The Best Custom Motorcycles In The World, BMW Edition
BMW Motorrad’s Eastern Asia arm recently commissioned a quartet of the island’s top builders to put their considerable skills to the R NineT. The result was four incredibly different bikes. We know which one we’d like—what’s your favorite?
46Works
When they were first approached about this project towards the end of 2013, the guys at 46 Works said they were a little apprehensive about how to make the shape of the R NineT their own. But after considerable work adding to the lightness of the design for a better driving feel, the hand-beaten shape of the fuel tank just...sort of fell into place.
Cherry’s Company
Go. Turn. Stop. That’s the guiding principle behind this build from a garage that made a stark departure from their norm, since they generally stick to Harleys...which don’t typically turn all that well in their basic form. The idea was to build a bike that drew on BMW’s heritage, while still representing something that could plausibly be produced. Not bad for Cherry’s first BMW build.
Brat Style
Unlike the other R NineTs, this one was designed to be more of an old-school cruiser, something that was particularly challenging for the guys at Brat Style, since the bike’s frame didn’t originally fit their vision. However, some inventive bodywork and a set of gorgeous exhaust pipes later, you’d never guess there’s a brand-new, state of the art bike under there, full of modern electronics.
Hide Motorcycle
Take a close look at the fuel tank on this one. It’s completely raw, unpainted aluminum, which means every single square millimeter of it had to be hand-beaten into shape, lest any imperfections show through. The tank alone took a month to make. After that, the rest of the bike was a snap.
Check out this vid for a more thorough summary of the bikes and see ‘em in action. Now...which one do you think is best?
Aaron Miller is the Rides editor for Supercompressor. He's convinced that the Cherry’s bike is the winner. Disagree? Take it up with him on Twitter.