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J Moto's ZX900 rests proudly on the carpet of the Chicago IMS

The J Moto Gallery KZ900 claimed the K&N Performer Award at the final stop of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show (IMS) in Chicago, Illinois. In each of the seven cities that have been lucky enough to host the IMS, K&N has been a major sponsor of three of the classes of the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Bike Show.

J Moto Gallery’s custom started life as a 1978 Kawasaki KZ900. The late ’70s Kawi 900 is a fantastic donor bike for a café custom. It was fast, reliable, and a reasonably sharp handling mount for the time.

A close inspection of the artwork on the ZX makes for great reading

The J Moto KZ features a very cool custom one-off GP-style exhaust. The front forks are rebuilt to keep the front end settled and low-bend clubman-style café bars are bolted to the KZ triple-clamp. The hand-crafted seat fits the café motif perfectly. Classic styled Firestone Coker tires are fitted to the Kawasaki cast rims.

Now let’s get to that paintjob done by Joe Morris Art. It’s as unique as any custom coating you will ever see. The tank features vintage Police Gazette Magazine articles and a classic Texaco-style oil sign star. The entire paintjob is done in a way that gives off a vintage vibe that looks like the bike wears the patina of time.

The J Moto build is vintage cool in every detail

K&N congratulates Joe Morris on a build that carries the vintage café look to another level. The J Moto Gallery KZ900 does the café culture proud.

"Aftermath" is protected from the ravages of the road by a custom rebar crash cage

Joe Morris of J Moto Gallery brought two fantastic Kawasakis to the Windy City's staging of the Progressive International Motorcycle Show (IMS). The Ninja that Morris put on display in Chicago was a decidedly different kind of custom build. J Moto’s 1992 Kawasaki Ninja ZX 750 J is a departure from any other custom bike in this year’s IMS series.

One of the bike’s builders, Mike Hoj may have put it best in an IMS video interview when he called the Kawi, “completely freaktified and remodified … the list goes on and on about the custom work we did to this.”

Notice the crossbow at the ready for quick urban defense

In keeping with that post-apocalyptic vibe of the bike, there is another intimidatingly unique element. “We have a fully functional crossbow attached to the side with a custom made holster in case it gets real squirrelly in the street for you,” Hoj says.

Of course, no urban assault bike would be complete without full knobby tires. That aggressive rubber spins on both ends of a stretched Ninja box aluminum frame. Up front there are caged dual round headlights to illuminate the chaos that the Kawi will have to carve through.

The intricacy of the artwork comes into view on a close look

One can almost see the ZX being the only thing to survive the nuclear winter alongside the cockroaches! Are those burnt orange highlights the radiation glow of the post-apocalypse?

K&N congratulates Joe Morris, Mike Hoj, air-brush artist Flex, and Josh D. Plath on a work of moto art that is a welcome departure from the often over-sanitized world of custom bike building.

Steve Dietzman's Triumph chopper sits on the IMS red carpet in Chicago

No doubt, Steve Dietzman understood the magical qualities of that thumping 650 twin when he used it as the polished centerpiece of his ultra-cool 1968 Triumph chopper. Dietsman’s custom won the Modified Retro Class in the last installment of the of the 2017 J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show.

The iconic 650 Triumph twin is the heart of the custom chopper

Like any great chopper, Dietzman’s clean and minimalist custom highlights the wheels. The Triumph sports a 21-inch front rim laced to a JR’s Cycle Products spool hub. Out back, the 18-inch rim is laced to a chromed Triumph hub. Fittingly retro bias-ply Firestone tires are spooned on those hoops.

That rear wheel is bolted to a rigid tail frame. Of course, no traditional chopper build is complete without a great sissy bar. Dietzman hand bent the piece for his Triumph and it is chromed to perfection. The sissy bar also serves as the mount for the bike’s rear fender.

The solo saddle is spring mounted and sits at just about the same level of the engine heads. You don’t get much lower than that. Dietzman went with a Lowbrow Customs P-Nut gas tank that matches the vintage motif perfectly. On top of the chromed forks sit cool mid-rise handlebars.

Clean, low lines define Dietzman's Triumph chopper (photo ChopCult)

Back to that iconic 650 twin. Dietzman’s attention to detail is evident in every polished and painted part of the engine. The kick-start twin breathes through velocity stacks and wears simple low-mount chromed, pea-shooter exhaust pipes.

K&N is proud to have sponsored the Modified Retro Class of the J&P competition at each stop of the IMS. We congratulate Steve Dietzman on his win and his great Triumph chopper build.

Julia was selected to participate in the NASCAR Next mentoring program for young drivers

In 2016, driving for Bill McAnally Racing, Landauer earned two top-three finishes, seven top-five finishes, and 13 top-10 finishes to grab fourth in the final series standings, the highest finish for a female in the 62-year history of the series. Landauer also earned the 2016 Driver Achievement award and the Top Breakthrough Driver honor. She gave high marks to McAnally “I learned a lot from Bill, it’s a great team.”

