Unless you?re immersed in every corner of the custom world, you probably associate Untitled Motorcycles with one bike: the amazing Hyper Scrambler Ducati, built in San Francisco. Our article triggered a media frenzy that culminated in an appearance on Jay Leno’s Garage.
But the mark of a good shop is the ability to turn a worn-out older bike into a thing of beauty. And that?s what designer Hugo Eccles has done with ‘Kalifornia,’ Untitled’s latest build. Based on a 1983 BMW R100, it?s a fabulous mix of Californian bravado and German cool.

The engine, stripped and vapor-blasted to its natural aluminum, now breathes through a pair of Dell?Orto PHM-38 carbs?as used on the R90S?with custom stainless steel manifolds and one-of-a-kind aluminum airbox tubes. The stock plastic airbox cover and starter cover have both been replaced with the earlier metal versions. The BMW nameplate, normally black, is painted in the same cream as the fuel tank. UMC have kept the stock headers, insulated them with grey exhaust wrap, and slotted on custom stainless steel silencers by Cone Engineering.

The ‘mismatched’ front and rear wheels are intentional, a style borrowed from the cycling world. “I’ve always liked the tension of having a cast wheel paired with a spoked wheel,” says Eccles.
In fact, neither of the wheels is original. The factory cast snowflake wheels were ditched early in the project and the original 19″ front wheel re...