Many really feel that BMW boxer customization has change into a tedious paint-by-numbers affair. It’s a good argument—in spite of everything, most BMW R-series customs observe the identical components so carefully, that you simply’re most likely already picturing them in your head.
This thought weighed closely on Takashi Nihira when a buyer particularly requested a BMW R-series construct, but additionally stipulated that it needs to be attention-grabbing sufficient to command consideration on the prestigious Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show. Working with a 1990 BMW R100RS, the person behind Tokyo’s Wedge Motorcycle resolved to create a machine that may rise above the present traits. And with none additional requests from his consumer, he was free to execute his imaginative and prescient nonetheless he noticed match.
Nihira-san’s plan was to construct a svelte café racer with {custom} bodywork that may movement cohesively from entrance to again. But reasonably than create a standard fly-line alongside the underside of the tank and tail, he aimed to attach the entrance to the again by means of a tapered ridge working alongside the aspect of every half. Or, as he calls it, a “character line.”
“When I beat out steel and aluminum sheet metal to build fuel tanks and bodywork, I tend to use rounded shapes, because they’re easy to build,” he explains. “It’s very difficult to create an edgy character line on parts made from beaten steel. But this time, I wanted to take on that challenge.”
Hearing Takashi’s phrases and analyzing his work, it’s straightforward to attach the dots. The handmade gas tank and tail part are usually not solely impossibly slim, however their shapes and myriad edges echo one another superbly. The aforementioned ridge line ties the entire thing collectively, accentuated by a tasteful silver stripe.
Takashi has drawn one other parallel line decrease down, by fabricating a brand new aluminum cowl for the highest of the engine. “The only engine that can be utilized as part of the design is the air-cooled BMW flat twin engine, where the upper engine cover can be modified,” he explains. “By adding this design element to the motor, I was able to give it a near-future power source feel—like an electric motor.”
The total design of the brand new bodywork and engine cowl additionally led Takashi down an sudden path. His regular course of is to sketch a tough draft of the bike he’s constructing, after which to check his idea by shaping the proposed design out of styrofoam blocks which can be positioned onto the bike’s bare body. Those styrofoam sculptures don’t act as molds although—they’re simply used to prototype no matter concepts Takashi has brewing.
Once he begins shaping the ultimate items out of metallic although, the proportions inevitably change because the design morphs into an actual bike. As that occurred on this construct, Takashi quickly realized that the BMW R100’s offset mono-shock rear suspension was going to conflict along with his clear design.
“Considering this bike from a design perspective alone,” he provides, “I would have preferred it without rear suspension, but that wasn’t an option. So I was very worried about where to transplant the rear shock. As I thought about it more and more, I decided that I wanted to hide it—and then I thought, why not put it in or under the fuel tank?”
After contemplating (and eliminating) a number of choices, Takashi settled on mounting the shock ‘inside’ the gas tank, simply to the best of the body’s important spine. A cutout on the aspect of the tank exhibits off the Öhlins shock—however what it doesn’t present, is the linkage mechanism that makes all of it work.
To complicate issues additional, Takashi redesigned the BMW R100’s subframe and swingarm in order that the shock pivot now sits on the left of the bike. Forces are transferred via a vertical strut, throughout a horizontal linkage to the other aspect of the bike, after which to the ultimate linkage and shock that sits up entrance.
It’s a posh answer to an issue that many would take into account nonexistent—however the result’s a motorcycle that seems inflexible from one aspect, solely revealing its suspension if you study it from all angles. And it appears rattling cool, too.
This kind of mechanical class is scattered throughout this construct. The subframe help is a single tube setup, with an LED taillight mounted just under the tail cowl. Takashi has additionally liberated the chassis of its passenger peg mounts, together with any superfluous tabs.
There’s the same vibe up entrance, the place a custom-made cross member, mounted between the yokes, performs host to an LED headlight and a set of bespoke handlebars. Vintage bicycles supplied free inspiration from the bars, that are deliberately low-slung in order to not mess with the bike’s profile an excessive amount of. The entrance forks are inventory, however they’ve been lowered a contact, and the one piece of seen tech within the cockpit is a small Motogadget speedo.
The bike rolls on 18” cross-spoke tubeless BMW wheels, transplanted from a BMW R100R. Mounting the R rear wheel to the RS swingarm resulted in an offset that Takashi couldn’t abide, so he narrowed the hub and modified the spokes to get it good. The entrance brake was upgraded with a Beringer caliper and a Kustom Tech grasp cylinder.
Maximum simplicity was at all times the purpose of this mission—and Takashi went to nice lengths to attain it. The gas traces and the few wires that there are all run via the engine casing to their ultimate locations, and the entrance brake grasp cylinder is hidden beneath the gas tank. He even went as far as to switch the BMW’s oil pan, in order that its backside edge would run parallel to the gas tank.
The engine now sports activities a pair of Keihin FCR carbs with velocity stacks, wrinkle black paint on the cylinder head covers, and a custom-made chrome steel exhaust system that sashays its means right into a luscious pair of reverse cone mufflers.
The paint job is worthy of consideration too—particularly since Takashi does all his personal portray. It seems to be a easy metallic blue in these images, however he tells us that the impact solely actually involves life when seen with the bare eye. “I mixed light blue with gold pearl,” he explains, “so that, depending on the angle of view and the intensity of the light, it looks either greenish or golden.”
“When considering a new design, there is a process of adding new details. It’s very easy—all you have to do is fill it with new things. But then it’s difficult to create a sense of unity in the design.”
“On the other hand, it’s very difficult to create a simple, yet new, design. Simple design means that, at first glance, there isn’t much information to take in. And the newness you experience creates a sort of discomfort, I guess. Things we’ve never seen before feel strange, because we’re unfamiliar with them.”
“I believe that this discomfort and newness must exist within natural lines and shapes. That’s why the surfaces that make up a bike’s exterior are very important. And that’s why I used a different method to create the character lines of this bike and then structured the other details around them.”
“A different approach equals a sense of discomfort—and challenging this was the theme of this project.”
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