From the land of passion and style it’s no surprise that Italian Franco ” Frank” Augello has customers queuing up to order his take on the ever popular 2-valve BMW. Having worked in the fashion & TV business for over a decade Frank was unable to contain his enthusiasm for custom Beemers and started collecting two wheeled wrecks to restore in his spare time. In 2013 his heart won over his head and Moto SuMisura was born. (su misura translates as custom-made).
From their base in Milan, Frank and his team (Inge, Fabrizio and Maurizio) follow a mantra of combining travel, fashion and art, aiming to produce customer bikes of the best quality with a design style they hope will be recognisable as their brand. The Milanese custom bike ‘tifosi’ have not run them out of town yet so Moto SuMisura must be doing something right.
The 1980 R65 you see here was the result of many hours of hand waving, postulating and arguing between Frank and the team’s Technical Director, Inge. Creative and technical minds are often opposed but Frank also had the challenge of converting his mate and collegue from Harleys to BMWs. Once a common theme was agreed 400 hrs of blood, sweat and pranzi lunghi followed.
The old Airhead engine was stripped, inspected and parts replaced where necessary before being mated to in-house made stubby, and loud looking, exhausts. Meshed velocity stacks feed the 32mm Bing carbs and keep the largest debris from undoing Frank’s handywork. The front mudguard has been relocated back to front and attached vertically to the front of the crank case. The engine will be saved from flying stones whilst Inge is protected by a forcefield of style.
Keeping things local, Borani rims were laced to a drilled and ducted drum brake at the front whilst the rear is a standard drum unit from an earlier model, all wrapped in matching sized vintage Avons.
Up top, a 1960 R27 tank was modded to fit and given a lovely two-tone paint job, leading the passer-by to question their ability to date the donor bike. A bespoke cross stitched leather solo saddle sorts out the comfort whilst keeping the tail neat. Handle bars from an R75 sidecar with end-pivot levers and brass clamp nuts give a pre-war look, and a machined ally throttle cable splitter is a reminder that this bike is bang up to date. Refurbished and modified R51 front and rear suspension work their magic in the mountains and hopefully the infamous tram tracks that criss cross Milano.
Moto SuMisura clearly have a passion for BMWs, mixing eras with craftsmanship to give a well poised and balanced looking bike. If you’re passing why not pop in, Frank has enthusiasm on tap, not to mention a fine looking selection of salami hanging from the workshop rafters.
See more from Moto Sumisura on The Bike Shed and on their Facebook Page.
