Trick-Frame BMW

Fuel-injected BMWs aren’t a common sight in the custom bike world, but there’re always those maverick souls who like to be a little different from the rest of us, aren’t there?

Back in 2018 Dave from Derbyshire NCC was just beginning his Chopper Club journey, starting prospecting. He’d had, he says, his fair share of custom bikes over the years, and was running at the time a mildly customised Twin Cam, and a Bandit 12 (both bought new), and planned to chop the Bandit to make a Club bike, and keep the Harley as was (he’s since finished the Bandit, but that’s another story). Then, unexpectedly, he came into some money and bought a (“very scary”) VTR1000 chop called ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ which, not long after, he decided was going to be a stopgap until he could find something more suitable.

He’d had occasion to borrow a GS1100 (BMW, not Suzuki) from a friend, and’d loved the quirkiness of the fuel-injected flat-twin motor, so when an interesting bike with a Boxer motor came up for sale on eBay, he was interested – very interested. He and a Club brother drove from the Peaks up to Glasgow to see it, a deal was done, and it came back with him that same day.

The bike was built around an R1200C (the not-terribly-popular Cruiser version of the famous BMW twin) engine, single-sided swingarm/driveshaft, and rear wheel, housed in a one-off perimeter-style frame, with a Ducati Monster M900 front end, and one-off bodywork made on an English wheel. It was very nicely done, and Dave was really looking forward to riding it very much. The thing is, that was in the winter of that year and, as Derbyshire winters can be quite harsh, he didn’t really get out on it much until the Spring, and that’s where things started to get… umm, interesting. 

Piotr, the lad who built it under the name of Bieda 75, had originally intended it for himself, but his partner fell pregnant and he had to sell it quickly. This meant it hadn’t been rigorously shaken-down, and so Dave had to deal with a whole load of annoying little faults, starting with the front mudguard struts fatiguing and the ‘guard falling off, shortly before the rear hugger one did too on a Welsh run. Happily, most of these were easily fixed (“I binned the hugger, and fitted a little Ducati front mudguard”), and even though there were others they too didn’t tax him too much. That was it – it was ready to go… he thought.

Actually, what followed was two years of intense frustration caused by the bike’s electrics; parasitic drains, lithium batteries, keyless ignitions (four of them in the end), and a bad earth-strap. It was compounded by the bike catching fire, and only narrowly being put out before it was utterly wrecked, and, he says, “the AA ended up knowing me by my first name, and even sent me a Christmas card.”

The bike went from one electrical specialist to another to another, and was eventually (he hopes!) sorted out by moving the battery from where it was housed under the tank to below the rear of the tank on the left, removing the keyless ignition in favour of a conventional barrel-and-key ‘un, and putting an isolator on the earth-strap, and, so far, it’s been perfect, racking up the miles as a Club bike should.

It’s a funky-looking thing too; more a streetfighter than a chop, it has the traditional ‘big shoulders’, almost bulldog, look of a proper ‘fighter, and a minimal, floating, seat and tail-piece common to the genre too. The perimeter frame’s reminiscent of the handiwork of the likes of, the sadly now both defunct, Harris Performance and Spondon Engineering, although it’s not a replica of either, and the single-sided back end, with its simple shock and integral driveshaft, looks as ’ard as nails. The bodywork, as I said, was hand-made on an English wheel, a fair skill in itself, and the tank rack’s both an essential part of the design and absolutely necessary for carrying camping gear on Club runs as he can only strap a tent, or whatever, onto the forks ‘cos the back end’s so minimal. The rear light arrangment’s worthy of note too – it’s both minimal and in-yer-face at the same time, and suitably bright with its LEDs too. I also like the very different, almost brutalist, exhaust collector/exits that show off the single-sided wheel to best advantage. Finally, the paint, all done with rattle-cans (not that you’d know looking at it, is such a deep red (a Mazda colour apparently) that I was convinced it was black until I looked a little harder.  

Dave says he’s still a little wary of the Beemer’s electrics, but has a few more options if things do go wrong (and a direct line to the Fourth Emergency Service, obviously), and describes his relationship with the bike as “I love it, I hate it, I love it… you get the gist.”

Spec: BMW R1200C engine (one-off exhausts, braided stainless oil lines)/front brake calipers/swingarm/drive-shaft/rear wheel/brake/loom (modified), one-off frame, one-off mid-mounts, one-off reverse rocker-type foot controls, Ducati M900 Monster wheel/discs/USD forks/yokes/front mudguard (modified), one-off caliper brackets, braided brake lines, one-off ‘bars, unknown model BMW front brake master-cylinder/switchgear, one-off front LED indicator bar, Koso digital speedo unit, one-off fuel tank/tank rack, one-off seat, one-off rear mudguard, one-off side-mount ‘plate, aftermarket rear shock with uprated spring, one-off rear master-cylinder, H-D V-Rod headlight, one-off LED tail-light/rear indicators

Finish: Rattle-canned deep Mazda red bodywork paint & Ford silver frame by Piotr Hudy of Bieda 75 & owner

Engineering: All work by Piotr Hudy of Bieda 75, owner & Simon Hodgson

Thanks To: “Piotr; Simon; all of Derbyshire NCC for constantly taking the p*ss; the AA for recovery; Nat, the missus, for constantly moaning about the bike; & Rab & Mat Black for constantly reassuring me over the electrics…”