Lionel Duke builds somewhat little bit of every part. His Good, France-based customized store, Duke Bikes, has reworked Honda Goldwings, Kawasaki ER6s, and Ducati Scramblers into distinctive one-off creations in recent times. However probably the most fascinating factor to come back from his storage truly isn’t a motorbike in any respect—it’s a field filled with elements.
Extra particularly, a field filled with elements to transform any inventory BMW R NineT right into a radical-looking plug-and-play customized streetfighter. It was this very package that caught the attention of Duke’s newest consumer, who noticed an image of Lionel’s prototype construct on-line and determined he needed one for himself.
The consumer beloved the unique package’s supercar-inspired design, however needed just a few distinctive touches of their very own to actually make it theirs. And Lionel was very happy to oblige.
“He had been asking round Parisian workshops that provided their very own R nineT kits,” he says, “however none of them had been keen to switch their commonplace elements to go well with his tastes. I informed him that it wasn’t an issue for me, as I truly want to do various things on every venture.”
After somewhat backwards and forwards, the ultimate temporary landed someplace between a streetfighter and a muscle automotive, infused with quite a lot of café racer– and scrambler-inspired touches. Lots of the core items of the package had been saved within the combine. Lionel fabricated and fitted the package’s beneficiant fiberglass stomach pan decrease down, and a classy Alcantara saddle up prime.
This one-off adaptation additionally retained Duke’s minimalist air field delete conversion, full with a shiny new pair of Ok&N air filters to deal with consumption responsibility. Duke’s commonplace battery relocation package was included as nicely, giving the R NineT a pleasant open area within the rear of the body.
From there, issues took a flip. The one Koso LED headlight of the unique package was swapped for a pair of spherical halogen lights, to higher match the gnarly streetfighter aesthetic.
The entrance fender comes courtesy of a BMW S1000RR, painted to match the remainder of the bike. Out again, the consumer selected to forsake the package’s unique tail part for a minimalist sq. shell. So Lionel hand-shaped a brand new unit out of aluminum.
One other change from the established design was the exhaust. The Duke BMW R nineT package features a straight pipe that runs up below the tail, however this construct referred to as for one thing extra discreet. So Lionel fabricated a full stainless-steel system for the construct, which he gave a ceramic black coating, and capped off with a GP-style silencer from HP Corse.
With the exhaust out of the best way, Lionel additionally constructed a particular ‘passenger package’ for the bike. It employs a bolt-on pillion seat and pegs, taking the R nineT from solo experience to passenger-ready in below 10 minutes.
For the cockpit, Lionel went again to the laundry listing of elements he normally provides to his kit-built BMWs. It options CNC-machined triples with blacked-out Bonamici Racing clip-ons, and Beringer clutch and brake controls. The speedo, and the bar-end flip indicators and mirrors, are all Motogadget elements.
New rear-sets sit decrease down, with a nearly-invisible Highsider three-in-one tail package tucked cleanly away contained in the rear cowl.
Holding with the R nineT’s auto-inspired design, the paint job includes a mixture of Subaru blue and matte gold. Many of the onerous elements are completed in black, together with the OEM seat helps. There’s minimal branding, with further blue and gold stitching highlights on the black saddle setting issues off properly.
Ending touches embrace a set of Continental TKC80 tires to emphasise the construct’s beastliness, in addition to a set of OEM cylinder head guards to maintain the bike as shiny as attainable if issues go sideways. Below the hood, the engine was remapped to run optimally with the brand new air filters and exhaust.
It’s fairly spectacular to see simply how removed from inventory a motorbike can look with zero structural modifications and a field of plug-and-play elements. If Lionel is joyful to maintain tweaking his formulation, we’re wanting ahead to seeing simply how far he can take it.
Duke Bikes | Fb | Instagram | Photos by Hubert Hainault
