Because the founder of Spain’s 72 Cycles Efficiency, and one-half of the collaborative outfit 72 HKG Efficiency, Antonio Rodriguez has developed an affinity for {custom} BMWs. So when he just lately moved his operation to the US, selecting a BMW R100R café racer as his first undertaking on contemporary soil was a no brainer.
“After constructing greater than 60 bikes in Spain, and as a result of restrictions we have now when making substantial modifications to our bikes, I had it in my head for a very long time to maneuver to the US,” Antonio tells us.
“Three years in the past, I used to be on trip in Houston and fell in love with the fervour they’ve for all issues motoring. Each weekend there’s an occasion associated to traditional vehicles, sports activities vehicles, traditional bikes, or some other sort of motorcar. There’s a fantastic devotion to every part traditional and restomod—it was the proper place to proceed with my bikes!”
“All the things went quick. I met Cole and Brad, my present companions within the firm, and from the start, they understood my ardour for bikes basically, and particularly for BMWs. That’s how 72 Efficiency USA was born!”
Antonio was eager to get cracking on his first American-based construct, however he and his colleagues hadn’t discovered a workshop but. So he borrowed area from Wolfsmiths Heights—a café and {custom} store in Houston. With a 1993 BMW R100R on the bench, issues started to take form.
“I wished my first undertaking to be an ideal combine between the essence of the airhead engines, and the aesthetics of a light-weight and quick café racer—however I wanted one thing extra stunning,” he explains. “I had already utilized a bullet fairing earlier than, so it was the proper time to make use of it once more.”
The adjustments on this BMW R100R are extra than simply pores and skin deep. Antonio is all about balancing kind and performance, so he upgraded the bike’s operating gear with trendy elements to verify it will trip nearly as good because it appears to be like. The entrance forks are from a Triumph Velocity Triple 955i, however they’ve been upgraded with stronger springs.
Antonio transplanted the Triumph’s entrance brake calipers too, matching them to 320 mm floating discs, a Brembo grasp cylinder, and braided chrome steel hoses. The rear shock is a custom-built Hagon unit, arrange for the precise stance and trip traits that Antonio wished. The wheels had been stripped, powder-coated, and rebuilt with chrome steel spokes and new bearings.
The BMW’s boxer motor was nonetheless in nice situation, so there was no have to crack it open. Nonetheless, it was stripped, cleaned, painted, and polished. The previous Bing carbs had been tossed, with a pair of Mikuni TM38 flatslide carbs providing a snappier throttle response.
Subsequent, Antonio and his crew fabricated a burly chrome steel exhaust system that runs over the cylinder heads and underneath the seat. “There’s sufficient area to not burn your butt” he ensures us. Beneath the hood, the bike options an all-new wiring loom with a Motogadget controller and keyless ignition, an digital ignition, and a Lithium-ion battery.
Structural adjustments embrace reinforcements to the principle body’s spine, with a bespoke subframe to help a single café racer-style seat. The R100R’s ugly pillion peg mounts had been trimmed and repurposed as brackets for the absolutely adjustable rear-set foot controls.
When BMW designed the BMW R100R within the 90s, they borrowed most of its components from the R100GS—together with its gas tank, which all the time appeared just a little misplaced on the road-focussed ‘R.’ The HK Efficiency USA crew shortly swapped it out for the extra traditional reservoir from a 1972 BMW R75/5.
The fairing, tail part, and stomach pan are one-offs, formed out of kevlar-reinforced fiberglass. “From the start, I wished a ‘well-dressed’ bike,” says Antonio. “The entrance fairing, decrease fairing, and the rear make the BMW a motorbike that protects the rider whereas making it look totally different.”
The fairing’s mounted on custom-made brackets, with the unique R100R headlight mounted inside it. The rider’s view consists of an elegantly-molded dashboard, with a Daytona speedo built-in into it. The cockpit additionally consists of clip-on bars with new grips, switches, and bar-end mirrors.
Antonio cleverly blended some automotive influences into 72 Efficiency USA’s debut café racer. The paint coloration is named ‘Leaf Inexperienced,’ and it’s straight out of Porsche’s late-60s playbook. After which there’s the seat—an opulent mixture of aged leather-based and houndstooth cloth, upholstered by a long-time collaborator of Antonio’s, Senen Leather-based Works in Spain.
Lastly, a custom-made LED taillight provides some modernity to the construct, whereas neatly echoing the boxy form of the tailpiece. From entrance to again, the entire setup appears like the proper stability between a café racer and a traditional sports activities automobile.
Dubbed ‘Aurora,’ this BMW R100R café racer kicks off 72 Efficiency USA’s story in fashionable trend. It’s no slouch both, based on Antonio…
“The bike could be very intuitive, very secure, remarkably loud, and, over the past take a look at trip, reached 118 mph [190 km/h]. Actual insanity for a boxer!”
72 Performance USA Instagram | Photos by Arturo Olmos
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