Old Ghost: A custom Kawasaki GPz900r from ICON

The 1980s get a bad rap. Music, fashion and hairstyles are all cheap targets—and 1980s motorcycles haven’t fared much better. But if there’s a bike that deserves a second chance, it’s Kawasaki’s blindingly fast GPz900R. The narrow 16-valve engine was light years ahead of others in the technology stakes, and pumped out 115 bhp from just 908 cc. It was enough to make the GPz900R the first production bike to top 150 mph. Icon Motosport’s design director Kurt Walter, never afraid to zig when others zag, is a fan. “The GPz was my gateway drug into the subculture of sportbikes....