History
During the 1970’s there was a new wave of powerful motorcycles being produced in Japan. The air cooled horizontally opposed boxers that BMW had been producing for many years could not compete with the sleek more powerful Japanese motorcycles so BMW went back to the drawing boards to come up with something new that would at least be on par with the hugely competitive Japanese market. After much development and testing, the BMW K series bike was born, with the release in 1983 of the K75 and K100. Each model was produced in a sport, touring and luxury touring version. Key design criteria included shaft drive and dry clutch. To achieve this with an inline water cooled engine and longitudinal running crankshaft, the engine was simply turned on its side.
Modifications
Around the world, the BMW K bikes are the number one bike of choice being customised today, with the majority being revamped with a fairly typical café racer styling. I wanted something different so worked on a classic vintage styling that tied in colours of a vintage era with old style materials such as leather, brass and timber. One of the very unique features of this bike are the handmade leather fork gaiters I made. This bike is a 1986 K100RS, purchased unregistered and running for $2250. Total cost of the build including purchase price; $6000. Vintage green paintwork $800, chrome plating, $600, seat upholstery $250, instrument $240, tyres $375.
