2018 BMW Motorrad R nineT by Dab Design ER Kit

Retro racers have now been around long enough that some are beginning to get a feeling of ennui, looking at similarly styled motorcycle over and over. Dab Design, from France, was founded by Simon Dabidie, who wants to resuscitate some of that early excitement of retro machines with the ER Kit, intended for the BMW Motorrad R nineT.

While the R nineT is a striking motorcycle in and of itself, with its air/oil-cooled 1,170 cc flat-twin “Boxer” engine, and 110 hp and 119 Nm of torque on tap, the Dab Design kit does turn BMW Motorrad’s Heritage-series bike into something else. Resembling a cafe racer as might be dreamed up by science-fiction artist Chris Foss, the ER Kit, as its name suggests, is currently in concept stage and comes as a bolt-on kit using standard handtools.

Preserving the frame, engine and rolling gear of any R nineT from 2014 on, the ER Kit – ER standing for “Enhanced Racer” – comes in 13 parts, all designed to be installed using the bike’s standard mounting points. Currently raising funds on fund-raising site Indiegogo through pre-orders, the kit was born out of a series of custom motorcycles built by Dab Design in 2017.

Individual components of the ER Kit is the bodywork, fork head and support, mud guard, rear seat cowl and side covers, with a little electrical knowledge needed to install the headlight and LED DRLs. A unique touch is that aside from bodywork options in fibreglass or carbon-fibre, you can also choose natural flax fibre and the kit can be fitted to the R nineT Pure and Racer with some modification to the forks.

The fibreglass ER Kit comes in a choice of standard BMW Motorrad colours of R nineT Pure, Black, Silver and Racer, with other colours on request. For the carbon-fibre ER Kit, the buyer has a choice of gloss or matte varnish, as does the flax fibre kit.

Pricing for the Dab Design ER Kit for the BMW Motorrad R nineT is at a super early bird 50% discount on Indiegogo at 1,995 euro, while the carbon-fibre and flax versions go for 3,375 euro. Shipping is extra, and delivery is estimated to be June 2018.