Over the many years of designing and building bikes we’ve learnt that some clients want to drop their bike off, let us design, create and build a bike according to a loose brief. We’ve also learnt that we have some clients that come to us with a strong vision of what they want to see in a custom build. A lot of the time they’re influenced by many of the amazing builds they see on instagram, Pinterest and via awesome blogs that detail out the builds. Joel our client for this 1982 BMW R100 was one of the latter. He knew what he wanted and turned to us to assist him to build it, whilst guiding him on how to make it safe, reliable and ergonomically appropriate for him.

A few of the must have for Joel included:

1. A short seat but specifically not a trucker seat

2. Short exhaust with the mufflers not extending beyond the foot pegs

3. As much blacked out as possible minus the tank and engine in an effort to highlight them as key parts of the bike

4. Where possible upgrade or update

The initial build was actually split into two parts. Part one of the build saw us remove and replace the standard seat, seat frame, rear guard, battery tray and rear shocks. We then fabricated a whole new stubby style rear hoop which featured a frenched in brake light/ tail light, rear guard, number plate mount battery/ electrics tray. Joel was very specific that he wanted the twin shocks to be laid over very much an inspiration from other builds from around the world as well as a build we did a few years back EB865 for Sam.

After a custom seat was made and then upholstered by our good mate John Moorhouse we were able to send everything out for second finishes and piece the bike back together. This was essentially phase one, Joel wanted to make sure the setup was right for him, see if there were any unforeseen geometry issues that he didn’t like before proceeding to phase two. A couple of months passed with Joel going out for a few rides and enjoying the bike.

From there phase two of the build, this was the big one. We were going to do a colour change on the tank, remove and replace the handlebars, swap out the electrics, install a full Motogadget system, remove and replace the headlight, fabricate a front guard, do the exhaust, refurbish the front end and upgrade the brakes. It was during this second phase that the bike was starting to show it’s age, the bike at this point was 42 years old, the previous owner(s) had let a few mechanical things go by the wayside and that’s to be expected, it’s when you start to tear into the bike that creep in the project starts to happen, there’s a lot of conversations around ‘well if we’re in there doing this now you might as well be doing this at the same time’ and bless Joel, every time we presented him with an issue and possible solutions he always chose the better and often more expensive option. As a result he has ended up with a bike full of upgrades and far superior to compared to factory.

When you have a client who does that, it allows us to the best work possible and deliver the best bike possible. We’re privileged that a lot of our clients want us to build them bikes that are going to last for a long time and therefore happy to invest the time and money upfront to get the job done as good as it can be. Some of the classic BMW issues reared their ugly heads including drive shaft, gear box, final drive work was all needed, the carbs needed attention, we also ended up taking the barrels off and re-sleeving and honing them out. The bike was running well but a little tired in the charging department. Not uncommon but we suggested to Joel that he could either leave it and address it later on or we could completely remove and replace the whole ignition system with a Wedgetail ignition system. Joel being Joel he jumped at the opportunity to upgrade the ignition system and wow, does the new system pack a punch!

Joel was super keen for a bright LED style headlight, we’ve found over the years it difficult to find a nice looking headlight. We’re now settled on the Stedi lights, they’re well built and bright. The only issue is there is very little by way of mounting options. There is definitely the option to place the light inside a standard motorcycle bucket but for this build we decided to design and develop a headlight bracket that can turn the Stedi into a bottom mount headlight. Visit the Ellaspede online store for a detailed breakdown of the mount.

In the cockpit there is a Motogadget Mini Scope providing all rider information, ASV levers, rebel switches and Motogadget grips. Joel wanted a specific look when it came to the lighting of handlebars and gauge, he was super keen to see everything light up in red when the bike was turned on. The result is something reminiscent of Darth Maul.

With all of the parts coming back from seconding finishes, electrics upgraded, drive line all reconditioned, wheels and tyres on the bike was ready for tuning. We suggested to Joel to keep the original air box. We’ve built plenty of R series BMWs in the past and ripped off the air box in favour of pods. Yes, we can get them to work but no they’re never as good compared to the stock air box, of course with a few learnt tweaks but that airhead just loves still air, so we feed it and she purrs.

This won’t be the last bike we build for Joel, he’s definitely become a great friend of the shop and we feel privileged to help bring his vision to life.

Albums we listened to during the build of this bike:

Build Pricing & Enquiries:

For build and pricing details or to discuss commissioning a custom motorcycle build of your own please email contact@ellaspede.com