Written by Martin Hodgson
From the very early days of the internet, pictures of badly translated signs and text from around the globe have been a favourite. Things have improved somewhat with the help of translating software but there is no such tool for extracting the creative ideas from one mind and implanting them into another. So when a client approached Ironwood Customs with very specific demands, the pressure was on head honcho Arjan van den Boom to deliver. But his ability to decipher someone else’s desires are as refined as his bike building skills and he’s turned a stale 1992 BMW R100R into this beautiful black scrambler brat, appropriately called ‘The Interpreter?.
Tank is emblazoned with customer?s company motto With the Flevoland, Netherlands based outfit having built a dozen BMW R customs over the last five years the client had picked the right shop. So no doubt enjoying the surrounds and hospitality of the Ironwood display room in leather sofa comfort, he’d built up an idea of what he did and didn’t want; and he was firm in his views! ? We do a lot of tailored solutions but for us this bike reflects the interpretation of the specific demands from our customer. We tried to read each statement or comment from him and convert it directly onto the design of his BMW,? explains Arjan.

The first task was to source an appropriate donor and with BMWs having always been popular in The Netherlands it wasn’t long before they struck go...