There’s no secret that we have mixed feelings about BMW R18. But there’s one thing we’re sure of: on the right, it has huge customization potential. And few hands are as skillful as Brice Hennebert’s.
We’ve been following Brice’s career for quite some time — from his early days as one-half of the Kruz Company, to his current job under Workhorse Speed Store brand. And the Belgian custom builder hasn’t misplaced a foot yet.
Brice has a keen eye and a penchant for bringing vintage racing style to her machines. He’s also unafraid to craft them to perfection, making his style a perfect fit for the R18’s generous real estate. This particular bike is a small step away from his usual fare, adorned with art deco design considerations.
As the design of the original BMW R18 was inspired by the BMW motorcycles of the 1930s, Brice continued to seek inspiration from this era. “I wanted to take R18 to the next level,” he said. “One of my biggest inspirations is R18 concept bikeFor me, it’s one of the best looking R18s to date. “
While relaxing at home, Brice came across a documentary about the old AVUS circuit in Berlin — a road specifically designed to act as both a highway and a race track. Since the R18 was built in Berlin, it felt like the perfect springboard for the project.
So Brice started collecting interior, architectural and automotive designs from the era to build her mood board. “I based my design on two famous sports cars of the period,” he said.
“The first was a Bentley Blue Train from 1949 – a luxury race car, famous for being faster than a train. The three seats are a real work of art. “
“The other is a Rolls-Royce Phantom Jonckheere Coupe from 1935. The strange lines of Rolls-Royce are very inspiring. I fell in love with this almost 100 year old and custom made alien in Belgium. “
The Workhorse’s R18 is squat and compact, so you can tell at a glance that it’s rolling on a rather large set of wheels. There’s a 21-inch rim at the front, with a 240-inch wide rim at the rear. Brice said: ‘The monster’s rear wheel doesn’t look oversized with such a big engine.
Look closer, and you’ll notice that the spokes are laced on either side of the center bezel on each rim. That design was inspired by aviation bicycle wheels, and by Brice’s admission, Max Hazan’s Velocette two engines. So it comes as no surprise that the wheels are custom units, built to JoNich Wheels specifications in Italy.
It’s not just the edges that are irregular. Brice wanted to keep the design clean, and that meant using Beringer internal brakes. The brake company submitted a CAD design of an existing interior system, which was transferred to Fabio at JoNich to ensure the new hubs could accommodate the braking system.
Beringer, in turn, made modifications to the internal system, to ensure there was space to re-install BMW’s OEM ABS sensors. That makes this setup a one-time only thing you can get.
Going higher, Brice designed a new set of spokes to split the fork wide enough to fit upgraded wheels and brakes. They clamp a pair of 43 mm forks from Öhlins, with custom-made shock absorbers from the Swedish suspension company fitted at the rear.
The Öhlins bits aren’t just for display, though. Brice’s client is a heavyweight racing enthusiast and even though this is a cruiser, he wants it to perform as well as possible.
Another challenge was to hollow out the space under the saddle to show off the new shock. “All the usual trash under the saddle goes to the black box behind the transmission,” says Brice, “and there is some stuff right under the saddle. It took two weeks of work to move all the electrical appliances correctly.”
A few components also become one of the standout parts of this R18 — its generous handcrafted aluminum pan. Brice built an exhaust system out of wheel-cut ends and race car silencers to run inside it, and added covered vents as a nod to the Bentley.
The reserve fuel tank was cut, but a lot of attention was focused on the cockpit and front end. Using design and 3D printing, Brice built a nylon fiberglass ‘shield’ with an integrated headlight lens and fork cap. Packing inside it are new old SEV Marchal headlights, upgraded with LED lights inside.
“I had some influence from Revival Birdcage’s he explained. ‘There’s also a drop of Hugo Eccles’ XP Zero around the yoke design. “
Behind the fairing is an iPhone ‘pop-up’ mount—a request from the owner, who apparently wants to run a navigation app because he gets lost often. The switches are custom-made items from Jetprime in Italy, specifically designed to interface with BMW’s modern CAN bus system.
Also worth noting is the reverse-style lever, inspired by those on the original Concept R18. Brice sent another call to Beringer, who responded with parts of an old project that was never completed. Brice massages everything into place, routing the R18’s brake hoses inside the handlebars.
Taking it a step further, Brice 3D scanned the entire motorcycle, then designed parts like the valve cover, front engine cover, intakes, saddle guards and more. Expanding on his knowledge of additive manufacturing, he later 3D printed casting, for Cedric at Metamagma to cast the final parts from aluminum.
Completing the build are the neatly finned rear fenders, and the solo seats are upholstered by a European traveling man, Jeroen at Silvermachine. Brice also credits Tim at Vinco Racing for doing all the machining on the build.
Appropriately named ‘Avus’, the Workhorse’s car clad in BMW’s monster truck looks like a forgotten concept design from a bygone era — that’s why we love it. like it. If you are too, we have good news: the owner let him keep building limited series often.
Workhorse Speed Store | Facebook | Instagram | Photo of Antoine Hotemans
