Bahnstormer: Workhorse Speed Shop’s custom BMW R18

It’s no secret that we have mixed feelings about the BMW R18. But there’s one thing we’re sure of: in the right hands, it has massive potential for customization. And few hands are as deft as Brice Hennebert’s.

We’ve been following Brice’s career for quite some time—from his early days as one half of Kruz Company, to his current work under the Workhorse Speed Shop brand. And the Belgian custom builder has yet to put a foot wrong.

Brice has a sharp eye, and a penchant for injecting retro racing style into his machines. He’s also not afraid to build them chunky, making his style perfectly suited to the R18’s generous real estate. This particular bike is a mild side-step for him though, laced with art deco design considerations.

Since the BMW R18’s design was originally inspired by the BMW motorcycles of the 1930s, Brice went on the hunt for inspiration from this era. “I wanted to bring the R18 to a whole new level,” he says. “One of my biggest inspirations was the R18 concept bike, which, for me is one of the best looking R18s to date.”

While relaxing at home, Brice stumbled across a documentary about the old AVUS circuit in Berlin—a road that was specifically designed to function as both a freeway and a race track. Since the R18 is built in Berlin, it felt like the perfect springboard for the project.

So Brice started gathering furniture, architectural and automotive designs from the era to build his mood board. “I based my design on two famous sports cars from this period,” he says.

“The first one is the Bentley Blue Train from 1949—a high-end racer, famous for being faster than a train. The three seater is a real piece of art.”

“The other one is the Rolls-Royce Phantom Jonckheere Coupe from 1935. The outrageous lines of the Rolls-Royce are so inspiring, I fell in love with this alien which is almost 100 years old, and which was customized in Belgium.”

Workhorse’s R18 is squat and compact, so it takes a second glance to realize that it’s rolling on a sizable set of wheels. There’s a 21” hoop up front, with a 240-wide 18” rim at the back. “The monster rear wheel does not look oversized with such a big engine,” says Brice.

Look even closer, and you’ll notice that the spokes are laced either side of a central ridge on each rim. That design was inspired by aero bicycle wheels, and, by Brice’s admission, Max Hazan’s twin-engined Velocette. So it’s no surprise that the wheels are custom units, made to spec by JoNich Wheels in Italy.

It’s not just the rim edges that are unusual. Brice wanted to keep the design clean, and that meant using an inboard brake set from Beringer. The brake company sent over CAD designs of an existing inboard system, which were passed onto Fabio at JoNich to make sure the new hubs could accommodate the brakes.

Beringer in turn made modifications to the inboard system, to ensure there would be space to re-install the BMW’s OEM ABS sensors. That makes this system about as one-off as you can get.

Higher up, Brice designed a new set of yokes to split the forks wide enough to fit the upgraded wheels and brakes. They grip a pair of 43 mm fork legs from Öhlins, with a custom-built shock from the Swedish suspension company fitted out back.

The Öhlins bits are not just for show though. Brice’s client is a hardcore race enthusiast, and although this is a cruiser, he wants it to perform as well as possible.

Another challenge was hollowing out the space under the seat, to show off the new shock. “All the usual shit under the seat moved to a black box behind the gearbox,” says Brice, “and there’s some stuff directly under the seat. It took two weeks of work to relocate all the electrical stuff correctly.”

A couple of components also made their way into one of this R18’s standout parts—its generous handmade aluminum belly pan. Brice fabricated an exhaust system from pie-cut headers and pieces of car racing mufflers to run inside it, and added louvered vents as a nod to the Bentley.

The stock fuel tank made the cut, but a lot of attention went into the cockpit and front end. Using 3D design and printing, Brice built a nylon glass fiber ‘fairing’ with an integrated headlight nacelle and fork covers. Packed inside it is a new old stock SEV Marchal headlight, upgraded with LED internals.

“I took some influence from the Revival Birdcage’s forks, and mixed in some pre-war aero inspiration,” he explains. “There’s also a drop of Hugo Eccles’ XP Zero around the yoke design.”

Behind the fairing is a ‘pop-up’ mount for an iPhone—a request from the owner, who apparently wants to run a navigation app since he gets lost often. The switches are custom-made items from Jetprime in Italy, designed specifically to interface with the BMW’s modern CAN bus system.

