Building one-of-one customs for a living would be most motorcyclists’ idea of heaven. However, like an author trying to write the sequel to a smash hit, the pressure must be overwhelming. The team behind Renard Speed Shop in Estonia know all about this, yet it’s never slowed them down.
Their first bike, the Renard GT, was a carbon fiber V-twin dream, offered as a limited production model. Renard followed it up with a slew of world class custom builds, ranging from mild to wild. Now they’re going back to their original formula in a sense, with a series of templated BMW R100 café racer builds.

?We always wanted to build limited run production motorcycles, to continue the same trend we started with the Renard GT,? explains shop manager, William Sarevet. ?It’s important that Renard returns to its roots.? ?This doesn?t mean we won?t make any one-off customs. We will?but they must be very special, or offer us a creative challenge and be a pleasure to build.?

Renard has spent the last year prepping this short run of BMW boxer-based machines, to create their interpretation of the ultimate café racer. Each bike starts out as a 1976-1979 BMW R100 touring model, and is then reworked to strike a balance between classic style and modern performance.
Each donor bike gets the full treatment. If you’re claiming to build the ultimate café racer, engine work is a necessity?so Renard have gone above and beyond in this department. The R100 engines are all...