In the mid 90s, the K1100 RS sat at the top of the BMW range. It was the sport tourer par excellence, at home on the autobahns and interstates. A fully-loaded RS would be nudging 600 pounds on the scales, but that mattered less than its ability to cruise at triple-digit speeds all day long.
Fast forward thirty years, and there are much better machines than the Reisesport (travel sport) for long haul mile-munching. But the K1100 has good bones, and the inline four engine, laid over on its side, has both torque and power to spare. Which makes it an excellent choice for a custom bike, especially if the heavy fairing is starting to show battle scars.

This spectacular café racer is one of the sharpest K1100 builds we?ve seen, and suggests that the platform is coming of age in the custom scene. The man behind the machine is Tim Somers?the founder of the Dutch BMW parts specialist Powerbrick. Tim made his debut on these pages last week, when we featured the R9T he built with his compatriot Arjan van den Boom.

This solo effort is very different to Cloud 9, but just as appealing, with stripped-down visuals matched to clever engineering. Tim?s background is industrial design, and he?s gone to town on this K1100?using CNC machining for the aluminum and stainless-steel parts, and 3D printing for the front and rear bodywork.
?The visual lines were my main focus,? he tells us. ?I wanted to build a bike that made sense from every direction, with the main line being the top curve?r...