This 1982/83 BMW R80 is an ex-Police bike and was commissioned by Robin from Bolivia South America for a full Kevils Speedshop cafe racer build. Kev & C’os reputation for building stunning BMW customs has clearly reached way beyond the shores of the UK and it’s not surprising considering the mix of consistency and value for money that Kev and his team provide at their Devon-based custom workshop.
Robin wanted a bike similar to “Jet!”, one of Kevil’s cafe racers from 2012, and Kev was happy to oblige but this time with a few improvements, including a hidden battery, and Kevil’s own alloy seat unit with with leather tuck and roll trim.
The bike also benefited from a stainless steel top yoke, a white faced clock (in KMH). Kevil’s stainless 2 into 1 system was also routed to the other side of the bike to allow the side mounted plate and tail light to be mounted to the left.
The bike is painted in Ford Pearl Panther Black with contrasting triple white racing stripes. Robin also wanted a headlight guard fitted to protect the lens as the roads are not great in Bolivia.
Newer style cam covers give away the bike’s 82/83 birthdate.
Side mounted plate leaves the rear end looking lean & mean.
Kev and Co were going to call the bike Chollo, which means Jet in Spanish (the most widely spoken language in Bolivia) but according to the urban dictionary this also means the squits/shits, so they wisely moved away from that moniker and instead settled on the more widely known and friendly Amigo.
See more of Kevil’s bikes on the Bike Shed here.