Also notable are the reverse-style levers, inspired by those on the original Concept R18. Brice put in another call to Beringer, who responded with parts from an old project that was never completed. Brice massaged everything into place, routing the R18’s brake hoses inside the handlebars.

Taking things one more step further, Brice 3D scanned the entire motorcycle, then designed parts like the valve covers, front engine cover, intakes, seat blank-off plate and more. Expanding his knowledge of additive manufacturing, he then 3D-printed castings, for Cedric at Metamagma to cast the final parts from aluminum.

Finishing off the build are a neatly finned rear fender, and a solo seat upholstered by all of Europe’s go-to guy, Jeroen at Silvermachine. Brice also credits Tim at Vinco Racing for doing all the machining work on the build.

Appropriately dubbed ‘Avus,’ Workhorse’s take on BMW’s monster boxer looks like a forgotten concept design from a bygone era—which is why we love it. If you do too, we have good news: the owner’s given him the go ahead to build a limited series of ten.

Workhorse Speed Shop | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Antoine Hotermans

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Blackbird: Plan B’s stealthy take on the Zero FX

Dirt bikes can make surprisingly good road customs, mostly due to their light weight and the easy tune-ability of most offroad powertrains. But an electric dirt bike? That’s something you don’t often see.

‘Blackbird’ comes from Italian builder Christian Moretti, who runs Plan B Motorcycles from his base in Laveno-Mombello, just outside Milan. Clad in stealthy black bodywork, its inspiration comes from an unusual source.

“The SR-71 Blackbird is one of the most iconic aircraft ever built, and it used the top-notch technology of its time,” says Christian. “Its unbelievable speed allowed it to simply leave missiles behind. Nowadays, electric bikes are arguably the top technology, but are they really working? For sure they can be pretty fast.”

The Zero FX is indeed pretty fast for an enduro bike. When it left the factory, it had a classic dirt bike profile—but Christian has turned it into a sleek road machine.

“It started life as a 2019 FX,” he reports. “The customer asked for a small, lightweight and ‘modern’ cafe racer. And because I love swapping purpose on a bike, the off-road entry level Zero was the perfect choice.” The 7.2 kWh version of the factory FX tips the scales at just 289 lb (131 kg), so the weight box was immediately ticked.

“When working on electric customs, it looks like there are two main directions these days: the ‘retro’ way or the super-futuristic one,” says Christian.

“One of the main goals of this build was to set aside the green argument for a bit to see if a ‘contemporary’ electric custom was possible—and if it would ‘fit in’ without the need for an internal combustion engine.”

Christian has hand-crafted the bodywork in aluminum, with swooping lines that fit within the modern sportbike vernacular but have the simplicity of retro racers. The metal was then ‘ink coated’ by Paint Republic Vignale.

“A crazy job for a crazy couple of alchemists,” says Christian. “It’s a very deep, chrome-like black until the sun touches it. Then you can see the aluminum of the bodywork underneath.” The magic potion was laid directly on top of the aluminum panels for a see-through effect, and not a single blob of filler has been used to smooth things out.

Flipping the ignition will start a ‘pre-flight check’: two air ducts on the side of the new fairing open and close, and they will open up every time the brakes are engaged—working as an active aero/air brake combo. At the same time, two fans inside the lower fairing will spin up to maximize cooling airflow.

“The fan speed is controlled by the throttle,” says Christian. “The more ‘gas’ you give to the bike, the more air is channeled through the fairing, cooling the battery, motor and regulator assembly.” It also makes a jet-like sound, which should alert other road users to the presence of this unusual machine.

To blend with the new bodywork, Christian has remodeled the back of the frame and tweaked the geometry to make it more suitable for the road.

The upper and lower clamps are new, CNC’d from solid aluminum blocks to Christian’s own design and with the right amount of offset. “We ended up with a quite neutral 98mm trail, with some room for adjustment.”

The 41mm Showa forks have been replaced by beefy 50mm Marzocchis, with custom made lowers to accommodate two massive Beringer six-pot calipers and a pair of ceramic 340mm rotors from BriLo Tech. (“Yes, it’s definitely overkill!”)

