The ‘airhead’ flat twin boxers and R-series motorcycles are great choices for BMW cafe racer projects. More recently, we’ve seen the rise of modern-day specials based on the BMW R nineT, which was designed to be easily customized, with a bolt-on subframe and modular electrical system.
Here you’ll find traditional 60s-style cafe racers based on the BMW R75 and R100, plus neo-retro builds based on newer models including the K100 ‘flying brick’.
It’s a good starting point to find the parts, seats and performance upgrades that’ll take your own BMW to the next level—and get inspiration from other BMW cafe racer builders on the custom scene.
Despite its increasing popularity, the 1980s K-series BMW remains a difficult bike to customize. There’s hardly an inch of it that isn’t blocky, angular, or just plain awkward—so it takes a sharp eye and deft hand to massage it into a slick and cohesive café racer. Enter Chris Scholtka. Based in Cottbus, Germany, Chris splits…
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Many feel that BMW boxer customization has become a tedious paint-by-numbers affair. It’s a fair argument—after all, most BMW R-series customs follow the same formula so closely, that you’re probably already picturing them in your head. This thought weighed heavily on Takashi Nihira when a customer specifically requested a BMW R-series build, but also stipulated…
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With futuristic looks, bold colors, and more plastic than a Tupperware party, the BMW K1 was nothing if not memorable. Released in 1988 and based on the inline four-cylinder BMW K100, it was big, bold, and—depending on who you ask—beautiful. Billed as a sport-touring motorcycle, the BMW K1’s brash aesthetic was decidedly non-BMW at the…
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If you’re going to name your custom-bike-building side hustle ‘Atomic Contraptions,’ the machines that you create better be imaginative enough to warrant a second look. Judging by this custom BMW R65, Andrew Knott has no trouble in that department. Laced with wooden details, and with a subtle steampunk influence that avoids clichés, this café racer…
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It doesn’t take just a sharp eye or a deft pair of hands to build a great custom motorcycle—it takes both. The…
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If you suffer from lower back problems, look away now, because all of this week’s Speed Read selects wear clip-on handlebars. We’ve…
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Muscular, with a little 80s style; that was the brief given to Spain’s 72 HKG Performance by the owners of this custom…
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There are more ways to customize a motorcycle these days than ever before. You can take the traditional route and hammer your…
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The BMW R nineT has just had its first major update since it first launched, but many have wondered if the changes…
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Powerbrick has the most apt name in the custom motorcycle business. The Dutch workshop specializes in making parts for K-series BMWs, affectionately…
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The BMW K100RS was borderline futuristic when it hit the scene in the 1980s. Between its blocky horizontal inline-four engine and its…
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Wandering between a sea of custom motorcycles at the Handbuilt Show in Austin, Texas last month, our Stateside team had the arduous…
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