Blog — BMW

JVB BMW R nineT

We've been chatting a lot this week about JVB Moto and it's founder Jens Vom Brauck. Style is of course subjective but there's not a single person I've talked to who doesn't agree that Jens' customs are bang on the money. I've blabbed on about my fondness for JVB kits (as fitted to my XSR700 here) and as far as I am aware Jens is the only builder to successfully manufacture a range of customer-fit parts for the Yamaha Yard Built program that are available in any meaningful quantity. This is clearly a BMW but the philosophy is the same...

BMW R nineT Urban G/S

The 1980s, a time of glorious fashion disasters, Maggie Thatcher and disco giving way to pop acts such as Wham! and Michael Jackson, it certainly was a decade to be remembered – although not always for good reasons. But while we were all rapping along with George Michael, over in Germany something very important was happening in a basement in Munich… You may not know this, but in the late 1970s and early 1980s BMW Motorrad was almost as dead as disco. The firm’s car side was (glam) rocking, but the two-wheeled division was in a terrible state and was...

Rasio BMW R80 'Peeler'

Building a dramatic, awe inspiring custom is becoming harder every year, especially when trying to demonstrate engineering skill with creative flair on something as mainstream as a BMW airhead. Every now and again someone uses just the right recipe, adding a cherry on top of Delia Smiths tried and tested Victoria sponge, rather than gaudily icing some gluten-free, chia seed skinny muffin. Sussex outfit Rasio have baked a beauty with this R80, 'Peeler'. We first encountered Mark and Andy when their Ducati D’Karmah rolled onto a plinth at Bike Shed Paris 2015. For us, the mix of sympathetic restoration combined...

UMC-029 Kalifornia

Time really does fly. It's already been three years since we lost one of our founder members to the bright lights, open spaces and sea breeze of California. Hugo Eccles left London to setup a San Francisco branch of Untitled Motorcycles, and he's not looked back. His obsessive attention to detail and career in product design has not only lead to some fantastic builds, and therefore happy customers, but he's also reached the heady heights of hanging out with Jay Leno, appearing on TV and award nominations. This hasn't gone to Hugo's head though, UMC-SF still accept commissions for tried...

Ton-Up Garage Hunter

Chatting to one the custom scene's most prolific builders the other day we got onto the topic of Dakar, adventure bikes and how seemingly ugly, plastic clad donor bikes could be made to look better. As the new wave scene is largely retro inspired by sentimentality for a purer, and some say cooler, time it makes sense that the modern is making way for nostalgia. Ton-Up Garage from Portugal are no strangers to the twists and turns of custom trends as they enter a seventh year of bike building from their Porto workshop. The motorcycle you see here was destined...

Capêlo’s Garage BMW 1150GS

Nuno Capêlo from Porto, Portugal, well Madeira originally, is no stranger to the Bike Shed. His sublime Ducati/Cagiva 350 Pantah/Alazzura not only made us weak at the knees but was a definite favourite amongst show-goers at Bike Shed London 2016. Nuno splits his time between architecture and motorcycle design, more recently favouring the latter, and when time allows he'll roll his sleeves up and get stuck in. For now though most of the mechanical work is taken care of by buddy Leonel, owner of Oficina das Motas. The Bavarian beast featured here is not one of Nuno's own bikes but...

Matteucci Garage DAGA

Flamboyant and artistic customiser Marco Matteucci isn't one to shy away from trying something a bit different. Perhaps one of the reasons he's been preoccupied with other marques and it's taken him this long before trying his hand at building a BMW Airhead. With one of Europe's largest custom shows,EICMA, just a month away Marco threw caution to the wind and rolled a 1984 R80ST into the workshop. There might have been just a few Beemers to feature on the Bike shed but I don't recall one with an asymmetric subframe quite like this one. Made from stainless rather than...

Kevils MOTO #3

Here we have the latest airhead to roll out of Kevils Speed Shop, those perennial BMW specialists operating out of Paignton, Devon. Wait a minute... Stop the press, hold the freaking phone. What have they done with those shin worrying cylinders? Some serious origami magic must have been deployed on this wide wagon to fold those lugs up on themselves and into that single pot motor? It is barely recognisable from its original boxer format, the purists eyes will roll... Over to Kev to explain. "For quite a while now, a few potential customers have enquired if Kevils build custom...