You may have noticed Kevils builds are getting more and more interesting, and having spoken with Kev Hill a few times now it’s clear that their rep for affordable quality and their growing list of happy clients is allowing them to push things a little further, build by build, as this Honda-tanked R100 demonstrates. it’s all about the refinement of a set of skills, knowing their BMW platform intimately, and being able to give their customers exactly what they want. As they did with the recent Bmonda Blitz homage.
Hashtag 88″ is a 1979 R100/7 and is a proper Brat-style build with a short flat wheel-hugging seat, old school up-swept ’70s crosser bars and of course that silhouette-changing Honda tank.
This build was commissioned by Richard, a classic car dealer from Oxford,who visited the shop and loved what he saw. His brief was to create a ‘bobber style BMW’ and his only other direction was to have black wire-spoked wheels , coffee & cream paint and to carry his lucky number 88. Kev and co took care of the rest and we think they nailed it.
The basic elements of the build are pretty clear from the pictures, including that reworked rear end, but like all Kevils builds the bike has also been stripped and rebuilt, with generous amounts of textured satin powdercoat complemented by plenty of bare metal. There’s something very right about a black frame and metal engine, especially with the outline of that BMW lump which looks like it was designed by the same guys who built Flash Gordon’s spaceships in the 1950s. (…maybe, it was the same guys?).
The paint job is really standout on the tank and headlamp, referencing the Japanese rising sun motif but played-out in toffee bronze (posh brown) and cream, with a distressed dark brown leather tuck & roll seat, and matching gum grips. The usual secretly-sourced slimline clocks sit in front of the wide Triumph scrambler style bars with minimal indies and simple tail light on a shortie fender.
The finished build looks great, a complete, thought-out package, rather than just an assortment of assembled safe parts. Nothing wrong with thoughtfully assembled parts, mind, but this step-up may be Kevils’ best build yet.
See more from Kev Hill and his crew here on The Bike Shed, or head over to their Wesbite for more designs on the Bavarian beast from the South West of England.
from BIKE SHED
