“BMW Cafe Racer”

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Scott Halbleib's BMW K100RT - “Number 3”

Saturday, October 27, 2012

See that title up there? The one that starts with the name "Scott Halbleib"? There will two groups of people who read the line. The first, and probably by far the largest group, will be the readers who say, "who the hell is Scott Hal... Hal..." And then there will be those of you know who Scott is in the same way that you know that Dare Jennings is the guy behind Mambo and Deus Motorcycles, and that Ian Barry is the guy who owns Falcon Motorcycles. See, every bike that Scott has fashioned has been a jaw-to-the-floor, put me in a nice dress and call me Shirley world beater. In fact his first build, the Honda CB450 Bobber we featured in 2010 is one of my personal all-time favourites. Seriously. So when we heard from Doug Devine, owner and builder of the Yammie we posted last Wednesday that Scott had a new bike, we got our nice dresses on, picked our jaws up off the floor, and this is what we found...

Here's Scott. “This one came out of left field. An acquaintance left a message that he was getting rid of his bikes and wondered if I'd be interested in his BMW that had been sitting in a garage for 6 years. Sure. Then I got it home. What the hell was I going to do with this mint green mammoth? I had to get it running first, which meant stripping it down a bit to swap out the battery, new cables, clean injectors, filter and swap fluids. A little trial and error and it was running perfectly.”

“I thought about putting it back together and selling as a restore of sorts. But the challenge of trying to do something with it was keeping me awake at night. Plus the f@#cking thing was eating up all the space in my garage, so everything came off. Then I wondered if I had made a mistake. It didn't necessarily get any better looking. I spent a lot of weeks mocking things up with foam, hangers, cardboard, spare parts, etc. and this is the result - a tourer-enduro.”

“The modifications include: low rise dirt bars, 7" headlight w/ aluminum brackets and rock guard, Kenda dual sport tires, Works performance shock, stripped tank, fork gaiters, painted wheels, fenders from the XS650, tailight from Low Brow and turn signals from British customs.”

“The biggest challenge was creating a seat that fit the bulk of the bike. I spent some time carving foam until I had something I liked, then had my upholsterer, Mike Brewer stitch me up some 2 tone vinyl.”

“it's still vintage somewhat, but bulletproof
and capable of riding cross-country”

“It's a beast. And looks the part. Best thing about it, is it's still vintage somewhat, but bulletproof and capable of riding cross-country with an aftermarket windscreen. I'm still looking at some exhaust options and waiting on some expanding aluminum to form some side panels. Hopefully get some seat time in it, post on Ebay, then move on to the next one.”

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1984 BMW R65 Café Racer - “The Wasp”

Thursday, October 18, 2012

“Barn find,” they call them. And the ‘they’ in this case would be an American-dominated coalition of nations that do actually have barns. Which kind of leaves those in the world who don't actually have barns as part of their local bucolic repertoire kinda in the lurch, don't you think? Well, not being a nation of people who take these kind of things lying down, us Aussies refused to put up with second best and trumped the barn with a marvelous creation we call the “shed.” See, whereas a barn can contain many things that aren't even remotely cool (take the humble yet smelly cow) the average Aussie shed will always have something cool it it. It's the law in some states. Forget animals, ploughs, and nesting birds - sheds are much more likely to be inhabited with things like engine parts, bar fridges, welders and greasy tools. Oh, and BMW motorbikes, if Tony Botrall's find is anything to go by...
Never being one for rules, Tony decided to park his ride in the subway
Here's Tony. “It all started when someone said to me ‘Would you like my motorbike? It’s an old BMW, but it’s in pretty bad shape.’ What was I meant to say?
Immediately ‘café’ sprung to mind. Having seen some great bikes done like this, my mind started working overtime! Wanting a R series BMW was my goal, but the owner not being sure of exactly what the bike was, I was taking a bit of a gamble, sight unseen bike, not sure of model, but hey, doing up any bike will keep me out of trouble, even if only for a short amount of time!”

“So after talking a mate with a trailer into coming and picking it up with me, I got myself a 1984 BMW R65, and yes, it was in pretty bad shape! Having been stored in a shed, on a coastal property for the last 8 years! If they made a paint colour ‘corrosion,’ then this bike looked like it had been painted with it... But still, it had plenty of potential. And wasps, thanks to the nests they had built on the bike. Once parked safely in the garage, it was time to start removing everything that didn’t need to be there.”

