BMW R 18 Customs
Like in Canada, Italy and Japan, Polish custom houses have now turned their tools to the BMW R 18.
BMW Motorrad Poland overnight unveiled then seven individual creations using the “Big Boxer” as the canvas.
We show them here placed in our order of preference, what’s your favourite?
BMW Dobrzanski Team Customs
BMW R 18 Isle of Man
I am not sure I would be a big fan of throwing it around the 37.73 mile mountain course but BMW Motorrad sales partner Dobrzanski Team Customs in Kraków chose the Isle of Man theme for their creation.
Of course BMW has a great affinity with the famous Isle of Man, and the Tourist Trophy races where Georg “Schorsch” Meier won the Senior TT for BMW in 1939, and Peter Hickman currently rules supreme on the latest BMW S 1000 RR.
The design of the BMW R 18 Isle of Man evolved from the heritage of Georg Meier’s victorious BMW factory racing machine, the BMW RS 255 Kompressor.
Adorned with “Schorsch” Meier’s starting number 49 this motorcycle ties in with the tradition of road racing and represents the history of the Isle of Man as a special place for motorcyclists and for the history of BMW Motorrad.
BMW Inchcape Poznań
BMW R 18 Speedy Gonzales
BMW sales partner Inchcape in Swadzim chose the fastest mouse in Mexico as the namesake for its BMW R 18 customising creation. Voilà, the BMW R 18 Speedy Gonzales.
BMW R 18 Speedy Gonzales boasts ape-hangers and a well padded single seat.
Inspired by automobile construction of the 1920s and 1930s, the front and rear mudguards are cavernous and curved and, together with the tank, side covers, headlamp cover and instrument housing, give the bike great presence together with its extraordinary paint finish – executed in blue-black with elaborate airbrush technique and filigree lines.
And then there are of course the long fishtail rear silencers, this bike is a real eye-catcher and defintiely carries off the South American theme.
Nine Hills Motorcycles
BMW R 18 Liberty
At the other end of the scale is the much more contemporary take used in the BMW R 18 Liberty built by Nine Hills Motorcycles in Chełmno led by Paweł Stachura.
This commissioned project based on the BMW R18 called Liberty includes handmade body components designed from scratch, such as fuel tank, front and rear mudguards, seat bench, lamp trim with small LED headlight and handlebars.’
Special features include the round instrument integrated into the tank centre tunnel, tank filler necks that are flush with the tank surface and can be opened under pressure, as well as exclusive leather components that are also handmade, such as seat upholstery and side pocket.
For the chassis, in addition to a lowered and fully adjustable rear suspension and a slightly lowered fork, three-piece wheels from Rick’s Motorcycles sized 8 x 18 inches at the rear and 3.5 x 21 inches at the front with 240/40-18 and 130/60-21 tyres respectively are used.
Numerous CNC-milled parts such as cylinder head covers or the specially designed oil cooler as well as brake callipers and footrests from Beringer tastefully complement the R 18 Liberty, which is elaborately painted featuring airbrush work. A short black FCR exhaust system rounds out the look.
BMW Team Długołęka
BMW R 18 The Great Wave
From some angles I love it, from others, not so much… Together with UNIKAT Motorworks, BMW sales partner Team Długołęka initiated the BMW R 18 The Great Wave.
The leitmotif here: to modify the BMW R 18 inspired by Japanese art painting and the Japanese style of bobber-style motorbikes. Its patinised paintwork makes you think that the R 18 The Great Wave has been around for decades and has just been found in a barn. This special paintwork technique was entrusted to the best artist in Poland – Łukasz Elbalenko.
With reference to Japanese culture and art, the theme of the Great Wave in Kanagawa was chosen – one of the most famous works of art from Japan by Hokusia, created around 1831. The Japanese bobber style features details such as the rear ducktail mudguard and the shortened frame rear section with single seat covered in natural brown leather.
Short, handmade silencers have slotted copper-coloured end pieces and hexagonal cross-sections. You will also find the exclusive copper coating on the shaft drive, brake callipers and cylinder head covers.
Finally, classic Shinko tyres with a very large cross-section and grooved tread give the R 18 The Great Wave a particularly masculine look.
Flat drag bar handlebars with genuine leather grips and personalised emblems on the engine round out the R 18 The Great Wave.
BMW Inchape Wrocêaw
BMW R 18 Roadster
BMW and MINI sales partner Inchcape Wrocêaw in Wroclaw took its inspiration for designing the BMW R 18 Roadster entirely from 1920s and 1930s automotive engineering.
The focus is on clear and straightforward lines and, together with a dash of Art Deco, ultimately led to a very clean and equally unique look for the R 18 Roadster.
A completely newly developed hump seat bench with additional fuel tank and “Monza Cap” filler neck helps give the rear end R 18 Roadster a sporty appearance, which is complemented at the front by matching cockpit trim and special handlebars.
The longitudinal beading in the hump seat bench and fairing are style-defining design elements of this bike. This design language is taken up in the openwork trim elements on the sides of the tank and on the aerodynamically designed front mudguard, the front of which features the legendary BMW kidney grille harking back to BMW automotive construction.
BMW ZK Motors
BMW R 18 Black Jack
The last two cabs off the rank differ much less from the R 18 base than the machines shown further up the page.
The R 18 Black Jack is presented by BMW Motorrad sales partner ZK Motors in Kielce. The customisers did not only use black lacquer, but also applied black chrome extensively. The list of such galvanically treated components is long and includes the headlight ring, speedometer surround, engine housing cover, handlebar weights, cylinder head covers, pushrod tubes, intake manifold trims, intake grille, air filter cover, handlebar clamps, wider beach bar handlebars, fuel filler cap, fuel filler trim element and the hanging rear view mirrors.
Small 16 inch wheels with big-sized tyres give the R 18 Black Jack an elongated, low and masculine appearance.
The thoroughly black look is further enhanced by a matt black sidepipe-style exhaust system and high-grade milled elements.
The cylinder head covers and the engine casing cover feature milling trim in Roland Sands design and the “Black Jack” emblem on the engine has also been elaborately milled from aluminium.
The quilted single seat, the tinted headlight lens and the licence plate holder on the left also blend in with style.
BMW Smorawiński
BMW R 18 Roar
BMW sales partner Smorawiński in Poznań had the 2019 R 18 Concept study entirely in mind when creating his R 18 Roar. In particular, the Smorawiński team focused on a very light-looking rear section with short rear mudguard and the swinging saddle with two coil springs make the bike look particularly light.
The extremely short, “silencerless” exhaust system in sidepipe style also adds to the light look of the rear section.
Together with wire-spoke wheels and chrome brake calipers, the result is very much like the original R 18 concept bikes originally unveiled in 2019.