At the back there’s a fully adjustable monoshock from Gears Racing, and the OEM enduro wheels have been ditched in favor of a set of 17-inch Grimecas shod with supermoto tires.

Due to the Moto3-like dimensions, Christian has also moved the clip-ons so that the leading part of the rider triangle is 50mm forward—allowing for a more laid down riding position, and a bit more weight on the front of the bike.

There’s some pretty considered and serious thinking going on throughout this Zero, but Christian has allowed himself a touch of levity in the cockpit area. “it’s super busy, as a proper aircraft one should be!” he says.

On top of the original digital gauge, there is now an infrared rear-view camera and a top-mounted radial steering damper integrated in the upper clamp. Plus several aircraft switches and an altitude indicator. “Which serves absolutely no purpose, but it’s fun to look at while you’re taking a corner!”

With its low weight and instant-on torque, we reckon this Zero will be fun wherever it’s ridden. And will no doubt attract a ton of attention when parked up, too.

Plan B Motorcycles | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Cristina Pertile

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Green Machine: Deep Creek’s custom Ducati ST4

For most pro custom bike builders, working to a brief is the norm. So any opportunity to take on a carte blanche project is relished. This brawny Ducati café racer from Kris Reniers is one such machine—which is why it has of his favorite things rolled into one.

Kris is the man behind Deep Creek Cycleworks, based in the Belgian town of Diepenbeek. He’s an experienced endurance racer, enjoys customizing Ducatis, and is besotted with a specific metallic green paint. Which is why he’s just built his third race-inspired Ducati in this color scheme, and dubbed it ‘Green Machine 3.0.’

The commission came from a friend, with a 1998 Ducati ST4 selected as the donor. The ST4 is one of those rare classic Ducatis that favors practicality over excitement—but it has good bones. Sitting inside its trellis frame is the same 90-degree V-twin motor as the Ducati 916, good for 105 horses.

Kris took inspiration for the project from a Holographic Hammer illustration that he’d stumbled across. “I wanted a rough look for this bike,” he explains. “A bit nose heavy, a bit buff. With the headlight as low as possible, and a more sporty and beefed up front suspension, I knew I could get that look.”

To achieve this, Kris started by transplanting the front end from a Ducati Streetfighter 848 onto the older ST4. The upgrade included the Streetfighter’s radial Brembo calipers—but not its wheels. Instead, a set of spacers and bushings were machined to accommodate a set of Alpina wheels, originally designed for the Ducati Paul Smart 1000 LE.

The burly upside-down forks were added for more than just their looks; Kris is a bonafide track racer, so performance was another key factor. To that end, the rear is now propped up on a new Wilbers shock.

The biggest magic trick here, is how Kris massaged the ST4 so much that it almost looks like a Monster now. Remarkably, he did it without tossing away the OEM fuel tank either.

“The fuel tank was not an easy job,” he says, “because all the electrics needed to be kept out of sight—and the perfect place was under the tank. It’s a bit of a Frankenstein tank, welded up using the original as a donor, which was cut and reshaped.” Sitting on top is an endurance-style filler—another nod to Kris’ love for the track.

More heavy lifting went on out back, where Kris hacked off the rear half of the frame. He then shaped up a new trellised subframe, which now bolts onto mounting points on the main frame. The seat is small and waspish—an intentional move to keep things looking racy, and to push the visual weight to the front.

The back end of the bike is neatly finished with a small LED taillight from Wünderlich, and a splash guard to keep muck off the engine. There’s a discreet hand-made tray under the seat too, holding a few of the Ducati’s essential bits.

Up front, a handmade cowl sits over a low-slung led headlight from Koso. The cockpit is incredibly compact, featuring clip-ons with LSL grips, basic switches, and a digital Motogadget Motoscope Pro dash.

Lower down are new rear-sets from Valtermoto, which are actually designed for the Suzuki GSX-R750. “We race the GSX-R in the classic endurance scene,” explains Kris, “and I knew those would look great on this build.”

