BMW Chopper Project
Like every project they start as a simple idea, I grew up with my Dad owning BMW motorcycles and I wondered why in a sea of Harleys I couldnt name any cool BMW Choppers that I had seen in my travels.
The project took life when I took a detailed plan to the BMW Motorcycles Australia head office.
I wanted to build a BMW R Nine T Chopper and I want to do it in a way that has never been seen before. The clincher was the social media aspect for it, I had a detailed roll out plan and also a dream to hopefully display it overseas.
With 0 kilometers on the clock the bike was stripped for the only thing I needed, the engine, gearbox and diff.
BMW were supporting the Throttle Roll event some 1,000km from me and I thought it would be a good idea to display my concept to the show goers.
My good friend Kentaro is an artist in Sydney and I had him paint a backboard live at the show.
I spoke to a lot of people on this day and had some great feedback and ideas on how to take this bike to the next level.
I had done something right as I was invited to Germany to present my project to the heads of the Heritage division, this coincided with Motorrad Days festival, I was handed the keys to a brand new R Nine T Scrambler at the airport and then rode all through Germany, Austria and Italy on an adventure that I will never forget.
I had the opportunity to meet Roland Stocker, we actually had dinner the night before and spoke about all things motorcycles. Roland is a leader in BMW’s Heritage division and a big part of why the R Nine T series of bikes have become so loved. He gave me a tour of the heritage division and I got an understanding of why BMW’s are designed so well.
This trip was a blast, riding an R Nine T through Europe wide open on the Autobahn, visiting the BMW design facility, meeting Roland and talking with many people about my direction for this build cemented I was taking this project in the right direction.
There’s always time for a mountain bike ride right? I strapped the rental bike to the R Nine T with my shoe laces and rode 50km through the alps of Italy to get to the local bike park, it was a day I wont forget, now back to the build.
Then came a defining moment, the guys from the Born Free Show in the USA reached out to me and invited me as a builder, this was exciting news and this meant the bike would be going to the USA to compete against the worlds best.
This is when things escalated, I felt the pressure to perform and put a lot of emphasis on the stance and lines of the bike. This would be make or break.
I had still not delved into the world of CAD but I had Matt Hill who helped me out with the designs I needed, Matt would go on to design all the motor b rackets, the wheel spokes and the hubs. To get the stance right I opted for 22” front tyre and an 18” rear tyre, I believed this to be perfect for the lines of this bike. The front tyre came from a 1900’s Model T ford believe it or not.
The chromoly frame took shape along with the magneto that replaced the alternator. I would use a total loss battery to fire up the bike and from there on the magneto would handle the spark.
The triple clamps were fabricated from Chromoly tube and would use dogbones to hold the forks.
The forks started to take shape and it was time to start on the frame.
The tubes were all bent up for the frame rails, these needed to be split to allow for easy motor installs.
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With that complete things were really taking shape.
Due to the magneto handling the spark duties I ditched all the electronics on this bike, the EFI was replaced by a couple of custom made Smart Carbs that were produced especially for this project in raw billet alloy finish.
The stance was perfect, now we just to weld it all up.
With the handlebars and the welding complete it was time to do strip it down.
This allowed me to finish up the titanium exhaust, the design was very simple using 1 7/8 tubing with a very thing 0.8mm wall thickness.
From here things got exciting, I had an invite from BMW to display the bike for a launch party they were having, I worked day and night to get the bike ready but I neeeded more time for the rims.
The proportions were perfect, I wanted everything to be tightly tucked and skinny, this created a visual of the motor being huge but once sitting on the bike your legs fill in the negative space and it becomes an awesome spectical.
Titanium intake, titanium exhaust, perfect symmetry.
The bike just needed a set of wheels, a seat and some finishing touches, I boxed it up and sent it to BMW for the display.
It was well recieived and a unique opportunity to see the bike in this build phase. I worked a 48 hour day to get it to this point and the show deadline was fast approaching so I needed to get some sleep and get into building the wheels.
Back home and unboxed, let get these wheels made up!
Matt’s design was sent to the laser cutter and we were on a mission to get this rolling. My ispiration was the MotoMag that was designed for the early 1970’s BMX Racers.
It took a long time to weld each individual spoke, I took this slow, constantly checked for trueness and spread the heat evenly through the part. Thery came out amazing though.
It was at this moment that Covid kicked in, my travel to USA was denied and I would not be allowed to leave home. My state had some of the most strict Covid rules in the world in place. I had Karl from KDS paint the bike and it sat for over a year while I waited to get approval to travel.
Two years later and the pandemic was over, I could finally finish the bike for the Born Free Show.
Seeing the bike on the ground, painted and running for the first time was an incredible feeling.
Riding it was a wild feeling, 100+hp and a solid rear, yee haa!
With that complete the trip to Born Free could begin.
I love California, being back here was incredible.
I filmed a 4 part “Road to Born Free” series.
Days full of good people.
The TRD tour was one of the best, this was a private tour in my hope that I could strike up a deal for a new project.
The show blew me away, to be on this level left me speechless, litterally.
With the show wrapped up it also closed a chapter on a massive 3 year build full of ups and downs.
Wherever in the world I am I always like to get a ride in.
Perfect place to rest and relax.
Back into LA and spending time visiting my favorite people.
I met Michael Lichter at the Born Free Show and he invited me to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally to be part of his curated Motorcycles as Art Exhibition, I did some wheeling and dealing with BMW, they agreed that it would be a great opportunity and we organised to leave the bike at Roland Sands shop. When the time came I spoke to Roland about getting to the show and he needed some bikes shipped there so we all agreed that I would drive the van to the show and deliver all the bikes, I don’t mind a roadtrip and neither does my wift Celia so we flew in and took off on a journey into middle America.
The trip, the show and everything inbetween was a crazy adventure.
Cast your mind back to the start of this post…….. A hand sketch, a detailed plan, approaching BMW with an idea……. That led to a 3 year build, a trip around the world, an adventure of a lifetime and opportunity to rub shoulders with the worlds best.
I hope this inspires you to get out and do something, be vulnerable, plan out your dream, what if someone said yes to your idea? Where could it take you? Im living proof that amazing things can happen if you dream, plan, work hard and be open to opportunity.
Thanks for reading.