“Rust and corrosion had certainly taken their toll on all of the alloy and metal parts. After a few treatments of sulphuric acid, the alloy started to look like alloy again, so it was out with the die grinder and wire wheel to make it all nice and shiny again. The wheels got the same treatment, then a coat of metallic silver.
The frame and associated parts were sand blasted, and rust treated, before being painted gloss black. The heads and a few covers on the motor got hit with gloss black engine enamel (after the wasp’s nests were cleaned out of the cooling fins!)
Not loving the shape of the R65 fuel tank, I tracked down a R100 tank, which I promptly purchased. A few mods needed to take place to fit it on, relocate electrics, another petcock, but all in all, it just simply looks better...”
The donor bike - we're guessing it's not the small, pink one
“A second hand set of ‘straight’ forks were found in America, but unfortunately, when they arrived, and after I had spent a few hours cleaning the legs up, discovered that they had been in an accident, bent, and some hairline cracks, so I had to refurbish the original ones. Some new fork tubes were sourced, and the rebuild began.
Final assembly happened pretty quickly, after replacing the Bing’s with Mikuni carbs, it also fired up straight away. After replacing a lot of wiring, nuts, bolts, bars, in fact, almost everything except the rolling chassis and drive train, it was rolled out of the garage.”

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CRD #14 - BMW R75/5

Sunday, May 6, 2012

The guys from Spanish shop Café Racer Dreams are truly making a name for themselves on a global scale. The garage was born out of a lack of vintage custom shops in Spain and founder Pedro Garcia hasn't looked back since opening its doors a few years ago. This is the first BMW to roll out of their small Madrid based garage and we love its stripped down simplicity. The bikes engine has been rebuilt with the expertise of Javier from Maxboxer who specialises in boxers. At this stage it's still a work in progress but we definitely like where they are going with this project. Pedro tells us it should be complete by the end of next month so we'll keep you posted. In the meantime there's a solid build thread worth checking out on the CRD blog.

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1980 BMW R80/7 Café Racer

Friday, April 13, 2012

Darkness. Sweet bike. Expensive camera. Empty lot. What could possibly go wrong?
Here's a encore bike from one Mark Byfield. He's an owner/builder that caused quite a stir with his first bike, an faired '85 R80 that would easily make our all-time top 10 list. This time he's shaken things up a bit and gone with, erm, another R80. But has he ended up in a similar place? Hells no - for here we see not a beautiful, bare-bones faired racer but instead a caffed-out daily rider with a padded seat, a toaster tank, and some very exxy-looking front brakes. Mark seems to have a knack for making a lot out of a little cash and a large, overflowing bucket of DIY skills. Don't you just hate him?

Here's the man himself. "It's a 1980 R80/7 that i picked up from eBay. It was a good old touring rig with a big fairing and comfortable seat. Obviously things had to change."

"It was stripped down and the wiring was sorted out with the inclusion of an Acewell instrument unit. Anything non essential was dropped off."

"Next was the bodywork which entails a toaster tank bought from the states, a CB500(?) seat and modified rear sub frame. The rear wheel was then changed out for a /5 spoked unit and the front wheel for a TZ 4LS brake with and flanged rim. Classic tyres finished off the wheels."
The donor bike, replete with it's 1970s "I can smoke a cigarette AND do the ton" screen
"The exhaust is stock apart from after market mufflers that give a nice loud burble. The controls consist of ace cafe bars and after market throttle and levers with alloy rear sets for the brakes and gears. Not particularly comfortable but makes for an engaging ride. It was a really fun build, except for the bit where I had to pay for the 4LS front wheel..."

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1974 BMW R75 - Krautmotors Street Tracker

Sunday, February 12, 2012

When it comes to finding inspiration on building a custom motorcycle, most people search the internet, look in magazines or pray to a higher being to give them a brilliant idea. Not Rolf Reick from Germany. He was inspired by people telling him he couldn't do what he always wanted to do — build a BMW using an old frame and a new engine. "I guess the overall motivation was that people told me it just wasn't possible to build it like that" says Rolf. Rolf is a product designer and head of a private school for product design. Besides that he works as a freelance designer and also owns a clothing label called Krautmotors. So between doing all those things we have no idea how he has time to build so many amazing bikes. Like this one-of-a-kind 'BMW Frankenstein' Street Tracker...

