Yesterday it felt like the entire custom world was in Yokohama, Japan, for the famous Mooneyes show. Officially called the ?Hot Rod Custom Show,? it?s a one-day, nine-hour spectacle that draws the best customizers from all corners of the Land of the Rising Sun?and many from other continents, too.
Most of the top builders reveal a new bike at Mooneyes, including Kengo Kimura of the acclaimed Hiroshima workshop Heiwa. This year, he unveiled this sparkling BMW R75/6, stripped to the bare bones and transformed into pure mechanical art.

The bike picked up two awards?one from guest judge Bryan Thompson, and the Art Of Malaysia award too. Wes, our man on the ground, pored over the BMW in the metal and says it?s ?drop dead gorgeous.?
Heiwa is one of the harder Japanese builders to pigeonhole: Kimura-san does not have a distinct visual signature in the way that Brat Style does, for example.
When we asked him what style he was aiming for, he simply said: ?A style that has never existed?a Heiwa original.?
The R75 boxer engine is the centerpiece of this build, polished and slung low in the heavily modified frame. Even after all these years, it?s still a striking looking motor, and Kimura?s design gives it plenty of space to breathe.

After stripping down and overhauling the 42-year-old engine and carburetors, Kimura made new trumpet air intakes and straight-shot exhaust pipes fashioned out of stainless steel.
The original airbox, now redundant, has been recreated as a battery ...