New BMW F900GS just appeared and VTR Customs had their dirty feet on it. Other highlights this week include a Rotax frameset from the UK, a BMW R100GS racing replica from the US and a look at a new Biltwell Inc. collaboration. with Santa Cruz Skateboards.
BMW F900GS by VTR Customs If you’ve ridden the new BMW F900GS, you’ll know it’s a marked improvement over its predecessor. Looking to compete with the likes of the Yamaha T7 and Triumph Tiger 900, BMW has not only added more power to its middleweight Adventure model, it now has great off-road capabilities—with looks to match. .
However, it still wasn’t wild enough for the team at VTR Customs (although to be fair, there were very few bikes). The Swiss team loves driving BMWs, old and new, and runs up to 11 of them. For this round, they gave the BMW F900GS a bigger look and some tasteful changes to tighten it up.
Since VTR Customs is the custom arm of a famous BMW dealership, this vehicle also features many BMW parts. These will be a tinted windshield, billet brake and clutch levers, hand guards and a motorsport-style solo saddle.
All the OEM bits behind the seat are gone, replaced by a neatly arranged prototype tail section that holds the license plate, slim taillights and a pair of tiny Kellermann turn signals.
There’s no need to swap out the BMW’s fully adjustable suspension, Brembo brakes or tubeless rims, the only performance upgrade is the burly SC-Project exhaust. VTR coated it black, then blacked out the frame and most of the bike’s hard parts.
There isn’t a ton of fat to trim on the new F900GS, but VTR did a great job trimming it where they could. This is also just the first F900GS we’ve seen from them—so we’re eager to see how far they can push what’s currently one of our favorite adventure bikes. [VTR Customs]
Partridge Design’s Rotax framing machine Anthony Partridge has been involved in a variety of pies over the years — including a stint in reality TV as part of Discovery Channel’s Goblin Works Garage. However, as we all know, reality TV doesn’t have much realism. Part of organizing Goblin Works Garage meant outsourcing certain jobs to meet deadlines while filming; something that has never sat well with Ant.
This Rotax flat track is one such controversial project. Ant was building it on the show for his friend and retired British motorcyclist James Haydon, but had to scrap the project due to shoddy work by a third party. However, not wanting to let the bike go, Ant ended up rebuilding it from scratch and keeping it for himself.
The bike was originally a used flat racing bike with a chrome frame from Knight Racing, powered by a single-cylinder Rotax engine. Years of anger meant the frame needed a refresh, so Ant repaired and reinforced it, and fabricated a new swingarm out of extruded aluminum from Metmachex Swingarms. The frame is powder-coated black, the swingarm and countless other parts are painted Cerakote gray.
Next, Ant installed Öhlins suspension components at both ends, along with Brembo brake calipers on custom mounts, clamping Galfer discs at the rear wheel. Sudo Cycles features a unique pair of billet fork guards, along with a carbon fiber sprocket and chain cover.
The engine is also unaffected. Sportax Racing rebuilt it with Omega pistons and a reworked front end courtesy of Racetechnics. It was upgraded to 640 cc capacity and ran with an upgraded cam, hydraulic clutch and 44 mm Mikuni carburetor, giving a maximum power of 60 horsepower.
Co-Build Fabrication created the stainless steel exhaust, while the tank, seat and side panels are handmade by Ant. The chair uses an alloy base with six layers of cut-out yoga mats and is covered with air-cooled upholstery. As for the carbon side panels, they are made from salvaged panels from one of Ken Block’s Ford Fiesta race cars.
Goblin Works co-host Helen Stanley drew illustrations on the tank, echoing accents on the Neken Jared Mees flat-track handlebars and Alpina rims. [Source]
Tyson Carver’s BMW R100GS Like many other builders, Tyson Carver’s foray into custom bike building initially started as a hobby. But word spread, and soon he was taking on client work. After eight years of just building bikes for other people, his desire to tackle a personal project was at its peak – so when the opportunity arose to own this 1989 BMW R100GS, he jumped at it.
