This B-King is unlike any other B-King you’ve seen
The year is 2001, the place is the Tokyo Motorcycle show. There’s a Suzuki concept that is making waves with all the attendees, a brutal vision of the future that features striking looks to go with the advanced technology that this naked streetbike showcases.
The Suzuki B-King concept features a muscular supercharged engine with a rumoured 250bhp. There’s all manner of advanced gadgetry on board, including fingerprint recognition ignition, heads-up display in the supllied matching helmet and it wears a whopping 240-section rear tyre to go with the 150-section front. But it is just a concept…
Suzuki B-King concept as seen in 2001 bike shows was technically advanced 
The 2007 production B-King that arrived at dealers was a diluted version of the concept, missing the all-important supercharger
By 2007, the bike is launched and hits the showrooms for real and although at first glance it looks the business it’s missing something in the move to production. The supercharger is gone, to be replaced by a second generation Hayabusa 1340cc engine. It’s no slouch but 175bhp is significantly less than the 240 that was expected… hoped for. The exhaust have increased in size too, and now resemble two weirdly-shaped bazookas exiting under the tail unit. The funky rear suspension unit, which was visible on the concept with its white spring, is gone, in place of a more typically tucked away monoshock. The styling has been subtly altered, just enough to throw the proportions of the concept out of kilter. As a road bike, it’s well received for the most part, but Suzuki never updated it, which tells you all you need to know. It was discontinued in 2012.
Enter Vlad Voronovich and his wife Mila. Known on Instagram as @designvrsc334, Vlad is a guy who creates Superbikes that look like they’ve stepped out of a Japanese Manga cartoon. All big wheels and funky styling, they have a certain look about them that makes them look ahead of their time. His ZZR1400 creation caught my eye last year the moment I saw it. Unlike the stretched Busas we’re used to seeing from our American friends, Vlad’s bikes retain a more conventional wheelbase, though they do tend to wear huge rims at the back. And they look incredible.
Since the completion of that ZZR, he’s been working on a new project – a Suzuki B-King. As my Russian is non-existent I turned to the power of Google Translate and fired a few questions at this creative Belarus resident to get more info on his latest build.
With the goal of making a “beautiful and interesting project based on the B-King, I wanted to emphasise the solidity and power of the bike”, says Vlad. “I began remodelling motorcycles at the age of 17, I was interested to make something unusual from a stock motorcycle to that it would look different to everyone else”, he adds.
Turns out he enjoys my work as much as I enjoy his: “I often look at your bike concepts on Instagram, I really like many of the ideas for detailing and colouring the bodywork, this helps me in working on my projects”.
One of the first things he changed on the bike was the rear wheel. Made from two car wheels and a Triumph Daytona 955, it measures a whopping 13 inches wide, (typical Superbikes wheels are 6 inches wide) big enough to wear a 330-section tyre. He fabricated the single-sided swingarm himself using a Honda CB1000R unit and mating it to the existing B-King arm. The twin rocket launcher exhausts were replaced by a sleek single underseat outlet that matched the lines in the tail unit. The tail unit itself has the neatest little vent under the pillion pad to help circulate air and keep the exhaust from cooking a pillion’s butt.
The fairing sides originally started life on a Hayabusa and Vlad has trimmed them down so they look like they were always meant to be like that. He manages to do that to a lot of his modifications. The headlight normally shines the way for Ducati Multistrada 1200s, but Vlad has adapted it to fit the B-King, and not only does it fit, it looks like it was… meant to be like that. The cowl that covers the top of the headlight was formally known as a Hayabusa front mudguard but has been cut to fit the headlight like a glove.
Although the bike looks near complete, it’s not quite there yet. There are still a few little jobs to do including making an air duct above the fuel tank, some side plastic, indicators, a tail light and some graphics. I reckon it’ll be on the road by Spring, Summer at the latest. And what a sight it’ll be.
Follow Vlad on Instagram
See more videos of his builds on Youtube
Follow Kardesign on Instagram
Follow Kardesign on Facebook
