This is my 95 BMW K75, it’s my first proper bike, I bought it in 2018 as a standard high mile bike. I bought It for £800 and after selling the fairing and luggage boxes it owes me £650. After passing my test a few months later and getting to grips with riding over the summer I started to work in it over the winter to make it into the style of bike I wanted.
I have always Like the look of modern cafe racer style bikes, like the Triumph speed Triple and the BMW R9T, so I built my ideas sound these bikes.
First I removed the fairing, it’s boxy, square and looks angular and sharp, not in a good way. Although the whole time I was taking it off and then getting ready to sell I could help but thinking in 10 years time I’m sure I’ll be looking to buy a fairing as I’d come to realise their design was actually beautiful……but I needed money for bike parts.
After tripping everything of the bike that I didn’t like I then set about build just enough of it to be “legal” this involved lots of cheap eBay parts, that eventually broke and I then replaced with proper parts like I should have in the first place. For the seat section I spent an unhealthy amount of time on instagram, forums and Pinterest to find a style of rear end and seat that I liked…….I failed.
So I bought a pre shaped rear loop with a kick up and spent 5 unforgettable/undoable minutes with an angle grinder! After then spending a lot longer trying to weld and even more time grinding the “welds” O had to come up with a seat that I could only see in my head, which meant even more time with plywood and a steamer, plus clamps, weights and anything that weighed enough to bend the wood into a shape that resembled what I wanted.
After that it was a straightforward but very unhealthy for the lungs, job of shaping the foam and covering with some “Borrowed“ alcantara from my brother and the seat was done. I then moved onto the tank, I always new I wanted diver, but I could afford a paint job and I can’t spray well enough to try….. so I stripped the tank and now have a bare ally tank that gives the look I wanted.
Following this I made a new loom for the lights, a carbon dash (carbon “borrowed” from my brother again), home made tail tidy, removed the non working abs system and convincing my brother I law to make me some new 3D BMW badges for the tank on his 3D printer.
It’s now pretty much done and in total it’s cost around £1000 when I take into account selling the fairing and panniers. It’s a work in progress but I love, it’s cheap and it does what I want it too.
Works completed:
New rear frame loop
Stripped fairing
Stripped tank
New likes front and back
New tail tidy
Full service of engine and transmission
New brake lines and removal of old ABS system
New paint on lower fairing, wheels and engine
3D printed BMW badges
Clip ons
Carbon dash
Thanks
Ol