The final piece of the puzzle is the asymmetrical exhaust system, terminating in twin mufflers from Tyga. “The pie cuts were a handful for me,” says Kris. “I am not used to welding them, and that bit could have been done better by a professional. But nobody is perfect—and this bike is no exception.”

We appreciate the humility, but honestly this Ducati’s stance and proportions are so good, we can forgive a few errant welds. That stunning livery doesn’t hurt either.

“The metallic green is a color that was used way back in the day by Ford USA,” Kris tells us. “It has a gold-ish flake that shimmers when the sun strikes. It’s become a bit of a trademark for me.”

Complementing the green base are gold and white accents, and a textured cognac leather seat, upholstered by Atelier Lepez. “We used that leather to get a bit of a vintage racer look, a reminder of the green Moto Guzzi V8 racer of the 50s.”

This ST4 ain’t no showpiece either. As soon as Kris gets a chance, he plans to take it to the track—with his friend’s permission, of course.

“When I look at this bike, I think about how much I would love to ride it,” he says. “And when think that thought, I know I am on the right track. I promised my friend we would take it to the track in Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and let it rip up Raidillon!”

Deep Creek Cycleworks | Facebook | Instagram

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Speed Read, June 26, 2022

Ironwood says goodbye to older bikes with their last carb’d custom. We’ve also rounded up another fresh Triumph from Tamarit, a Zero with handcrafted bodywork, KTM’s new 450 Rally Replica, and a modern homage to the Ducati 750 Sport.

Honda GL500 by Ironwood Custom Motorcycles Arjan van den Boom is no stranger to these pages. He’s been making custom bikes since 2012 and has been rather prolific, to say the least. What might come as a surprise, is that you’re looking at the last carbureted bike that Arjan’s Amsterdam workshop, Ironwood Custom Motorcycles, will ever produce.

For older motorcycles, Arjan has partnered with Wyld Garage Co. in Arizona, who are producing bikes of his original style to order. But Ironwood is moving away from its BMW boxer roots, and towards modern ICE and electric motorcycles.

Arjan’s based his last ‘vintage’ build on a bike I am quite familiar with: the Honda GL500. I began my motorcycling career with the GL’s poor brother, the CX500. I modified my old CX too, but I certainly didn’t go to the extent that Ironwood has.

Up front, they’ve grafted on a Ducati Monster 1200 front end, complete with radially-mounted Brembo brakes. An LED headlight is cleverly attached to the forks, in front of a Honda CB750F fuel tank. The long and wide tank looks to have been a perfect choice, as it ends neatly where the new rear subframe begins.

Speaking of, the ugly OEM subframe is where most CX/GL-based builds fall down—and it looks like Arjan and the Ironwood team share this opinion. Starting from scratch, the new subframe supports a very svelte leather seat, cantilevered over the back end. The exhaust is all new, and I like how it terminates behind the foot pegs, putting the enclosed rear wheel on display.

Taking a back seat to customer work, this GL took Ironwood a full two years to build. According to Arjan, the long-term investment has returned dividends by way of improved aesthetics, a great soundtrack and an even better ride. [Ironwood Custom Motorcycles | Images by Paul van Mondfrans Lindén]

Triumph Bonneville by Tamarit Motorcycles The team at Tamarit has been busy. Hot on the heels of the bike we featured last week, here’s another of their spicy takes on the older carb-fed Triumph Bonneville T100.

This Bonnie is a lot more to my liking in terms of style compared to the last one. Tamarit calls it one of their “craziest bikes,” and have dubbed it ‘Silenzio Bruna!’ (Bonus points if you get the reference.) While the flat track-inspired design is not particularly outlandish, there are some striking details.

I’m a sucker for gold wheels and metal flake paint and Tamarit has done a great job with both of these aspects. The blue paint against the brass-plated wheels is stunning, and there is even more bling by way of the number plates, finished in gold flake. The frame has been chrome plated and the engine cases have been polished to match.

The real centerpiece of the build is the monocoque tank and seat unit. The whole thing is hydraulically assisted and lifts as one piece. Not only is this very impressive from an aesthetic standpoint, but it must also be mighty practical when servicing the bike.

