Saturday 15 June 2024

I Do Like The Look Of A Café Racer Style Motorbike,

but one motorcycle I not associate with this style is BMW


all photographs by Benjamin Azevedo, until now, take a top-spec 1982 BMW R100 and let Bavarian’s builder, Fiorello Galluzzo loose on it and this is what you get, starting at the front, bolt on a set of Hyosung GT650R forks, with modified triple clamps and the retention of the Korean bike’s 4-piston callipers, a set of wave pattern rotors, measuring 300mm, and originally intended for a Kawasaki SuperSport with the addition of the BMW logos on the painted callipers,

to craft the seat cowl, florist foam was first shaped and then used as a mould for the final fibreglass product, "I opted for a sloping flat back design for the cowl along the lines of the rear of the Ford GT40 or Porsche 917 Le Mans cars, instead of the common rounded back of classic café racers," Fio commented, "the lines work brilliantly with the tank, but it made finding an off-the-shelf tail light all but impossible. So, custom items have been made using Perspex and LEDs, and the whole unit features a quick-release mechanism to access the storage under the hump",

the entire bike was stripped, including the gearbox and final drive, before being pieced back together with all new seals and gaskets, as well as new cylinders, pistons, rings, bearings and a fresh oil pump. the BMW now sports a set of Mikuni VM38s with pod filters, the exhaust system is also all-new, and everything is absolutely perfect from the custom brackets to the full-length stainless steel system with reverse cone silencers, then finish in a Gulf Oil Racing colour scheme, and you have the ultimate BMW Café Racer, would I like it? Yes please!


No comments: