BMW Motorrad has been producing motorcycles since the 1920s, and tuners have been customizing them ever since. Whether you’re interested in cafe racers based on the BMW airhead engines, flying bricks like the K-series, oilheads like the R nineT, or anything in between, we have you covered.
Fast Brick: BMW “K1 Racer 1.2” - BMW K100 by Lord Drake Kustoms... In recent years, the BMW K100 has become an unlikely favorite among bike-builders all over the world. Dubbed the "Flying Brick" for the boxy engine design, the K100 was… ...read more
Flying Brick: BMW K1100 Café Racer - Dream Build Off Winner: Mitch Witkamp's "Flying Brick"... The BMW K1100 was the final evolution of BMW's so-called "Flying Bricks," featuring a 1093cc inline-four with the 16-valve head from the K1. In 1992, the big… ...read more
God of Thunder: “Parom” BMW R100R Café Racer - For Sale: BMW Café Racer from Earth Motorcycles... The BMW R100R appeared in 1992, combining the proven chassis and flat-twin boxer engine of the GS with Showa suspension, Brembo brakes with floating discs, an electronic… ...read more
Bavarian Hot Rod: Kaczor BMW R60/7 Café Racer - From Kradhaus Bikes: Short-stroke BMW with a Kaczor racing frame... In 1965, Ferdinand "Ferdi" Kaczor, a young engineer and motorcycle racer, designed and built his own chassis around the BMW R50/2 engine, creating a 500cc… ...read more
Neo-Retro Nébula: BMW R100 Café Racer - For a man who only works on his builds three days per week, Jérémie Duchampt of Jerem Motorcycles consistently turns out some of the most well-executed projects on the planet. The Frenchman began his bike-building… ...read more
Four-Valve Boxer: BMW R100 Café Racer - Devil in the Details: 4V Krauser Airhead from Warkot Motorcycles... We see a lot of customized BMW air-cooled boxers ("Airheads") coming out of workshops across the world, but this BMW R100 out of Poland's Warkot… ...read more
Triple Time: BMW K75 Custom Roadster - WiMoto's BMW K75... Introduced in 1986, the BMW K75 was the triple-cylinder 750cc version of the Flying Brick, featuring dual chain-driven overhead camshafts, two-valves per cylinder, liquid cooling, and Bosch LE-Jetronic injection like the… ...read more
Undaunted: “Impávida” BMW K100 Café Racer - K100 Café Racer from Oveja Negra... Surely the BMW Motorrad engineers developing the original K100 in the late 70s and early 80s never expected their four-cylinder "Flying Brick" to become a darling of the custom… ...read more
Carbon & Alloy: BMW HP2 Sport Custom - "Midnight Dancer" from Cherry's Company... Introduced in 2008, the BMW HP2 Sport was quite the machine, a modern German sportbike whose 1170cc flat-twin (Boxer) engine made 128 hp -- the most powerful Boxer engine ever… ...read more
Flying Triple: BMW K75 Custom - Three-cylinder Flying Brick from Black Cycles Australia... The BMW K75 was the 750cc triple-cylinder variant of the company's K series "Flying Bricks" -- nicknamed for the distinct layout of their inline engines. The company wanted… ...read more
The Green Hornet: BMW R100 Café Racer - Lean, Mean, Green: BREW's 349-lb boxer, built for mountain roads! To those in the know, Steve “Brewdude” Garn of BREW (Blue Ridge Electric & Welding) needs no introduction -- he's a legend in the world… ...read more
1000cc Slash 5: 1972 BMW R60/5 Café Racer - 1000cc Slash 5 from Oren's Performance Bikes... It might be hard to imagine now, but in the 1960s, BMW's motorcycle division was at risk of being shut down, languishing with poor sales and outdated… ...read more
Best of MBE ’23: BMW R 18 Custom - Best of MBE: 911MX Factory x XTR Pepo's R 18 BMW... When the BMW Motorrad launched the R 18 in 2020, we can't say we were all that enthused. Yes, it's powered by the largest… ...read more
The Orange Brick: BMW K100RS Custom - Moto Adonis transforms a BMW Flying Brick... Introduced in 1982, the BMW K100 earned the nickname "Flying Brick" for its unique engine layout, wherein the bike's liquid-cooled DOHC inline-four was laid on its side in… ...read more
A Faster Brick: BMW K1100 “Eleanor” - Bulgaria's Tossa R builds an Eleanor-inspired Brick... One of the most iconic movie cars of the 21st century is the 1967 Shelby GT500 "Eleanor" from the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds -- a… ...read more
She Who is Powerful: “Sekhmet” BMW R80 - Fit for a Goddess: 72 HKG Performance's BMW Boxer... Sekhmet was an Egyptian goddess of war and healing, often depicted in the form of a lioness or woman with a lion's head. Her name can… ...read more
Top Gun: BMW K100 Café Racer - Flying Brick to Top Gun: Jet-inspired K100 from Jerem Motorcycles... Introduced in 1987, the BMW K100 was quite unlike any motorcycle BMW Motorrad had ever produced -- or any other company, for that matter. At… ...read more
Project Lethe: BMW R100 Cafe Racer - For many of us, building and riding motorcycles is crucial to our mental and emotional health. Whether it's the ability to swing a leg over the saddle and crack open the throttle, letting the wind… ...read more
Burly Brick: BMW K100 by Moto Rebuild - Moto Rebuild transforms a Flying Brick... Affectionately known as the "Flying Brick," the four-cylinder BMW K100 was an evolutionary leap forward for BMW Motorrad, who'd been focused on their flat-twin boxer machines since the post-WWII… ...read more
HellGate Moto: BMW K1100 Café Racer - BMW Uberbike from New York's HellGate Moto... The BMW K1100 was the company's liter-class sport touring machine, a 100-hp Autobahn missile that utilized the same four-cylinder engine layout as the earlier "Flying Bricks." The bike… ...read more
Descending Dragon II: BMW R75/5 “HaLong 2.0” - Destined for Handbuilt Show '22: DT Motoworks' Slash 5... The 1970 BMW R75/5 ("Slash 5") was a landmark machine for the company, whose motorcycle designs had become dated in the years since WWII, still in… ...read more
Special K: BMW K1100LT Cafe Racer by Lys Motorcycles - Staid to Sleek... We've covered the interesting history of the BMW K-series bikes in the past. They were a radical departure for BMW in the 1980s. After decades of relying on their horizontally-opposed Boxer machines,… ...read more
Boxer Bobber: BMW R100C by Zamarelli Moto - Last month, we featured coverage of Glory Daze 2021 -- a killer motorcycle show in Pittsburgh that featured over 150 garage-built custom bikes. One of the standouts was a gorgeous blue "Boxer Bobber" from a… ...read more
“Survivor” Springer: BMW R100 Café Racer - Lord Drake Kustoms builds a BMW R springer... The BMW R100 has become one of the world's most popular donors for custom transformations, appearing in a wide variety of modes and styles: café racer, scrambler,… ...read more
Aerospace Grade: BMW R NineT “7075 Koffee” - Le Motographe creates an arsenal of aerospace-grade parts... The BMW R nineT is an 1170cc air/oiled-cooled "oilhead" roadster with retro styling, developed as a "blank canvas for customizing." Few of today's bikes lend themselves to… ...read more
Black Sword: BMW R nineT Cafe Racer - Straight from showroom to custom with Gas & Oil Bespoke Motorcycles... The BMW R nineT takes inspiration from the 1923 BMW R32, whose 8.5 hp boxer engine was burbling around European roads 90 years before… ...read more
Rust-a-Maan: BMW R45 Cafe Racer - The BMW R45 was the smallest of the BMW airheads, sporting a 473cc / 35-hp version of the iconic boxer engine good for a top speed of 95 mph. Although it looked like a scaled-down… ...read more
Bahnstormer: BMW “K1 Racer” by Lord Drake Kustoms - "No, it's not a BMW K100…it's a BMW K1 by Lord Drake Kustoms." Developed from the beloved K100, the BMW K1 is one of the most iconic two-wheeled machines the company has ever produced… ...read more
F1-Inspired Brick: BMW K100 Cafe Racer - The Flying Brick that inspired The Cafe Racer Bible... While the BMW K100 has become a darling of the customs scene in recent years, there's one builder who's been a fan of the "Flying Brick"… ...read more
Automatic Brick: BMW K100 CVT Cafe Racer - Retro Rides by Lourenço builds a CVT cafe racer for a disabled rider... The BMW K100 "Flying Brick" has become an unexpected darling of the customs scene, a four-cylinder, fuel-injected, shaft-drive machine with the 987cc… ...read more
Re-Imagined: BMW G310R Cafe Racer by Michael Horn - A motorsport composite tech builds a carbon-fiber cafe racer... Unveiled in 2015, the BMW G310R represented the company's foray into the sub-500cc streetbike market. The entry-level roadster is powered by a 313cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder engine… ...read more
Super Sleek: BMW R100S “ØD2” by Ønix Design - A Spanish industrial designer builds an incredibly sleek airhead... The BMW R100 was the largest, most powerful incarnation of the legendary airhead series, featuring a 980cc flat-twin boxer engine that produced 60-70 horsepower. Not only… ...read more
Twisted Fate: Ex-Police BMW K1100LT Cafe Racer - Australia's Twisted Fate Builds unveils a stunning, blacked-out Flying Brick... When it appeared in 1991, the BMW K1100LT had the largest engine ever fitted into a BMW motorcycle, a 1092cc inline four that produced nearly… ...read more
Woodmachine: BMW R80 by Moto Rebuild - The BMW R80, built from 1978-1994, featured an ~800cc version of the venerable "airhead" flat-twin boxer engine, offering 51 horsepower to the rear wheel through a low-maintenance shaft drive. The bike cost nearly 50% more… ...read more
Frateschi Funduro: BMW F650 Custom - The BMW F650 Funduro debuted in 1994 as the company's lightweight, single-cylinder adventure bike -- a baby GS packing a 50-hp four-valve Rotax engine, top-notch build quality, and ultra-low running costs. But Visordown.com claims there's… ...read more
High-Spec: BMW R100-HS by Magnum Opus - The BMW R100 was the last and most powerful of the beloved airheads, boasting a 980cc air-cooled boxer engine that made 70 horsepower at 7000 rpm. When BMW Motorrad tried to cease production in the… ...read more
Silver Specials: Garage-Built BMW R75/7 Cafe Racers - Son and stepfather duo build a pair of silver specials... The BMW R75/7, available from 1976-79, was the 750 variant of the classic airhead design, offering a great compromise of power and economy. In 1977,… ...read more
Blue Racer: BMW R100 by Seb’s Atelier - The BMW R100 was the last of the airheads, with nearly 1000cc of flat-twin punch on tap and all the history of the legendary boxer engine concentrated into a single machine. When Sebastien Ledis of… ...read more
Flatbanger: BMW R100R Supermoto by Rind Performance - Flatbanger: A Supermoto-inspired Airhead from Germany... The BMW R100 was the last of the legendary BMW airheads, featuring a 980cc flat-twin boxer engine and BMW Paralever rear suspension coupled with a single-sided swingarm. The engine… ...read more
BMW K100 “Apollo” by Ruby Cafe - The K100 was developed during a time when BMW felt the need to create a modern, liquid-cooled machine that could compete with the inline fours coming out of Japan. The design concept was unique in… ...read more
BMW R100 Cafe / Bobber by Magnum Opus - In 1976, BMW introduced the /7 series, including the 980cc, 70-hp R100. The bikes would remain in production for two decades...excluding a brief pause in 1985 when the company tried to cease production in favor… ...read more
Speed Brick: BMW K75 by DVGAS Garage - A Bavarian Triple Sprint Racer... The BMW K75 was the three-cylinder version of the company's "Flying Brick," built from 1985-1995. The bike's straight-three was actually smoother than the engine of its big brother, the four-cylinder… ...read more
Alloy Racer: BMW K100 Custom by Basan Metalworks - For Sale: BMW K100 cafe racer from Basan Metalworks! The BMW K100 "Flying Brick," built from 1982-1992, has become an unexpected darling of contemporary custom culture. This '80s cruise missile challenges builders to design around… ...read more
Golden Ratios: BMW R100 by La Motocicletta - A BMW Airhead built according to the golden ratio... For many custom builders, one of the challenges is balancing their own style, vision, and design direction with the wishes and ambitions of the customer. After… ...read more
“BMW 60+” Café Racer: Same Owner for 59 Years! - BMW R50/69S Café Racer: same owner since 1960! A few weeks ago, we received a message from Jeff Thommen of Switzerland about this father's 1960 BMW R50/69: "I'd like to submit my father's bike, which… ...read more
Blue Moon: BMW K100 Café Racer by RW Motorcycles - The BMW K100 seems to be experiencing a renaissance in the custom world. The 90-horsepower, fuel-injected engine offers good punch, and the "Flying Brick" is known to be rock-solid during high-speed cruising. Still, it's safe… ...read more
Descending Dragon: BMW R75/5 “HaLong” - Introduced in 1970, the R75/5 was the largest BMW motorcycle of the time, offering a 750cc, 50-horsepower boxer engine capable of pushing the machine to 110 mph. The entire "Slash 5" or "/5" series, which… ...read more
“Hurricane”: BMW Flying Brick Café Racer - The BMW K100 "Flying Brick" represented a significant design leap for BMW Motorrad, who'd long been known for their flat-twin "airhead" engine design. The K100, in contrast, was a fuel-injected, liquid-cooled inline four laid flat… ...read more
BMW K100 “Shahin” by Mehdi Barakchian - An '87 Flying Brick dragged "kicking and screaming" into 2019... The BMW K100, introduced in 1982, benefited from the company's many years of experience building liquid-cooled, overhead cam, inline automobile engines. The fuel-injected, 95-hp engine was… ...read more
BMW R1200RT Cafe Racer by Si Mantas - "I think the garage is in my blood..." ? These are the words of Lithuania's Mantas Simanauskas, aka Si Mantas, who builds bikes in his evenings and free time. When he first started, he didn't… ...read more