BMW R80/7

Adam Kay from the U.K. was looking for a donor bike that he could customize and ride everyday – he calls it his 'midlife crisis' project. After a little bit of research he came across Victory Motorcycles in Camden London. Rex the owner specializes in BMWs and classic British iron. "Rex had a R80/7 for sale so that's what I got" said Adam. "The style of my custom came from looking at a racing Guzzi I saw on Bike EXIF. I did all the work myself under the guidance of Rex and as I only had two days a week that I could dedicate to the job, it took me 8 months to customize the R80/7". Here's how Adam describes his 'midlife crisis project':

"I wanted a single seat, a long rear mudguard and a short chopped front mudguard like a bobber. I choose not to paint the tank after I had spent ages stripping off the old paint and filler after all that effort I didn't want to cover it up again with paint! I also wanted it to have no decals, because to me a boxer is clearly a BMW, so it doesn't need any info on the tank.  

"I began with a total strip down to the frame. The frame had all parts that were not needed cut off. Battery box, plastic covers hooks, seat hinges and a few more bits. The frame, subframe, swinging arm, side stand, top yoke and wheels were powder coated in satin black. Most nuts, bolts and other chromed parts were re-plated in a dull chrome or were replaced with stainless steel parts. The brake system was replaced from an under the tank unit to a handlebar mounted reservoir system. A second brembo was added. 2 new stainless discs replaced the single steel disc and steel braided hoses are used. The engine and gearbox was painted with black heat resistant paint. New shorter and loud exhausts are used. Graphite impregnated exhaust wrap for the header pipes to give the bike a meaner look. New alloy rear mudguard cut to fit - original front mudguard cut to new size and shape painted matt black. Replaced the touring seat with a customized single scrambler seat. The tank was then stripped to the steel and hand sanded, then a clear coat of lacquer was used to seal it.

"I changed the R80/7 from what I thought could be seen as a rather dull machine to a thing of old school rebellion. I wanted a machine that could be ridden every day and one that looks as cool as any custom. I think this BMW does just that. I also wanted to challenge myself as I have never done anything like this before so this could be my "midlife crisis" project. I think I have done a great job on this motorcycle and have a commission to customize a R80/7 to look like mine. I’m also working on a new luxurious R80 custom which should be ready next year." 

Adam is now working on his next project, a 'lux' R80 custom which we look forward to sharing with you when finished. You can see more build pics and info on his site Untitled Motorcycles.

1953 BMW R51/3 Cafe Racer

Steven Whelan is an American living and working in Germany. Over the years he has amassed a motorcycle collection that Jay Leno would be envious of. Some of his bikes include a 1936 BMW R12, 1952 BMW R51/3, 1964 BMW R69S, 1950 Vincent Comet and a 1962 Triumph 6T Thunderbird that was restored as a copy of the Steve McQueen fence jumping German bike from the film "The Great Escape". 
So when he decided it was time for a new project, Steven had his mind set on building a Rocker-styled cafe racer, inspired by the 1939 Supercharged Schorsch Meier BMW Type 255 which won the 1939 Isle of Man TT. "I found a complete 1953 R51/3 and started the project by finding an aluminium specialist in Germany that had already made pre-war racer style aluminium tanks and mudguards" says Steven. The frame was then modified by welding anti-flex reinforcement and adding a pre-war  style 2-spring seat. A replica "Rennbrotchen" seat extention was  added allowing the rider to flatten out while driving. After searching many biker flea markets and through contacts, Steven was able to find several unsual and rare racing parts from the 1950's and 60's. I will let Steve tell you about all the specs and mods: "The wheel hubs are original Hoske racing full-width hubs; a Rausch headlight sporting a peaked Hella chromed rim holds both the 3" speedometer, tach and 700cc Keyser cylinders with modified heads replaced the original BMW 500's. Added to the engine were two Mikuni VM 28mm carbs with replaceable K&N filters or polished inlet tubes, & replica Hoske racing exhausts. The gearbox had the original air cleaner mount machined off to resemble the pre-war machines and was re-built using 4-speed racing gears. The front fork is a 1960's Ceriani  that was originally sold in the 60's as a replacement for the BMW /2 series Earl's Fork, but was shortened to retain the original R51s wheelbase. Handlebars and mirrors are from a R75/5, tail light is a Miller/Vincent replica and a modern fly screen was fitted. The silver mudguards with black tank & hand pinstriping was used to give a more Rocker look & feel to the bike. Lastly the classic Avon Speedmaster Tires were fitted to the aluminum rims." 

As far as vintage racers go, they don't get much cleaner than this. The attention to detail is superb and apparently, so is the handling. Steve tells us he is still breaking this beautiful Beemer in, but did "reach 70 MPH in one burst, and on curving roads the bike handles superbly." 

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.

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]

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.

Wrenchmonkees #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 Wrenchmonkees (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.

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.

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.

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.