A few years ago, building a cafe racer usually meant imbuing it with a sense of nostalgia. But these days, the custom scene is just as much about modernizing older motorcycles. So we’re seeing more and more builds that combine sharp lines and a sense of minimalism, with performance upgrades matched to ?neo-retro? looks.
This deft BMW K100 from Motocrew, the one-man custom shop of Chris Scholtka, is a textbook example of the trend. Based in Cottbus, southeast of Berlin, Chris is a firefighter by trade?but his background as an industrial mechanic means he knows his way around a garage.

This 1984-model BMW K100RS was built for a friend. ?He picked this model because he likes the German engineering,? Chris tell us. ?After seeing my BMW R80, which was a little bit underpowered for him, we chose the K100.? ?The technology for a bike that was built in 1984 is awesome, in my opinion!?

What Chris didn’t regard as awesome was the K100’s silhouette. But reworking the entire frame without violating Germany’s strict TÃœV regulations wasn’t viable. ?So I decided to build a bolt-on rear frame to complement the tank line, and give it a nice shape.?
The new frame runs from under the fuel tank right to the back, ending in a kicked up loop. And it’s finished in white, so that it catches your eye before the main frame does.

Underneath it, Chris trimmed the original frame rails to just behind the shock mount, and embedded a pair of LEDs in them to act...