Harry Manovich is no stranger to building bikes. In fact, Harry says, "I've been building them the way I want for about 30 years. In the early 70's I built my first Kawasaki 500 Triple. After that it was a Z1 with a 1325cc engine and a hand-built moly frame. I used to drag that one, the whole thing only weighed 360lbs full of fuel" he says as he points to a picture of it on the opened lid of his well stocked tool box.

Harry also used to try his hand at building cars as well but bikes are the one vehicle that he has stuck with. Many bikes have passed through his garage door over the years.

ZX on a Titanium Diet
Weight loss is important to Harry, just as it was with his first Z1. Over the course of that 15 month rebuild time, Harry was able to shave 60lbs off its original weight, down to a svelte 490 lbs full of fuel. Much of that weight loss was due to Harry's liberal use of titanium, a metal that is as strong as steel but is less than half its weight. Harry got the titanium bug early on in the project and since he is able to machine the lightweight metal himself, he makes all the bolts, brackets, thing-a-ma-jigs and what-have-you's he can think of to replace heavier components.

"There are over 400 pieces of titanium on the bike, 30 of the pieces have been hand made for its particular application like front and rear axles" Manovich says. He used to buy titanium from retail outlets until he discovered E-Bay. "E-Bay was an important part in the creation of this bike. I bought a lot of titanium, carbon fibre and miscellaneous parts from around the globe using E-Bay. Buying titanium this way saved me a lot of money".

Some of the more visible items are not just functional steel replacements but look very trick indeed thanks to his machining skills. Manovich, owner/ operator of Milton Transmissions for the past 29 years has a lathe, milling machine and a few other 'handy gadgets' at his disposal in his shop.

Other considerable weight savings were reduced with the use of carbon fibre throughout. "With the carbon fibre front and rear wheels alone I saved 18lbs from the original wheels." Harry says smiling. "That's a huge difference in rotating mass."

Manovich was also able to save a lot of weight by fabricating another 70 parts for the bike out of aluminum. The recurring trellis design is obvious on components like the upper triple tree, footpegs and exhaust bracket which were made by Manovich. He also had to design and create sockets to drive his very cool one-of-a-kind engine mount and body panel bolts.

The ZX12R also has self lubricating ceramic bearings in the wheels. "I put a stock axle in the vise with stock bearings in the wheel and spun it as hard as I could, the wheel spun for one minute. I put a wheel on the axle with the ceramic bearings, it spun for six minutes. That sure makes it easy to roll around the shop," Manovich laughs but continues. "That should be good for a couple horsepower on the drag strip". He plans to take it to the strip before the end of the season "just to see what it'll do".

This winter Manovich will be building and installing a complete new engine. "The new engine will be a 1290cc with a high performance ECM and data recorder and many other trick parts I've been collecting. I should get at least 200 horsepower from it".

Harry's plans for his next build are going to be a full-on drag bike with, I'm sure, lots of titanium. MMM

Owner: Harry Manovich
Make / Model: 2004 Kawasaki ZX12R
Builder: Owner
Time to build:
15 Months part-time

Engine
Year: 2004
Builder: Stock
Displacement: 1199cc
Ignition: Power Commander
Exhaust: Arata Full Titanium

Transmission
Year: 2004 Stock
Clutch: Billet Basket

Frame
Year: 2004 Stock
Shocks: Rear Ohlins
Modifications: Lowering Straps

Front End
Year: Stock
Triple Trees: Upper tree by Manovich
Modifications: Ohlins Steering Damper

Wheels
Builder/Manufacturer: Blackstone Tech
Tire Make and size: Dunlop 120
Builder/Manufacturer: Blackstone Tech
Tire Make and size: Dunlop 200
Wheel Bearings: Ceramic Bearings front and rear from World Wide Bearings

Painter: Connery's Custom Paint, Scarborough, ON

Essentials
Gas Cap: deBotech Carbon Fibre
Fenders: Front and Rear deBotech Carbon Fibre
Ram Air Covers: deBotech Carbon Fibre
Handlebars: Lockhart Philips Carbon Fibre
Taillight: Moto LED

Extras
Heated grips, Shift light, Dyna Quick Shifter, Power Lock Keyless Ignition, NWS undertail, Built in garage door opener. Way too many handmade Titanium and Aluminum parts to mention