It?s been over eighteen months since BMW launched the mighty R18. And if you count the teaser campaign, the biggest-ever boxer has been kicking around since the middle of 2019, when the concept was revealed at Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como.
The BMW ?Soul Fuel? program has seen R18s delivered to several top custom shops, with interesting results. But all along we?ve wondered: ?What would Winston Yeh do"? And now we have the answer, with the imposing ?Berlin Barnstormer? from Rough Crafts.

BMW didn?t wire a stack of euros over to Taipei to commission this build though. That fell to a private client. ?He was one of the first to pre-order the R18 in Taiwan,? Winston reveals. ?After delivery, he took a ride around the island and then gave it to me?and pretty much let me do whatever I want.? This finished bike has Rough Crafts signatures all over it, from the blacked-out finishes to the muscular stance. But unlike most of Winston?s builds, it also taps into a rich vein of history.

?Looking at the R18 stripped down, without bodywork, the simplicity of the frame made me turn to vintage bikes for inspiration. And the amazing lines of the R32 caught my eye,? he says.
The R32 was the very first BMW motorcycle, revealed at the Berlin Exhibition in 1923, and its influence on this custom is especially obvious in the rising line of the fuel tank.

The tank was a difficult part of the build. Winston had to cut the stock shell away from the tunnel, leaving the hu...