"I started modifying motorcycles about 30 years ago" says Rolf. "Without any focus on selling them, just for my own sake and fun. Somehow I tend to customize whatever I own. I built this one because I wanted to have a faster old BMW. Instead of tuning the old motor I simply put a newer model's motor into the frame. Anyhow, I disliked the new BMW models ever since because they keep getting higher and higher. To be honest I had BMW frames lying around and got hand on a cheap 4V GS. It was fun and didn't make any sense at all."

So what actually makes up this BMW tracker I hear you ask? The frame is from a 1974 R75 - which Rolf just had lying around. The engine, swing arm and rear wheel are from a 1100R, and the gearbox is from a 1100GS. Front wheel and fork are off a 100GS. And the carburetors are from a R100 GS-PD. The only thing that isn't off some kind of Beemer is the fuel tank which comes from an old 1970 Honda Enduro.
One of the most eye-catching features of the bike is the unusual alternator placement. "I had to place it on the side because there was no room under the frame in the middle of the engine, so i cut the tank for the compressor look" Rolf tells us. "Also the gearbox housing had to be trimmed to fit into the frame. The fork had to be cut by 14 centimeters and the modern technical gimmicks like the anti-lock braking system and fuel injection got lost, somehow." And finally the paint job was done by Rolf with good old fashioned spray cans. The entire build took him around 4 months, working two days a week. Not bad when you consider the amount of work thats gone into it.

Rolf's next project is designing the fairing for the Ducati bike for the racing team he is part of called Now Salt. The bike will run on the Bonneville salt race track in September attempting to break the record as the world's fastest Ducati. We wish him all the best and we'll keep you posted how he goes.
So we are only in February and I'm thinking this BMW tracker could be a contender for the Pipeburn Top 10 bikes of the year. I guess we're about to find out by the comments below...

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1983 BMW R65 "Veille École"

Monday, August 8, 2011

Here's something you may or may not know, depending on your own, personal level of smart-ass-ed-ness. The current BMW logo has been developed over many generations of refinement to the point it's at today - the familiar circle divided into blue and white quadrants. But do you know where it started? Here's where; as a white spinning propellor against a blue sky. That's right, a propellor. Motorcycles were essentially a sideline for the company after the treaty of Versailles banned Germany from making arms in 1918. Talk about making the best out of a poor lot. So almost 100 years later we find ourselves in Sydney with a Frenchman pondering just how to trick up his '83 R65. Then in a moment of divine inspiration, he realises exactly what he should do. Behold the world's first BMW motorbike decorated in the colours of the French Airforce. Vive la différence!
Can you introduce yourself ?
My name is Pierre Geromboux. I am currently living out my mid-life crisis in Sydney’s North West. I work in Medical sales.
What Kind of BMW is it?
The bike is a 1983 BMW R65. I have called her "Veille École" which means "Old School" in French. When I purchased the bike it had been sitting in a garage for 5 years. The owner had started with an engine rebuild but the project had stalled there. With the help of my good friend Andrew from Ramspeed we stripped the bike back, gave it a Radical Fenderectomy and resprayed everything. Powder coated the wheels black. Used two tone Gloss and Matt black on petrol tank. Fitted drop down bars, Pod airfilters, Twin headlights & LED indicators. Replaced original instrument display with digital Tacho & Speedometer. Custom cross stitched leather and suede seat. Carbon fiber covered battery (still weighs the same!). Wrapped pipes with new stainless steel slip-on trumpets. Graphics by Joey at Motographics. Next step bi-turbo!

Did you do it all yourself?
I had a mechanic friend help me with fitting the drop down bars and I had to get electrical help when I took off the original instruments and was replacing the generator warning light. Even when we identified this as the problem for the battery not charging and completed the circuit with a resistor, it still would not work. The final solution was setting up a small LED generator warning light under the digital display. All the seals and bearings were replaced, as well as the carburetors rebuilt. The bike is now tuned to perfection and runs reliably.

