper and lower halves of the front fairing and a complete tail section but fitting them to the 2018 Z900RS required extensive modification.
After the Deus team “hacked” the fiberglass panels to suits the Kawasaki Z900RS geometry they hand-shaped panels of solid and perforated sheets of aluminum to bridge the gaps. Additional perforated mesh was added to the fairing to blend with the lines of the fuel tank and to extend the side skirts rearward. Additional perforated mesh panels were also used to cover the headlight, air intakes, and to close off the rear cowl, tying everything together.
With such an aggressive new look the bike had to have an improved bark. So Deus trimmed the original muffler, covered the open end in mesh and had the whole system ceramic coated matte black.
While the side panels and fuel tank of the Goose Z900RS remain standard the seat was redesigned and upholstered in tan leather. Deus added tan grips to complement the seat and painted the bodywork using a midnight metallic green. Lastly, subtle black Deus Customs decals were laid on the front fairing and KMA (Kawasaki Motorcycles Australia) decals added to the tail.
I can’t think of a better way to wrap up this story than to quote the words of the man himself, Jim Goose…
“Jimmy the Goose, larger than life and twice as ugly!”
As a follow up to our recent ride review of Kawasaki’s new retro sports bike I thought we should take a look at one of the very first custom builds to be based on the Z900RS. This post-apocalyptic custom creation was built by none other than Australias own Deus Ex Machina at their home base in Sydney, Australia. Created to accompany the unveiling of the <a href=”https://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/category/kawasaki-cafe-racer”>Kawasaki</a> Z900RS at the 2017 Australian motorbike expo the aptly named Goose was inspired by an icon of Australian automotive pop culture, Mad Max.
