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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