Bike of the Week – BMW R80 Cafe Racer
Craig Jones gets this week’s honor as Bike of the Week. We love the bike and the photos. Below is his story in his own words.
Here is my BMW R80 cafe racer, I bought the bike as a standard R80, after looking at 100s of BMW cafes I wanted to try and come up with something a little different without loosing to much of the BMW looks, and it not to end up a display of bolt on parts.
So I decided to give the bike a bit of a modern twist with a mono shock rear. I used the shock from a Triumph and braced the swing arm to improve its appearance. I also fabricated a side mount license plate to keep the seat unit clear of any clutter. I added some small side panels so the seat flows better into the tank.
For the front end, I didn’t want to just bolt upside down forks on to add to the modern twist. So, I fabricated covers and fork shrouds that blend into the single pod for the speedo. The the headlight brackets I made with a floating appearance bolted discretely inside the fork shrouds. I also made the handlebars all part of the fabrication for a nice smooth finish. I managed to find a set of spoked wheels, but they looked like they had been in a swamp for 20 years. So, I stripped and rebuilt them with powder coated hubs and rims all laced up with stainless spokes. So there she is, all metal work done by myself keeping the bought in bolt on parts to a minimum.
Love the bike always willing to offer information about his builds overall a nice guy
Looks amazing. The whole back end (rear sub-frame) removed and, oh my, what is it that you did? Same with drive-line. I guess I have a million questions. I have an 80 doesn’t look like that. Getting ready to cafe out a R75/6 with a 90S engine and forks off a 1000. Giving me nice ideas. Thank you.
Gr8 bike