A design can be elevated by taking elements away rather than adding them. Sometimes it?s about what’s there, and sometimes it?s about what’s not. This custom 1993 BMW R100R falls into the second category?built by Niks Motorcycles in Barcelona, Spain, it?s an essay on minimalism.
If you’re not familiar, the R100R was technically BMW’s first go at building a ‘modern classic.’ It was essentially the road-going equivalent of the R100GS, with an air- and oil-cooled 980 cc boxer twin pushing 60 hp to the back wheel via BMW’s modern (at the time) Paralever shaft drive. The R100R also traded its stablemate’s adventure bike trim for smaller wheels and a smattering of chrome.

The Niks Motorcycles R100R is a considerable departure from the original. But it’s not just a looker?it also hides a neat party trick. At per the client’s brief, this boxer can go from bobber to passenger-friendly at the drop of a hat. But before Niks got to that, they rebuilt the engine with a 1,000 cc Siebenrock high-compression piston kit. The upper engine cover was replaced with a slimmer unit, with the battery now housed under the swingarm. The exhaust was made by the Niks team and is appropriately short, matching the lines of the frame and exposing the beautiful BMW single-sided swingarm.

The front end is stock, but since the client called for a long and low design it was lowered internally by about five inches. With the reduced travel, the ...