The electronics have all been upgraded thanks to Motogadget, and the stock Bonneville cockpit has had some tweaks. The flat track bars are taller and wider than stock, and the mirrors, switches, throttle and grips are all new.

The gauge cluster has been replaced by a Motogadget Tiny speedometer, neatly deposited betwixt the bar risers. Lighting is, naturally, all LED and the ‘headlight’ is slung down below the front number plate.

There are countless other details that I’m glossing over. And while the studio shots of the bike look great, I bet it would look next level parked in the sun with all that glitter. [Tamarit Motorcycles]

Zero SR/F by Bizarro Corp Do you have an all-electric Zero Motorcycle, but think it needs a retro-futuristic injection? Well, have we got news for you; this is a creation of that very ilk.

Based on a brand new Zero SR/F, Bizarro Corp teamed up with Zero Motorcycles Madrid to create this special aero kit. Opening its doors in 2014, Bizarro has pivoted away from fossil fuel-powered motorcycles recently, in favor of electric ones.

One of the best things about this kit (other than the look) is that it is completely interchangeable with the original fairings and bodywork. That requirement was baked into the brief, so Bizarro left much of the base bike below, focusing their efforts on hand-forming a full complement of aluminum bodywork. With low slung bars and waspish rear end, it all makes for a very racy silhouette.

If this is destined for a race track, then consider it finished. Even though it would be silent, unleashing 110hp and 190Nm of torque on an open track sounds like a lot of fun. [Bizarro Corp]

2023 KTM 450 Rally Replica The Dakar Rally is one of, if not the most, difficult and physically demanding races on the planet. It’s a grueling two-week event held at the beginning of each year, with competitors split up into several categories. Limited to 450 cc, the motorcycle category is largely dominated by a few brands—most of which fall under the KTM umbrella.

Over the last decade, KTM has claimed the top step of the Dakar podium eight times. Since 1979, they’ve won it 19 times. So to say that KTM is successful at Dakar is a gross understatement.

Drawing on that success comes this: the 2023 KTM 450 Rally Replica. As the name implies, it’s a full-spec, ready to race Dakar bike, almost identical to the winning machinery used by the KTM Factory Racing Dakar team. With only 70 units being built, these are morbidly limited edition.

You do get a lot of race-winning kit for the privilege though. This factory race bike comes with the same fuel-injected 450 cc single, chromoly frame, Pankl transmission and WP XACT suspension as the team bike. And you even get the same Akrapovič exhaust.

As a recent adventure bike owner myself, stuff like this makes me weak at the knees. That could be because race-bred machinery like this is beautiful in its own ugly way. It could also be because of the price tag—KTM hasn’t revealed it yet, but last year’s iteration was an eye-watering $27,000. [More]

The Crafton Atelier Crafton 01 For this week’s Speed Read I opened up the first link Wes sent me, and was greeted by this silver Ducati, built by Crafton Atelier. I’d never seen the bike before, but I could tell it was based on a Ducati Scrambler. Still, it was oddly familiar—something about the lines and silhouette of the bike piqued my curiosity.

I scrolled down the page to discover that Crafton Atelier based its concept on one of my favorite motorcycles: the Ducati 750 Sport. The Crafton 01 isn’t a direct copy of the 750 Sport though—it’s more of a modern homage to the original design. And Crafton has pulled it off incredibly well.

Using the Scrambler as their starting point, they crafted a new tank from aluminum, equipping it with a flush-mounted filler cap. The tail is made of fiberglass, topped with a beautiful black leather saddle.

The exhaust system is hand made, and so is the electrics tray, neatly hidden under the new seat. This is balanced atop a new subframe—a huge improvement on the rather swoopy factory design.

Crafton has integrated the OEM seat latch into a new position under the electronics tray too. This seems like a small detail, but I’ll bet it’s a welcome one when it’s time to change the battery or service any of the other electrical components.

The lighting has been upgraded to LED and the stock speedometer is integrated into a new headlight housing. This keeps the profile low and keeps the ECU happy by running everything through the stock cluster—ABS braking system included.

The Crafton 01 is one of the best Ducati Scrambler-based customs I’ve ever seen. It’s elegantly understated—but then again, so was the 750 Sport. [More]

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