It’s around this time of year that all the top Japanese builders release their latest customs. Many workshops have spent weeks burning the midnight oil to get a bike ready for display at the Yokohama show, but Shiro Nakajima of 46Works has been even busier than most—he’s just revealed two amazing new builds.
We’ve been following Nakajima-san’s work very closely over the years, going back to his days as CEO of Ritmo Sereno, Japan’s premier BMW and Moto Guzzi restomod outfit. So when he told us he had not one but two motorcycles to show, we were almost as excited as Japanese game show hosts.

Nakajima has played to his strengths here, with a BMW R100RS and a Moto Guzzi Le Mans 1000—two platforms that he’s very familiar with. And he’s given both machines with an elegant vintage style that’s light years away from the slightly stodgy factory bikes. Both bikes were commissions, but Nakajima was given completely free rein to do as he wished. Let’s look at the BMW first

It’s a 1991 R100 RS, which means it’s a 980cc boxer. This one’s a rare monolever model; only around 180 were sold in the USA, and a few more were sold in Japan.
Nakajima is focused on performance, so he’s upgraded the forks to a Yamaha/Öhlins and installed them using modified Ducati triple trees. Brembo calipers clamp down on Sunstar discs, aided by a Brembo Radial master cylinder.

The rear suspension is completely ...