BMW Motorrad has presented its latest
customized motorcycle which is based on the R 18. Created by Bernhard Naumann,
who is known as Blechmann in the customizing scene, this R 18 has been given a
sporty makeover. As you can see, the bike has a unique ‘face’ and custom
headlights with a subtle kidney shape. The latter, of course, recalls the
grille used on models such as the 4-Series Coupe.
Elsewhere, the R 18 has a short windscreen
and a customized fuel tank. The bike has also been equipped with knee cutouts,
a Kellermann rear light and a stub handlebar which is based on the original
steering tube. Other highlights include a brown leather seat, chrome accents
and a “discreet” black paint job with white pinstripes. Despite all of this,
Blechmann and his team only used original mounting points and kept frame
changes to a minimum.
The end result is an impressive looking
bike that manages to look modern and retro at the same time. Of course, that
wasn’t an easy task as the project took approximately 450 hours to complete.
While that’s a fair amount of time, Blechmann doesn’t consider himself a
traditional customizer as he explained “My work begins by removing parts of the
original version until a white canvas remains.” He went on to say, “As the
construction progresses, the design develops. I call this
‘rapid-prototyping-Blechmann-style.’” Given this, it’s probably not surprising
to learn that Blechmann doesn’t sketch out bikes in advance.
BMW Motorrad didn’t say much else about
the bike, but the standard R 18 has a 1.8-liter two-cylinder boxer engine that
develops 90 hp and 158 Nm of torque. It enables the
motorcycle to hit a top speed in excess of 179 km/h.
