Mark’s garage includes a 1952 R67/2, a kitted R80G/S and even an HP2, but it was his 1980 R100RT that went under the knife. ?I like all BMWs,? he says, ?but the RT is the lowest on the list, so didn’t feel too bad chopping it up.?
?I bought the bike locally?she was running, but had seen better days for sure. The year of the bike was important, as the older models have a nice big aluminum air box, which I wanted to use to house the battery.?

The GSX-R also donated its twin Brembo brake calipers, with a custom fluid reservoir completing the setup. The wheels are period-correct BMW spoked units?a rare find in South Africa.
The front’s capped off with a small headlight on a hand-made bracket, and a hand-rolled front fender. Mark went to great lengths to finish off smaller parts?like the fender braces?exactly as he wanted.
To slim the BMW down, Mark swapped its bulky fuel tank for a more svelte BMW R50/5 ‘Toaster’ tank. He then worked on a custom subframe and seat, complete with a hand-rolled aluminum bum box and an integrated LED taillight.
?This probably took the most time on the bike,? he says, ?to get all the lines and proportions right. You?ll notice on many BMW cafes that if looking from the rear, the left hand shock normally sits at a slight angle, or is off center. I worked hard to get that symmetrical, by making a new lower shock mount and getting the subframe loop size just right.?

The engine itself is mostly stock, but it was rebu...