Entries in BMW (10)

Monday
May242010

BMW R80 Cafe Racer

After two blown engines Englishman Chris Simpson decided to try and squeeze a R80 RT engine into his 1979 BMW R45 frame. "The powers that be said the engine wouldn't fit, as you can see it obviously does" Chris explains. "The only engine mods were a lightweight flywheel and the air box was removed and replaced with a Bellmouths. It has custom stainless 2-1 exhausts with a stainless megaphone, fully custom sub frame with hidden battery under the seat pod, a large EARLS oil cooler from a Ford Cosworth. The controls are from a Aprilia RS 50 and an Aprilia RSVR. It has had a full race wiring loom fitted and all lights ignition removed and now starts with a master arm, start button and no key". Chris custom made the fairing and brackets from a Classic Yamaha race fairing, it has a Manx Norton front mudguard, hugger made from the R80 front mudguard, twin disk conversion, rear sets from a Kawasaki and a upside down gear box. This beautiful Beemer is just one of the projects Chris has on the go, he's also building a Mike Hailwood Honda Replica which we look forward to featuring when completed. You can view the 'before' shot of this BMW on our Flickr page.

Monday
May102010

1983 BMW R80ST


This awe-inspiring Rodney Aguiar custom BMW R80ST recently appeared at the Cycle World Motorcycle Show. Rodney is known for his work with Roland Sands and is also the builder of one of last years most spectacular bikes, the 1983 R80 Bobber. Rodney has really shown his fabrication skills on his latest BMW R80ST, custom building both frame and the "futuristic" sheet metal tank which fits snug over the almost stock 798cc airhead engine. The forks were taken from a Suzuki GSX R750 and the rear single sided swingarm is from a BMW R1100 Paralever. The exhaust is filtered through a set of FMF Suzuki RM 250 Silencers. The absence of a rear fender isn't very practical but the illusion it creates of a floating wheel is magic. If you think this bike is creative you should check out Rodney's website Propulsion Lab. Hint: If you want to find pictures of motorcycles on his website, try clicking on the face. [Found on Loudpop Voyager]

Sunday
Jan242010

BMW R75/5 Cafe Racer


Chris Hodgson, owner of San Jose BMW (SJBMW) has been building and racing BMW's for over 35 years. This stunning R75/5 Cafe Racer was built a couple of years ago when Chris discovered he "had enough spare parts to build a new airhead"- we wish we had enough spare parts lying around to build a bike of this calibre. That's not to say that this bike was built overnight. It was a year in the making with Chris ensuring the bike was built to be period correct, either using vintage parts or having them custom made. The beautiful tank was pounded by Evan Wilcox to Chris's pattern which was styled on the early British cafe racer tanks. Some other specs included Mikuni round slide carbs, Akront high shoulder wheels, drum brakes, old Ducati seat and exhaust pipe made by Swarbuck Racing. After the project was completed Chris said "we just had to race it - so off to Bonneville we went". Not only did they race it, they got a new 750cc record - hitting a top speed of over 130 mph. Pretty impressive for a 750cc at 4600ft of elevation on a 100 degree day. For more shots of this awesome airhead now known as the 'Bonneville Speeder' check out SJBMW Racing or this link to see Chris with his pride and joy on the salt flats.

Monday
Dec072009

Monkee #9 BMW R65/7

The BMW R65 is personally one of my favourite BMW motorcycles. It was BMW's answer to the new generation of Japanese bikes hitting the market in the late 70's. Built shorter and smaller to compete with these Japanese light and middleweight street bikes flooding the markets. Now 30 years later it's great to see the Wrench Monkees (WM) work their magic on this German icon. Firstly by placing a R80 engine in the R65 frame, adding Gazi Gas rear shocks and many custom WM features like their megatron muffler, and a no-nonsense monkee seat. The old-school Firestone Deluxe Champion tires are the final icing on the cake. Not sure whether the debadging of the BMW logo is an anti-establishment statement or just WM claiming complete ownership of their creation. Whatever the case, it just works. For more pics of this uber cool bike visit the Monkee #09 gallery.

Wednesday
Oct212009

1939 DKW Racer

These pics were taken at the Audi Museum in Munich. It's a stunning 1939 US 250 DKW. The German company DKW where once the largest manufacturers of motorcycles in the world. By 1928 they were building some 65,000 engine units annually, and DKW engines could be found powering some 60 German marques of the interwar period. They soon joined Audi, Wanderer and Horch to form Auto Union in the 1930s, merging again in the 1950s with Victoria and Express to form Zweirad-Union, which in turn was absorbed by Sachs in 1965. DKW motorcycles usually used two-stroke engines and were technically ahead of their time (like most German motoring companies). To view more amazing bikes from the BMW museum check out Stefan's flickr page.

Wednesday
Aug192009

Rebirth of Cool

We have seen this beautiful BMW concept brought back to life on lots of sites recently. It's the 1934 BMW R7 prototype designed by engineer Alfred Böning. After living in a box all these years it has recently been restored to its former glory by a team of BMW restorers. Unfortunately they never went into production of this bike. God only knows why? (even he may be confused). The story goes that this art deco masterpiece would have been too heavy and too expensive to manufacture. To say this bike would have been a classic is an understatement. We still can't believe it was created over 70 years ago... that's timeless design. For more pics visit Retro Things.

Thursday
Aug062009

R100 BMW Rocker

Last September Gateway BMW bought a sorry looking 1988 R100RT and Ryan Manley (pictured) was given the job to transform the R100 into a beautiful cafe racer. The silver tank and seat with black frame, wheels and final drive is a great look. We also dig the new exhaust pipes on it. They are EMGO universal Shorty pipes, which apparently can be heard over a Harley. The seat is not finished in this pic but you can see it on the Gateway BMW site, plus all the details on the build. The bike has been sold to some lucky bastard and I'm sure he hasn't stopped grinning.

Wednesday
Jul222009

Moto Guzzi Le Mans

Japanese Ritmo-sereno are famous for their BMW cafe racers. However their website is full of other european bikes like this beautiful Moto Guzzi Le Mans. The Le Mans was Moto Guzzi's top sports bike in the 80's. The big bore lOOOcc version was a welcome addition in 1985 but is essentially similar to the 850 Le Mans they had been producing. We wanted to give you the before and after shots of this bike to show the work thats gone into the build. Ritmo have taken this dated Guzzi and turned it into a cafe masterpiece. With its beautiful cafe race seat, purple racer fairing and 2-in-1 stainless steel exhaust. We simply love it.

Saturday
Jun202009

BMW 1952 R25/2

Richard from Sweden's Richard Garage is an amazing BMW motorcycle restorer. We all love before and after shots, and this is one of the best I've seen. The 1952 BMW R25/2 motorcycle, was found in a garden where it had stood for 42 years, only covered with a oil cloth. That's Richard standing with the bike when he found it. The stunning white BMW motorcycle is what he turned it into after lots of hard work. Respect.