Customer BMW R NineT

I had just finished the XRR street tracker build in 2020, when I was contacted by a customer wanting a BMW R Nine T built. When we were speaking about the project, I was excited and nervous all at the same time. It was a build that was going to be completely out of my wheelhouse since my main focus is on single cylinder/dual sport bikes. He really believed in me, so I took on the project and stepped out of my box in a big way. I soon picked up the customers bike at a dealership in IL, and the build started.

The bike is a 2017 BMW R Nine T Racer model. The goal for this project was to transform this racer model into more of an urban scrambler. The focus was going to be on suspension, wheels/tires, exhaust, and nickel plating the frame. Since the customer lives in CA, it was important to make sure the exhaust was as close to CARB compliant as possible and modifications such as framework would be to a minimum. I was given a picture of inspiration and a baby blue helmet to match the paint, then the teardown started. 

The plan was to build a new tank and tail section, so those areas of the bike were addressed first. After removing the tank and tail of the BMW, I looked at the frame and lines of the bike. The R nine T has a lot going on underneath the tank and tail section of the bike, so working around everything was going to be a challenge. Since I was going to limit the amount of cutting and altering of the OEM frame, I decided to design a removable subframe that would sit outside the original frame but still be supported by the OEM frame. This would allow me to work around the OEM frame instead of altering it. The first version of the subframe was made to accompany a new tank. Since the owner wanted to keep the OEM airbox, we decided to keep the OEM tank and alter the subframe to work with the stock tank. The subframe would also house all the electronics so a splash guard and license plate holder was integrated in the new subframe. After the subframe was made, a tail piece and seat was made next, which also houses the brake light. I wanted to show off as much of the nickel frame as I could, so the tail piece sits on top of the subframe instead of covering it. With this in mind, a supporting brace was created underneath the tail piece,so the rider is actually supported by the OEM frame and not the removable subframe. The owner liked the look of the smaller headlights with a small fairing, so I made a fairing to accompany the smaller headlight and cover the stock speedo/tach. The last piece to be made was the exhaust. It is a 2 into 1 left side exhaust that uses a CARB complaint catalytic converter and a competition werkes muffler. 

After everything was made, the bike was torn down to just the motor. Since I normally do not work on BMW’s or bigger bikes in general, I had to have the engine hang from my ceiling to make the rebuild that much easier. The bodywork was sent to paint and the frames were sent to nickel. Once I got everything back, the rebuild started. The frame was mounted to the motor and soon I was able to throw some wheels on it. The wheels are gold Excels, 19x2.15’’ front and 17X4.25’’ rear wrapped in Shinko 705 tires. For the suspension, the bike was upgraded with Wilbers cartridge inserts in the front and rear shock was upgraded. After the black vinyl and alcantara seat was installed,the bike was finished. Other items installed on this bike were Rizoma front blinkers, and MotoGadget blaze pin blinkers for the rear. I could not be happier with the way it came out. This whole build was a learning process for me, so I am glad I stepped out of my box to take it on. One thing is for sure, German engineers know what they are doing. Even the bolts on that bike are nice ha-ha.  Definitely would consider a similarbuild in the future. This is way out of my box, so I hope people like it, I sure do!