What’s she like to ride?
I try to ride every weekend. I have done the Putty Road up to Singleton. All through the Blue Mountains. Down to the Royal National Park or sometimes just the coffee run up the Old Pacific Hwy. The beauty is in simplicity of the mechanics. There are no electronic management systems. You get feedback by using all your senses. Checking the oil by using a dipstick. Listen to the engine note and hear how she is running and when to change gears. Smell the oil when the engine gets to temperature and you know it is time to open the taps! The bike is very torquey and gets off the line well. It has quite short gearing and revs out quickly. Top speed is probably about 140khm? That’s what the speedo said anyway. I will try to get it on a Dyno at some stage.

What other bikes have you owned before?
My first bike was actually a scooter when I lived in Paris age 19. I will never forget coming around the Arc de Triomphe onto the Champs Ellysee with six lanes of chaos around me. I then had a Honda CB250 before lapsing into car ownership. I got back into bikes last year when I saw this old boxer engine needing to be brought back to life.

What is a Frenchman doing riding a German bike anyway?
Revenge for WWII.

Favourite BMW and other bikes?
My favourite BMW is easy - it's the 1934 BMW R7. Otherwise I would be happy to park anything that appears in Pipeburn in my garage.

What’s your workshop like?
It's a pretty standard two-car garage, but with a bike instead of the second car. There's a quality socket set, a BMW tool set, some painting and polishing stuff - and I have a bike lift so I can get in and work under the bike.

If she was a movie, which one would she be?
Dambusters.

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1985 BMW R80 Café Racer

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

"BMW" - bitumen's mostly wet...
As a hobby you've got admit that motorbikes are, all things considered, relatively cheap. It's heartening that in this day and age you can still rock on up to your local Ducati store and buy an Italian two-wheeled Ferrari for a lot less than US$20,000. In fact the advertised price for Ducati's top-of-the-line 1198 SP racer in North America is only a smidge under US$22,000. In the scheme of things, that's a silly small price. A 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia would cost you ten times that amount, and I doubt that any of us would be willing to choose a single car over 10 new bikes - let alone 40+ second hand or vintage bikes.
Which brings us rather neatly to this little gem, aka Mark Byfield's cafe'd 1985 BMW R80. With nothing but a bunch of hard work and a cash outlay of less than five Aussie grand, he's managed to create a bike that looks like a million bucks and which rocks our boat a lot more vigorously than any four-wheeled Italian poseur-mobile ever could.

Over to Mark. "I just had my 40th birthday. I work in the offshore oil industry, drilling exploration wells for various clients in various locations all over the world from our semi submersible drilling rig. It's usually pretty good fun and engaging. I've been riding bikes, both motorbikes and pushbikes, since I was about 4. I raced motocross and downhill mountain bikes up until about 3 years ago. Still ride a bit of enduro on my Husaberg 501; it's a great bike."
Mark decided to customise the bike very soon after the exhausts fell off
"I got interested in building a bike a few months ago and always loved airhead beemers, and a cafe racer seemed like the perfect way to go. The bike started out as an ebay bargain 1985 R80. After I picked it up, I did the usual strip, clean and rattle can routine, giving the frame, wheels and swingarm the flat black treatment."

"As I wanted to fit the Ducati-style single seat, I had to cut down the subframe to fit the shorter seat unit. Not an easy task with my dodgy welding skills! I also sourced the cool ass /5 tank from ebay US and gave it a sand back, a new paint job and badges. The Ducati style fairing and rear sets came from Flatracer in the UK. The fairing got a final clean-up and got the same paintjob as the seat and tank."
What is it that makes BMWs look so good in fairings?
"The only other real mods where the exhaust, which is a custom job welded up by me made up of assorted spare parts that were lying around, and removing everything that is not absolutely necessary. The final effort was a service and tune and I was off, It goes really well and is an absolute blast. Sounds like a tractor and goes like a train!"

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BMW R80/7

Thursday, November 11, 2010

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.

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1953 BMW R51/3 Cafe Racer

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

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."

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1983 BMW R80ST

Monday, May 10, 2010

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]