W800 MONKEY: A Favourite Returns

Jun 25, 2026

Nothing puts a smile on a builder's dial quite like seeing a familiar face stroll back into the House of Simple Pleasures. Especially when it belongs to one of our favourite clients.

It was around eight years ago that I had the absolute pleasure of building a custom Kawasaki for him. Back then, it was a W650 dubbed the Swing Bob—a gorgeous, slightly lowered cruiser with a Yamaha SR tank, sweeping handlebars, and a beautiful baby blue and off-white paint job.

Fast forward to today, and after spending more time enjoying the Sydney lifestyle, he dropped the line we all secretly love to hear:

"I should have never sold it."

Say no more.

The Vision: Old Spirit, New Foundations

It only made sense to bring a sweet two-wheeler back into the fold, but this time we decided to base it on a modern, fuel-injected W800. We sat down together, revisited the original build, mapped out a few fresh ideas, and before long the project was underway.

The goal was to create something new while preserving the spirit of the original—a mindful blend of old and new parts, with enough custom touches to make it feel entirely its own.

Front End & Stance

Starting at the front, I replaced the stock triple clamp with a slick CNC-machined unit designed to house a set of '70s Triumph-style one-inch handlebar clamps. I then designed a custom handlebar with the same lovely sweeping bend he remembered. There's only one place for a job like that: Kansai Giant. With the help of Jonathan, we shaped the bar perfectly and cleverly stepped the ends down to 7/8-inch so the factory W800 switch blocks and perches could slide right back on.

To dial in the stance, I shaved the stock front fender for a fresh, shorter look, dropped the front suspension an inch, and fitted a full YSS internal upgrade.

Bodywork & Fuel Tank Integration

To capture the silhouette of the original build, we sourced a fuel tank from a later-model Yamaha SR400—specifically the version with the classic round chrome fuel cap.

As the W800 is fuel injected, I had to get a little creative:

Neat mounting of the external W800 fuel pump to the front left side of the tank.

Added an internal crossover line to ensure every last drop of fuel could be used.

Flowing back from there, the seat base was strategically trimmed to hug the rear of the new tank before being beautifully retrimmed in perforated-style vinyl with classic double stitching. A wider stainless-steel rear fender was added to house the registration plate, acting as a seamless extension of the guard.

Engine & Performance

The engine received a major service, a complete scrub-down, and a fresh respray to echo the vintage vibe of the original 650. To really make it pop, all the engine cases were painstakingly polished to a mirror finish.

The Intake: Upgraded with a pair of CNC alloy-plated DNA air filters, custom laser-engraved with matching logos.

The Tune: A Dynojet Power Commander 6 was added and finely tuned on the dyno at RB Racing to extract every available pony.

Chassis & Paintwork

To keep the chassis looking light and skeletal, the factory battery setup was completely hidden away beneath the swingarm. The frame, swingarm, and nearly 40 additional components were stripped and sent off for a flawless satin black powder-coated finish.

Finally, we turned our attention to the bodywork. The three main tins were coated in a vibrant sky-blue paint scheme with classic off-white detailing, while the wheels were colour-matched to tie the whole aesthetic together. No detail was overlooked.

The Final Touches: "Monkey"

Thanks to Luke, our in-house designer, we adapted the original logo to suit the new name of the bike: Monkey. The nickname had long been a favourite of the owner's family and felt like the perfect continuation of the story.

The custom artwork was meticulously painted onto the rear drum brake plate, while Kellermann Bullet 1000 lights front and rear combined indicators and taillights into one ultra-clean package.

Bringing this old favourite back to life with modern upgrades was a project I was genuinely excited about. The result is a fresh, reliable, fuel-injected machine that looks and feels every bit as special as the bike that inspired it.

Some bikes leave a mark. The best ones find their way home.

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Jun 25, 2026