1995 BMW K75 Custom Bobber
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Highlights
• Offered with fresh MOT
• Bespoke-built Café Racer based on BMW K75
• Hand-finished with fine quality materials
• MotoGadget lights and handlebars
• Stitched leather saddle
THE BACKGROUND
Café Racers are a type of motorcycle with their roots in the British 1960s café culture, were during days of relatively low car ownership, groups of young men would gather outside street cafés with scratch-built motorcycles of their own design, sharing ideas and competing for attention. Each bike was an individual interpretation; a work of art.
The culture has continued long since many of the cafés have closed, with homemade bikes of increasingly diverse design still very much a part of motorcycle culture.
One of the true appeals of café racers is that they can be based on absolutely anything, so while the early bikes of the genre were generally based on smaller-engined and lighter weight machines, in more recent years many larger touring bikes have been modified to suit the café racer culture.
Among the more unusual examples that we've seen is this - an almost cyberpunk styled larger racer based on a BMW K75 touring bike from the mid-1990s. It's not the most obvious choice of bike to modify, but it's agonisingly cool.
THE HISTORY
This bike was first registered as a BMW K75 in June 1995 and there is a photograph supplied with it that shows it as found - as a standard white bike with full size fairing and double panniers.
It was purchased by the vendor in 2020 and he decided that he would use it to create a bespoke custom build that was in line with a vision he'd had for quite some time. He stripped the bike back to its barest form and modified the frame, before rebuilding it to his own custom specification. The project was finished this summer and the vendor is now ready to move on to his next custom-build project.
THE PAPERWORK
As this is a scratch-built machine it comes as no surprise that there isn't a huge amount of historical paperwork with it.
However, the vendor has retained quite a few the receipts that relate to parts bought in conjunction with the build process, including quite a few from renowned custom motorcycle specialists MotoGadget and the Café Racer Webshop.
There is a V5C registration document, which records the bike as a 1995 N-registered BMW K75 with a 750cc engine.
THE CONDITION
It's quite clear from just looking at it that this bike has been a complete labour of love and that the vendor - a seasoned engineer - has lavished hours of attention on it, building it himself from the ground up.
The frame is based on the standard BMW K75 frame but it's been cut back, short and made lower with the bulk of the bike being based around the engine itself. There’s a hand-milled alloy rear suspension arm that had to be made up to the owner’s own design and alone cost him over £1,000.
The bike has a hand-stitched tan leather seat that itself cost £500, along with knobbly off-road Continental tyres (brand new) and a single piece led headlight. All just examples of the unreserved expense that has been lavished on the BMW.
The indicators and rear lamps are miniscule high intensity LED units supplied by MotoGadget and are barely visible, with tiny lenses that emit a lot more light then you'd expect them to. The handlebar grips are brand new, and there's also a funky MotoGadget digital speedometer.
THE MECHANICS
Painted in matt black to go with the stealthy image, the 750cc engine has been fully rebuilt along with the rest of the bike.
it is in standard but very good condition and the vendor reports that it runs very well.
The bike has had new brakes fitted all round and the front suspension forks have been overhauled.
Due to its low seating position and exposed body work, the vendor reports that riding the café racer is a raw and thrilling experience - and one that is enormous fun!
THE APPEAL
This is an absolute one off and it has been built to the most exacting of standards by a skilled engineer for whom the project was clearly a true labour of love.
It is beautifully finished and in fabulous condition throughout, while the subtle details and overall cyberpunk image of the bike make it truly stand out from the crowd.
It's an unusual and intriguing example of café racer culture, merged with modern industrial post-futuristic art and is unlike anything else on the road.
We think it's wonderful!
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Vehicle specification
- Year 1995
- Make BMW
- Model K75
- Colour Pewter
- Odometer 54,000 Miles
- Engine size 740
Auction Details
- Seller Type Trade
- Location Hertfordshire
- Country United Kingdom
13
bids
from 7
bidders
- Dd•••• £5,200 21/08/22
- DC•••• £5,100 21/08/22
- Pa•••• £5,000 17/08/22
- Ti•••• £4,500 16/08/22
- Pa•••• £4,000 16/08/22
- Ti•••• £3,500 14/08/22
- DC•••• £3,100 14/08/22
- Ti•••• £3,000 14/08/22
- Mi•••• £2,500 14/08/22
- Au•••• £2,000 14/08/22
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