Sneak preview straight from the edit - The Greasy Hands Preachers

Sneak preview straight from the edit - The Greasy Hands Preachers from SAGS on Vimeo.

THE NEW 2014 BMW R90S

By Wesley Reyneke | Rather Be Riding

There’s no denying that BMW’s classic R-series models are enjoying the limelight at the moment. While they’re a popular choice as donors for custom projects, many are also left in original condition or restored to period-correct perfection.

Thankfully for Airhead owners, BMW Group Classic has a comprehensive catalogue of spares—as is evident with this R90S. While it appears to be an immaculately restored 1974 model, it is, in fact, a brand new motorcycle—built from the ground up using genuine BMW parts.

The project was conceived two years ago by BMW Motorrad USA dealer MAX BMW. With dealerships in Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York, MAX BMW is officially recognised as a classic BMW specialist. “The BMW classic scene is big and continues to grow,” says owner Max Stratton. “I think many motorcyclists are at a point in their life that they want to go back to the first bikes they had or wish they had. The bikes are available and so are the parts, making it very easy for anyone to get into the vintage BMW scene.”

Max and his staff decided to conduct an experiment—pick a classic BMW model, and see how many parts were still available for it. They settled on the historic R90S, a bike that was considered high-performance when it launched in 1973 and went on to win the inaugural A.M.A. Production Championship in 1976, piloted by British racer Reg Pridmore. “For fun, I decided to see how many parts were still available for the R90S”, says Max. “Because the pages piled up and most of the numbers were good, I said, ‘I think we could build a bike!’”

The R90S’ engine had to be built up from a short block (which already has the crank cam and chain installed) but there were none in stock. Fortunately BMW Motorrad has retained most of its original tooling—so many parts that might not be in stock can be reproduced if necessary. The short block arrived after six months, and MAX BMW began ordering the remaining parts and planning the build.

Technicians from all three MAX BMW locations were finally brought together in December of last year to complete the build. Using original and updated manuals, they took three days to transform the R90S from boxed parts to a working motorcycle, after which they spent an additional day painstakingly inspecting it before taking it for a test run.

An impressive timeline, considering the work involved—not only did the engine need to be assembled, but many other parts, such as the wheels, had to be built up from individual components. Particular attention was paid to authenticity—right down to ensuring that original fasteners were used in their correct mounting points.

All the body parts, including the 24-litre fuel tank, came from the factory in the original two-tone paint scheme. A few parts, however, couldn’t be found—such as the spring clip for the airbox, rear brake lever rod and right front fork slider. R100RS parts were sourced as replacements.

The team also had to improvise when it came to wiring, combining the wiring harnesses from a 1976 R90S and a later R-series model to accommodate BMW’s newer electronic tachometer (the original mechanical tachometer had been discontinued).

The final parts count came to roughly 1665, at a total cost of approximately $46,000. The build itself was documented daily, with photos and video posted to Facebook and a blog dedicated to the project. According to Max, the response was overwhelming. Prospective buyers have already come forward, but for now the R90S is going to be on display at each of the MAX BMW dealerships, with staff riding it.

And how does it ride? Max was the first to test ride it and says, “the bike feels solid, has great usable power and the gearbox shifts are smooth.”

from BIKEEXIF

Ordu, Texas Trailer

"Ordu, Texas" is an independent documentary movie about Osman Gursoy. He is a 80 year old man currently living in Ordu (Turkey) who has travelled more than 200.000 kms. on his small Vespa across Europe and North America in the 70's. His passion for motorbikes starts with a modification of a bicycle when he was young, simply he adds a engine to it. This lifetime journey takes him from Turkey to Europe and far across Arizona.
Ordu, Texas Trailer (English) from 2Enduro on Vimeo.

BMW CUSTOM BY KEVIL’S SPEED SHOP

Kevil’s Speed Shop was founded by Kevin Hill in England a few years ago and has quickly risen to prominence as the top custom BMW motorcycle builder in the country and one of the best in the world.

Kevin’s bikes all have a distinctive look, they’re engineered to perform well rather than just look pretty and this bike, dubbed “Azure” is a great example of his work. Azure is based on a 1982 BMW R80, a classic airhead that’s been seeing a huge surge in popularity recently with custom builders and restorers alike.

The 798cc (48.67 cubic inch) flat-twin boxer engine that powers the R80 is generally considered to be one of the most reliable motorcycle engines of the late-70s, they were built to handle both the extremes of German winters and Moroccan desert summers and the distinctive opposed-twin layout does a great job of keeping the cylinder heads out in the clean air.

Kevin built this bike on commission from Uzoma, an Italian client who fell in love with the bikes that Kevil’s Speed Shop had produced previously. His commission brief was to create an R80 based cafe racer with a white and blue colour scheme reminiscent of the Shelby creations of the 1960s, the engine and wheels were blacked out, front fork gaiters were added and a new seat/cowling was added.

The finished bike is now on its way to Rome, where it’ll provide a delightful contrast with the scooters, Ducatis and mopeds that are so common on the cobblestone streets of the ancient city. If you’d like to see more from Kevil’s Speed Shop you can click here to loom through the back catalogue.

via SILODROME