Licks Cycles: This Upcycled BMW R80 bobber is a real-life Tonka toy

BMW R80 bobber by Upcycle Garage
If the thought of Firestone tires on a customized motorbike makes your blood boil, avert your eyes now. Johnny Nguyen hasn’t simply fitted his 1978 BMW R80 bobber with Firestones—he’s gone the entire hog, and fitted military-spec Firestone tractor tires. It’s turned the R80 right into a real-life two-wheeled Tonka toy, and though it’s nowhere close to sensible, it positive makes us smile.

Johnny runs Upcycle Motor Storage, which not too long ago relocated from California to Austin, Texas. Most of Upcycle’s builds have been café racers—however Johnny was impressed to take this challenge in a radically totally different course.

“Certainly one of my first ‘idol’ bikes was a white airhead bobber, constructed by Mark Van Der Kwaak, that was featured on Bike EXIF,” he explains. “I saved a photograph of it as my wallpaper on my laptop computer for years. This construct was my tackle the proportions of the huge airhead engine, paired with the lengthy body of a hard-tailed bobber.”

The idea known as for a inflexible body, a springer entrance finish, and the chunkiest tires doable. Johnny began with the 16” Firestone tractor tires and used them to set the tone for the remainder of the construct.

The one factor left of the unique BMW R80 body is the neck and elements of the down tubes; all the pieces else was fabricated from scratch. This allowed the engine to be repositioned too, in order that the engine sump now sits flush with the underside body rails.

The entrance tire is mounted on a dished 16” Harley-Davidson wheel, which is straddled by a TC Bros. springer entrance finish and brake setup. The rear rim is from Excel, re-spoked by the staff at Buchanan’s Spoke and Rim. Imagine it or not, the brand new rear rim and tire are a lot wider than the manufacturing facility gadgets, so the rear wheel needed to be offset to clear the driveshaft.

Borrowing an thought from his mates at Sosa Metalworks, Johnny ran the rear brake rod via the rear body triangle. Up entrance, customized break up handlebars are bolted on to the billet aluminum high yoke, sporting Kustom Tech levers and ODI Vans x Cult grips. A triangular headlight lights the way in which, mounted upside-down on a customized bracket.

A 1.25 gal gas tank sits on the brand new body spine by the use of customized mounts. Johnny says that gas stops happen usually, however this bobber positive appears to be like good with a tank barely as huge as its airbox. Simply in entrance of the tank is a tiny Motogadget speedo, wedged vertically into the headstock.

The 797.5 cc air-cooled lump sits proudly contained in the customized body with a home made two-into-one exhaust and a Werkes USA muffler. Johnny rewired the bike round a Motogadget management unit and relocated the horn, regulator, and coils into the engine cowl. An Antigravity Lithium-ion battery and the ignition change are housed in an aluminum field, hidden behind the transmission.

Just like the bike that impressed it, this BMW R80 bobber wears a saddle-style seat for one. Tires this large are positive to assist barely with cushioning—however on the finish of the day it is a hardtail, so the seat is mounted on a small shock absorber. The bike’s customized taillight makes use of a small bulb (discovered at Residence Depot) that’s been retrofitted with high-powered LEDs.

Johnny made the BMW’s myriad brass bushings and fittings on his small workshop lathe, then turned his consideration to the colour scheme. “The paint was sprayed in-house with a couple of totally different shades of inexperienced,” he says. “I’m an enormous Harry Potter fan, so I name it my Slytherin bike.”

BMW R80 bobber by Upcycle Garage
The completed product has an extended, low, and agricultural look that we love, with hand-finished particulars aplenty. Whereas we predict Draco Malfoy can be far too scared to trip this, we’d give it a go—ideally within the dust.