ADRENALINE MACHINE URBANUS

There was a time when we were receiving several BMW Customs a week through the Shed, but things have slowed down a little over the past couple of months, they are still coming through, I think they will always be a popular donor and lets face it, they don’t die and BMW built loads of them, so they will continue to appear as long as people continue to customise them, but for now; we’re getting picky about which ones make it online, with the amount we see; they need to be done right, when I first saw this one it looked pretty simple, but simple is seldom… simple, so we asked for better photographs and sure enough, this is a lovely take on the classic BMW Boxer.

This particular build is from Adrenaline Machine, a custom shop that specialises in restoring and customising any brand of bike, but has worked with the BMW Boxer more than others, AM are based in a charming village on the outskirts of Madrid called Alcobendas and have been operating as a full time professional shop for the last 2 years, they prefer to work with vintage bikes and their aim is to design and create reliable custom motorcycles, hence the use of the ever reliable agriculturally natured BMW’s, but vintage and reliable can be hard to combine!

With a pool of talent at their disposal, including design, mechanics, fabrication, upholstery and paint, Adrenaline Machine still insist on trying to use only the best donors, this 1978 R100RS was sourced for its impeccable service history and overall quality and it was from trusted seller. Once the R100 was in the workshop, the extensive and laborious task of stripping her down took place; everything except the engine and chassis were removed, checked and replaced, the engine and frame were treated to bead blasting, then the frame received a high finish oven baked paint job.

The aim was for a sleek look, so the fuel tank from an R75/6 was chosen to replace the original, it was then painted in a deep triple coat and heavily lacquered and buffed for a gloss finish with infinite depth. The highest quality leather seat was fabricated and the addition of the leather tool roll helps give the brown solid rights within all the black and silver. As for logos, this is a BMW, so it wears its BMW badge with pride, it may get an Adrenaline Machine logo in the future, but you can be sure that it’ll be simple, sleek and subtle.

The sub frame was fabricated with meticulous detail to acquire the best riding position possible, so the Renthal bars were fitted, people had to perch, fabricators had to measure, cut, probably measure again and cut a few more times; then electrical heat fused those perfectly cut sections to give the most ergonomic riding position possible, it looks simply; but as I said, simple looks are often complicated to achieve!

Once the sub and main frames were sorted, it was time to design and mount exhaust supports, fender and speedo brackets and a battery box, then the original wheels were replaced with spoke ones, with polished rims, new stainless steel spokes and the wheel hubs were cleaned with micro sphere brushes. A new 16cm diameter headlamp replaces the original and the old speedometer has made way for the Motoscope Classic from Motogadget.

Hagon rear shocks support that new rear end, they’re great quality, affordable and most importantly; reliable. Original R100RS exhausts have been used, but they are brand new and they match the proportions of the bike perfectly. AM tells us that she rides superbly; she has much more stability thanks to the removal of the excess weight of the original bike, so the centre of gravity is lower; that coupled with the refreshed and replaced suspension, I bet she rides like a new bike, after all; that’s pretty much what we have here.

So very soon this wonderfully simple piece of automotive art will be looking for a new home, maybe you will be the old boxers future guardian, get in touch with the guys at Adrenaline Machine if you’re interested, or maybe they will have something else that you like, we hear they have also just finished 2 R100GS Scramblers, one named ‘Brava’ and another named ‘Dynamite’ as well as an R65 Bobber named ‘The Bicyle’, other builds from Café Racers and restorations are ongoing.

Huge thanks to the guys other at Adrenaline Machine, we look forward to seeing more of your work in the year ahead.

via The Bike Shed