We’ve all heard legends of the basic Okay-series BMW’s reliability, however the story of this BMW K100 road tracker takes the cake. After all, what number of bikes have you learnt that may set themselves alight, however carry on ticking?
The bike’s present proprietor, Duncan Bonar, discovered the 1985 BMW K100 at a neighborhood store with a clear title —however there was a catch. “The only caveat was that it had self-immolated via an electrical fire,” he explains. “But hey, a bike’s a bike, and a clean title is a clean title.”
Based in Los Angeles, California, Duncan is an industrial designer who likes to tinker on bikes in his downtime. By day, he works as a designer on the standard dune buggy producer, Meyers Manx. And earlier than that, he was a part of the group on the boutique bike model, Arch Motorcycle.
Although Duncan has not too long ago queued up a number of venture bikes below the moniker Dunc Werks, he began the K100 construct a number of years in the past with much less urgency, engaged on it as and when he discovered the time. The Okay owes its brutalist aesthetic to Duncan’s industrial design background and his propensity for figuring issues out as he goes. “This was an exercise in doing it yourself with the resources at hand; an ‘often wrong but never in doubt’ kinda mentality,” he says.
Duncan’s first job was to get the K100 working after its little mishap. “The wiring harness, electric fan, and airbox assembly were all toasted. The motor and bike were quite caked with fire retardant, and there was a dent in the crank cover as the bike was dumped over at a traffic light when it decided to self-immolate.”
“Knowing that the K motors are relatively bulletproof, I wasn’t too worried about the internals. My bet paid off as no inner workings needed to be resolved—I just resealed and refinished the engine.”
Once the K100’s eight-valve powerplant was purring once more, Duncan may get cracking on the remainder of the bike. Embracing the Okay’s inherently awkward traces somewhat than making an attempt to ‘smooth’ them out, Duncan stored the OEM gasoline tank and fabricated an angular subframe with a kicked-up rear loop to juxtapose it. Next, he made the myriad aluminum elements that full the bodywork.
“All of the aluminum parts were designed by myself with a set of calipers and CAD modeling software,” he tells us. “The laser cutting was outsourced to a third party, and then the bending was done by myself, using a manual bender.”
The {custom} elements embrace the seat pan, which integrates the bike’s electronics tray and battery help, and acts as a rear fender. A row of LED lights sit in the back of the subframe, dealing with taillight and switch sign duties as wanted. At the other finish of the bike, a quantity board-style headlight nacelle hosts a Baja Designs mild and a tiny digital speedo from Motogadget.
In the center of the bike, you’ll discover a small custom-made plate, designed to cover away the coils. Duncan embedded the ignition barrel into it too, after which added a guide gasoline pump change when he realized the house was lacking one thing. “Flipping the extra switch gives the bike a more fun startup sequence,” he quips.
Duncan pared down the BMW’s wiring harness, tweaking it in order that he may use repurposed Kawasaki switchgear. The cockpit wears new Renthal handlebars; they’ve been bead blasted and clear anodized to present them a muted end. Accompanying the Motogadget speedo is a custom-built warning lights panel.
Moving to the K100’s working gear, Duncan rebuilt the inventory forks with progressive springs and fitted a brand new rear shock. The wheels and brakes are from a a lot newer BMW K1600, with {custom} axles, spacers, and brake caliper mounts accommodating them. The four-into-one exhaust is from BSK Speedworks—a race store within the UK that runs K100s in endurance races.
Duncan’s space of experience is shade and materials design, so though the K100’s finishes are easy, they’re very deliberate. “I was looking for something that was undoubtedly classic, blurring the line between bold and reserved,” he explains.
“Land Rover and their more expressive colors of the past have always been near to this mark. The resulting color is a variant of Shetland Beige, which is kind of a warm putty color that compliments the Brick well.”
Duncan opted to color solely the tank, leaving the aluminum elements uncooked to emphasise the idea of permitting the manufacturing course of to steer the design. All the onerous elements have been powder-coated afresh, leaving this gnarly BMW K100 road tracker trying loads higher than the charred mess it was in the beginning.
Dunc Werks | Instagram | Images by Duncan Bonar
Source: www.bikeexif.com