This car was purchased by a friend not long ago, has an Acerbis fuel tank, a rudimentary dashboard and signs of abuse. Over the course of five years, Tyson’s friend had his bike repaired at two different shops. He went so far as to rebuild the engine, gearbox and final drive, and powder coat the chassis in BMW’s classic Alpine white.
Forward progress had stalled, and so the bike had to go to Tyson’s workshop to cross the finish line. However, a few days later, his friend asked him if he wanted to buy the bike. With his head full of ideas, Tyson said “Yes.”
The bike now rides on fully custom suspension; An Öhlins shock sits at the rear, while a retuned WP Suspending fork from a KTM 450 sits up front. There’s also a KTM hub at the front, mounted to the Excel rim with Buchanan spokes. Brembo calipers hold the Galfer discs while a quick pull axle holds the wheel in place.
The chainstays and risers are from Myth Motor, the fairing is from SWT-Sports, and the front fender is a new old Acerbis unit from the ’80s. Tyson made a bracket to mount the KC Lights headlight to the fairing and added a custom carbon fiber dashboard. It’s equipped with Siebenrock gauges, original ignition, custom warning lights and a smart integrated Quad Lock smartphone mount, complete with vibration dampening (hidden behind the dashboard) and wireless charging.
There’s also a small knob to adjust the low-beam brightness of the headlights, which Tyson attaches to the crash bar. Other upgrades include ProTaper bars, trimmed Acerbis handguards, and Doubletake mirrors.
Rebuild BMW R100 The engine wasn’t initially in the cards — until Tyson took a ride and realized that everything was wrong. So he bought a new engine from a local BMW specialist and started swapping things out. A host of new Siebenrock parts, including the clutch assembly, pistons, wrist pins and connecting rods, were all balanced and installed.
There’s also an upgraded SWT-Sports airbox, Siebenrock exhaust system and Silent Hektik charging system. Finally, Tyson rewired the bike with NWT ‘brains’ and an Anti-Gravity battery.
Moving on to the frame, Tyson took the stock R100GS subframe, cut it 9.5 inches, and added a custom and repurposed BMW luggage rack. The vehicle can now be fitted with classic BMW plastic boxes, aluminum panniers or soft luggage. An Acerbis mudguard sits at the rear.
Tyson also fitted a modified R80G/S saddle, lengthened the factory center stand and side stand, and reattached the rear wheel to new Buchanan spokes. Ballin Customz wrapped the seat in new vinyl, while Leech Custom Cycles treated the old Paris-Dakar paint. On the surface, Tyson’s BMW R100GS looks familiar but rarely do you see a replica of a classic race car built to such exacting standards. [Tyson Carver Instagram | Images by Anna Carver]
Biltwell Inc. x Santa Cruz Gringo Skateboards For many of us, skateboarding and motorcycling go together like mac and cheese. To celebrate this, Biltwell have released a limited edition of their super popular Gringo helmetwhose logo is arguably the most iconic skateboarding logo of all time.
Next to the glossy classic white Gringo is an image of Santa Cruz’s ‘Screaming Hand’. First created in 1985 by Jim Phillips (who is also responsible for Santa Cruz’s ‘dot’ symbol), the Screaming Hand has been used continuously since then, proving its timelessness . So it was deeply embedded in the collective consciousness of our friends at Biltwell.
For this limited collaboration, Biltwell combined the Santa Cruz graphic with their full-face, visor-less Gringo helmet. It’s a simple helmet with a classic design, using an ABS outer shell, dual-density inner shell, and molded urethane chin bar. The interior uses ventilated padding with fleece lycra padding, balancing comfort and breathability.
Priced at $274.95 ($50 more than the ‘simple’ model), Biltwell Inc. x Santa Cruz Gringo complies with DOT and ECE 22.06. It’s also on its way to me right now; As a newly reformed skateboard rat, I couldn’t be happier. [More]
