2006 Kawasaki ZX-14 - Cross Trainer

Jackson's ZX-14
Different types of sportbikes are built for different riding styles, much in the same way that different types of shoes are made for different sports. Running shoes are made for going fast over long distances but the casual style can keep you from getting in the club when out on the town. Dress shoes are made to impress but often are so outrageous in design they sacrifice fit and become barely suitable for walking around in.

Many of today's custom bikes are also built to the extreme in order to stand apart from everyday bolt-on builds. While some are made for show only with gigantic tires and tons of flashy parts that shimmer and shine (and often sacrifice performance), others are made strictly for speed with thousands of dollars spent in suspension and engine modifications purely for performance.

Custom bike shop Patrick's Performance was presented with a challenge when it got a call from former NFL and MLB athlete Vincent "Bo" Jackson, a man famous for being a star in two professional sports. During the '90s, Jackson was the first athlete to be named to the All-Star teams for both baseball and football. He also gained notoriety from a series of Nike commercials using the "Bo Knows" slogan that portrayed Jackson as a man of all sports. The commercials pushed Nike's cross-trainer shoes that were intended for athletes who played more than one sport and wanted one shoe that could do it all. In that same sense, Patrick's Performance had to build a bike that would be able to do everything well in order to match the reputation that Jackson has become known for.

Jackson chose a 2006 Kawasaki ZX-14 as the base because of its ability to be equally at home racing through the canyons or flossing at the club. The bike is one of the fastest ever produced and is a great platform for customizing with fat tires, chrome and accessories. On the performance side, not much comes close to a ZX-14, with over 175 ponies waiting to run free with a twist of the wrist.

To make the fast bike even faster, Patrick's Performance added a Brock's Megaphone exhaust system to free up some extra power and more importantly announce to the neighbors that "Bo is on the block." A Power Commander was also installed to take full advantage of the free-flowing exhaust and squeeze every last ounce of power onto the pavement.

With those few simple mods taking care of the speed factor, looks and handling could be tackled next. Fat is where it's at, and Jackson requested some bigger beef for his ride. Anything larger than a 240 can degrade handling and Jackson had no desire to own a trailer queen. To get the best of both worlds, a Trac Dynamics extended swingarm with a 240mm tire pushed out back helped fill the rear space of the bulbous Ninja while still retaining a good amount of cornering ability.

Patrick's Performance is a manufacturer and supplier of many bolt-on bling parts and outfitted the bike with its entire catalog-from flamed mirrors to colored caps. Anything left on the bike was either polished or chromed for a package that sparkles as much as a championship ring.

Having a fast bike with gobs of chrome seems pointless if it's hidden under a stock (or ugly) paint job. When it came time to spray, Jackson's only instructions were to integrate images of the Predator from the popular movie series. Painter Chad Chambers ran with the theme to bring images from the movie onto the bodywork. Jagged bright-orange flames with interlaced skulls were laid over a blue base and give the look of a ship entering the atmosphere from another galaxy. Next, a long body of gray scaled armor, similar to the one found on the mythical monster, runs from the front to the rear of the bike. Finally, various images of the alien warrior were intermingled throughout to complete the transformation from big screen to bodywork.

Jackson knows how to style it up from his days in the Big Show, and now has a bike that is equally at home in the front row of any club or restaurant. Patrick's Performance created the cross-trainer of bikes by building a motorcycle with style on top of a solid performer-much like its do-it-all owner.

2006 KAWASAKI ZX-14

Front end: RC Components "Predator" wheels, chrome grips with Helix bar ends, Galfer steel-braided brake lines
Rear end: Trac Dynamics extended swingarm, RC Components "Predator" wheels, Galfer steel-braided brake lines, PM calipers
Motor: Brock's Street Megaphone exhaust system wrapped with fiberglass insulation, Power Commander USB III
Paint: Predator theme paint by Chad Chambers www.cccustoms.biz
Polish/chrome: www.patricksperformance.com
Bodywork: JDA custom chrome belly pan, Helix windscreen/body bolts, chrome frame sliders
Accessories: Patrick's Performance candy blue reservoir caps, axle-mounted license plate bracket, adjustable kickstand, adjustable lowering links
Other: Flame mirrors
Builder: Patrick's Performance www.patricksperformance.com
Owner: Bo Jackson