We’ve all heard legends of the basic Okay-series BMW’s reliability, however the story of this BMW K100 road tracker takes the cake. In any case, what number of bikes have you learnt that may set themselves alight, however carry on ticking?
The bike’s present proprietor, Duncan Bonar, discovered the 1985 BMW K100 at a neighborhood store with a clear title —however there was a catch. “The one caveat was that it had self-immolated by way of {an electrical} hearth,” he explains. “However hey, a motorbike’s a motorbike, and a clear title is a clear title.”
Based mostly in Los Angeles, California, Duncan is an industrial designer who likes to tinker on bikes in his downtime. By day, he works as a designer on the standard dune buggy producer, Meyers Manx. And earlier than that, he was a part of the staff on the boutique motorbike model, Arch Bike.
Though Duncan has not too long ago queued up a number of mission bikes underneath the moniker Dunc Werks, he began the K100 construct a number of years in the past with much less urgency, engaged on it as and when he discovered the time. The Okay owes its brutalist aesthetic to Duncan’s industrial design background and his propensity for figuring issues out as he goes. “This was an train in doing it your self with the assets at hand; an ‘usually unsuitable however by no means doubtful’ kinda mentality,” he says.
Duncan’s first job was to get the K100 operating after its little mishap. “The wiring harness, electrical fan, and airbox meeting have been all toasted. The motor and bike have been fairly caked with hearth retardant, and there was a dent within the crank cowl because the bike was dumped over at a site visitors mild when it determined to self-immolate.”
“Understanding that the Okay motors are comparatively bulletproof, I wasn’t too nervous in regards to the internals. My wager paid off as no interior workings wanted to be resolved—I simply resealed and refinished the engine.”
As soon as the K100’s eight-valve powerplant was purring once more, Duncan may get cracking on the remainder of the bike. Embracing the Okay’s inherently awkward strains fairly than making an attempt to ‘clean’ them out, Duncan saved the OEM gas tank and fabricated an angular subframe with a kicked-up rear loop to juxtapose it. Subsequent, he made the myriad aluminum elements that full the bodywork.
“All the aluminum elements have been designed on my own with a set of calipers and CAD modeling software program,” he tells us. “The laser chopping was outsourced to a 3rd get together, after which the bending was carried out on my own, utilizing a handbook bender.”
The {custom} elements embody the seat pan, which integrates the bike’s electronics tray and battery help, and acts as a rear fender. A row of LED lights sit in the back of the subframe, dealing with taillight and switch sign duties as wanted. On the reverse finish of the bike, a quantity board-style headlight nacelle hosts a Baja Designs mild and a tiny digital speedo from Motogadget.
In the course of the bike, you’ll discover a small custom-made plate, designed to cover away the coils. Duncan embedded the ignition barrel into it too, after which added a handbook gas pump swap when he realized the house was lacking one thing. “Flipping the additional swap provides the bike a extra enjoyable startup sequence,” he quips.
Duncan pared down the BMW’s wiring harness, tweaking it in order that he may use repurposed Kawasaki switchgear. The cockpit wears new Renthal handlebars; they’ve been bead blasted and clear anodized to offer them a muted end. Accompanying the Motogadget speedo is a custom-built warning lights panel.
Transferring to the K100’s operating gear, Duncan rebuilt the inventory forks with progressive springs and fitted a brand new rear shock. The wheels and brakes are from a a lot newer BMW K1600, with {custom} axles, spacers, and brake caliper mounts accommodating them. The four-into-one exhaust is from BSK Speedworks—a race store within the UK that runs K100s in endurance races.
Duncan’s space of experience is colour and materials design, so though the K100’s finishes are easy, they’re very deliberate. “I used to be in search of one thing that was undoubtedly basic, blurring the road between daring and reserved,” he explains.
“Land Rover and their extra expressive colours of the previous have at all times been close to to this mark. The ensuing colour is a variant of Shetland Beige, which is type of a heat putty colour that compliments the Brick properly.”
Duncan opted to color solely the tank, leaving the aluminum elements uncooked to emphasise the idea of permitting the manufacturing course of to guide the design. All of the arduous elements have been powder-coated afresh, leaving this gnarly BMW K100 road tracker wanting loads higher than the charred mess it was firstly.
Dunc Werks | Instagram | Photos by Duncan Bonar