For 2017, Landauer will be driving for Bob Bruncati and the Sunrise Ford Racing Team in the K&N Pro Series West. Bruncati expressed his confidence in his new driver, “I am excited that Julia chose my team to advance her racing career. I know together we will win some races in 2017."

Four-time K&N West champion crew chief Bill Sedgwick will serve as Landauer's crew chief for 2017. Looking ahead to the season, Sedgwick said, "I think it's great, I'm looking forward to it. Based on how she raced last year I think we're going to do good. We have good cars and it'll be something different [working with Julia]. It'll be fun!"

Her 2016 performance earned Landauer an invitation to participate in the prestigious NASCAR Next program, where 11 promising young drivers receive on-track and off-track mentoring from NASCAR to assist them in moving up the ladder.

Julia is ready to buckle in for the start of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West on March 18

Landauer’s racing background is not dissimilar to many successful young drivers. What differentiates Landauer is her education. She graduated from the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, a public school in New York City that accepts only about two percent of all applicants. The curriculum at Stuyvesant is focused on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) subjects, and graduates include four Nobel laureates and others who’ve achieved a high level of success in literature, politics, and the sciences.

After high school, Landauer moved west to attend Stanford University, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Landauer continued her studies of STEM education and how to bring more young women into technical career fields, which she plans to incorporate as part of her message. Landauer also supplemented her college education with an internship at Chip Ganassi Racing. She graduated from Stanford in 2014, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Science, Technology, and Society.

Julia, age 10, karting with her family. She's the only one to pursue racing professionally

But now it’s all racing, all the time. Landauer summed up her feelings going into a new season with a new team: “I’m really excited to take all I learned in 2016 and make a run for the championship in 2017 with Bob Bruncati and the Sunrise Team,” Landauer said. “It was a privilege to race for Bill McAnally Racing last year and I’m grateful to get another opportunity to compete for a championship-winning team again in 2017.”

The 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West begins on Saturday, March 18 at Arizona's Tucson Speedway and the 14-race schedule culminates on Saturday, Nov. 4 at Kern County Speedway in Bakersfield, California. The TV broadcast schedule on NBCSN will be announced at a later date.

The K&N VF2018 cabin air filter is specifically designed to be used in 2003-2008 Mazda 6 models

The car rests on Mazda GH chassis, which is a revised form of the GG chassis that is being used on some Ford model cars and is therefore related to the Ford Fusion, Mercury Milan, Lincoln MKZ, Mazda CX-9, Ford Edge, and Lincoln MKX.

K&N now offers the VF2018 cabin air filter to assure that the passenger compartment of the 2003 through 2008 Mazda 6 remains fresh and the air remains clean for the life of the car.

The filter is washable and reusable and is electrostatic so that it can capture and hold bad smelling and unhealthy contaminants that can invade the passenger compartment of the Mazda 6. The filter captures most mold, mildew, pollen, spores, fungus, and germs.

K&N recommends that the VF2018 cabin air filter be cleaned every 12 months or 12,000 miles with a K&N Refresher Kit so that it can be used for another 12 months or 12,000 miles. In fact, if properly cleaned when it is supposed to be, the K&N air cabin filter can be reused over and over again for as long as you own your car. You will never again have to purchase a new cabin air filter.

K&N is so sure of the quality of its cabin air filters it backs them with a 10-year/Million Mile Limited Warranty. The cabin air filter is designed to fit into the factory box located under the hood, near the windshield; underneath the dashboard; or behind the glove compartment. All you need to do to replace the filter is to remove the dirty cabin air filter from the box and drop in the VF2018 K&N washable and reusable replacement cabin air filter.

The 99-6000 K&N cabin air filter refresher kit is specially formulated to clean the filter of dirt and road grime as well as the trapped mold, mildew, fungus, allergens, bacteria and other debris. The kit includes a specially formulated cabin air filter refresher, which recharges the electrostatic feature of the filter so that it can again capture contaminants until the next cleaning is necessary.

The K&N VF2018 cabin air filter is designed to fit the following Mazda vehicles:

2008 MAZDA 6 3.0L V6 Fuel Injection - All Models
2008 MAZDA 6 2.3L L4 Fuel Injection - All Models
2007 MAZDA 6 3.0L V6 Fuel Injection - All Models
2007 MAZDA 6 2.3L L4 Fuel Injection - All Models
2006 MAZDA 6 3.0L V6 Fuel Injection - All Models
2006 MAZDA 6 2.3L L4 Fuel Injection - All Models
2005 MAZDA 6 3.0L V6 Fuel Injection - All Models
2005 MAZDA 6 2.3L L4 Fuel Injection - All Models
2004 MAZDA 6 3.0L V6 Fuel Injection - All Models
2004 MAZDA 6 2.3L L4 Fuel Injection - All Models
2003 MAZDA 6 3.0L V6 Fuel Injection - All Models
2003 MAZDA 6 2.3L L4 Fuel Injection - All Models