Gas-injected BMWs aren’t a standard sight within the customized bike world, however there’re all the time these maverick souls who wish to be slightly completely different from the remainder of us, aren’t there?
Again in 2018 Dave from Derbyshire NCC was simply starting his Chopper Membership journey, beginning prospecting. He’d had, he says, his justifiable share of customized bikes over time, and was operating on the time a mildly customised Twin Cam, and a Bandit 12 (each purchased new), and deliberate to cut the Bandit to make a Membership bike, and preserve the Harley as was (he’s since completed the Bandit, however that’s one other story). Then, unexpectedly, he got here into some cash and acquired a (“very scary”) VTR1000 chop known as ‘Convey Out Your Lifeless’ which, not lengthy after, he determined was going to be a stopgap till he might discover one thing extra appropriate.
He’d had event to borrow a GS1100 (BMW, not Suzuki) from a pal, and’d liked the quirkiness of the fuel-injected flat-twin motor, so when an fascinating bike with a Boxer motor got here up on the market on eBay, he was – very . He and a Membership brother drove from the Peaks as much as Glasgow to see it, a deal was finished, and it got here again with him that very same day.
The bike was constructed round an R1200C (the not-terribly-popular Cruiser model of the well-known BMW twin) engine, single-sided swingarm/driveshaft, and rear wheel, housed in a one-off perimeter-style body, with a Ducati Monster M900 entrance finish, and one-off bodywork made on an English wheel. It was very properly finished, and Dave was actually wanting ahead to driving it very a lot. The factor is, that was within the winter of that yr and, as Derbyshire winters might be fairly harsh, he didn’t actually get out on it a lot till the Spring, and that’s the place issues began to get… umm, fascinating.
Piotr, the lad who constructed it below the identify of Bieda 75, had initially meant it for himself, however his associate fell pregnant and he needed to promote it rapidly. This meant it hadn’t been rigorously shaken-down, and so Dave needed to cope with a complete load of annoying little faults, beginning with the entrance mudguard struts fatiguing and the ‘guard falling off, shortly earlier than the rear hugger one did too on a Welsh run. Fortunately, most of those have been simply mounted (“I binned the hugger, and fitted slightly Ducati entrance mudguard”), and despite the fact that there have been others they too didn’t tax him an excessive amount of. That was it – it was able to go… he thought.
Truly, what adopted was two years of intense frustration attributable to the bike’s electrics; parasitic drains, lithium batteries, keyless ignitions (4 of them in the long run), and a foul earth-strap. It was compounded by the bike catching fireplace, and solely narrowly being put out earlier than it was totally wrecked, and, he says, “the AA ended up understanding me by my first identify, and even despatched me a Christmas card.”
The bike went from one electrical specialist to a different to a different, and was finally (he hopes!) sorted out by transferring the battery from the place it was housed below the tank to under the rear of the tank on the left, eradicating the keyless ignition in favour of a traditional barrel-and-key ‘un, and placing an isolator on the earth-strap, and, to date, it’s been excellent, racking up the miles as a Membership bike ought to.
It’s a funky-looking factor too; extra a streetfighter than a chop, it has the standard ‘large shoulders’, nearly bulldog, look of a correct ‘fighter, and a minimal, floating, seat and tail-piece frequent to the style too. The perimeter body’s paying homage to the handiwork of the likes of, the sadly now each defunct, Harris Efficiency and Spondon Engineering, though it’s not a duplicate of both, and the single-sided again finish, with its easy shock and integral driveshaft, appears to be like as ’ard as nails. The bodywork, as I stated, was hand-made on an English wheel, a good ability in itself, and the tank rack’s each a vital a part of the design and completely crucial for carrying tenting gear on Membership runs as he can solely strap a tent, or no matter, onto the forks ‘cos the again finish’s so minimal. The rear gentle arrangment’s worthy of be aware too – it’s each minimal and in-yer-face on the identical time, and suitably shiny with its LEDs too. I additionally just like the very completely different, nearly brutalist, exhaust collector/exits that exhibit the single-sided wheel to greatest benefit. Lastly, the paint, all finished with rattle-cans (not that you just’d know it, is such a deep crimson (a Mazda color apparently) that I used to be satisfied it was black till I appeared slightly more durable.
Dave says he’s nonetheless slightly cautious of the Beemer’s electrics, however has a couple of extra choices if issues do go incorrect (and a direct line to the Fourth Emergency Service, clearly), and describes his relationship with the bike as “I like it, I hate it, I like it… you get the gist.”
Spec: BMW R1200C engine (one-off exhausts, braided stainless oil strains)/entrance brake calipers/swingarm/drive-shaft/rear wheel/brake/loom (modified), one-off body, one-off mid-mounts, one-off reverse rocker-type foot controls, Ducati M900 Monster wheel/discs/USD forks/yokes/entrance mudguard (modified), one-off caliper brackets, braided brake strains, one-off ‘bars, unknown mannequin BMW entrance brake master-cylinder/switchgear, one-off entrance LED indicator bar, Koso digital speedo unit, one-off gasoline tank/tank rack, one-off seat, one-off rear mudguard, one-off side-mount ‘plate, aftermarket rear shock with uprated spring, one-off rear master-cylinder, H-D V-Rod headlight, one-off LED tail-light/rear indicators
End: Rattle-canned deep Mazda crimson bodywork paint & Ford silver body by Piotr Hudy of Bieda 75 & proprietor
Engineering: All work by Piotr Hudy of Bieda 75, proprietor & Simon Hodgson
Thanks To: “Piotr; Simon; all of Derbyshire NCC for always taking the p*ss; the AA for restoration; Nat, the missus, for always moaning concerning the bike; & Rab & Mat Black for always reassuring me over the electrics…”
