In the way projects typically go, the work on this BMW R80 started off on a much smaller scope than it ended.
Originally, the owner of the bike brought down the engine to be torn down, vapour blasted and reassembled, while he did work on the rest of the bike. Eventually this expanded into getting the frame powder coated, then putting the engine into the frame, and then finally building the whole bike once the owner realised that he was a little bit out of his depth.
Slowly but surely, the project morphed into what it would eventually become, a (really nice) custom BMW.
The bike itself started off as a 1980-something BMW R80 police bike (or ex-police bike), and it was a mess. As is mentioned above, the project started off small (for us) and then grew rapidly. As the project advanced, the bike received some pretty extensive modifications. These were:
- Extended oil pan
- Big-bore cylinder kit
- Down & Out Customs Rear subframe and seat pan
- Leather seat cover and foam by Ciaran Molloy Upholsterers
- Down & Out Customs Front and Rear Mudguards
- Down & Out Customs Battery box
- KOSO All in One Speedometer / Tachometer with built in warning lights
- Alchemy Parts Black Aluminium Classic LED Indicators
- Alchemy Parts Black Torpedo Style Tail / Rear Lamp
- (In house) 3D Printed Tail lamp to Mudguard mount
- Billet Aluminium Top Yoke
- (In house) Speedometer to Top Yoke mounting bracket
- Monza style flip top fuel cap
- Domino All in One Switch gear
- (In house) Custom Wiring Harness with turn-key start
- Many more bits and bobs (that we have forgotten)
To bring some additional contrast to the engine, we had the valve covers powder coated in crinkle black. For even more contrast, we painted the forward and upper engine casings in matte black and then polished and planed the raised surfaces.