BMW R100 RT - The story behind the bike

My name is Andy, I’m 53 years old from southern Bavaria close to Munich. 

Here I did my very first café racer bike project based on a BMW R100 RT from 1988 (Monolever). I have to say that I am a kind of rookie so I have never done that before but I am also really ambitious with a big motorbike passion.

Buying my BMW R100 RT

I was working at home in the garden last summer with normal tools, with no help from friends or a professional garage. For a long time, I wanted to try out if I’m able to realize such a project without being a pro. The bike I found, a BMW R100 RT was in absolutely perfect condition and freshly maintained in every detail. For sure it was a bike you can ride in original conditions too cause that’s also very cool, But on the other hand, it was the perfect starting point to realize my project cause I could concentrate on the visual transformation and that is in the first step of customizing much easier. No restoring the engine or the frame and so on. The BMW R100 RT was running perfectly and the frame, as well as the engine, were in perfect shape.

Dream Bike

So my plan was to do all of my ideas of modifications only visual and (cause of the good original condition of the BMW R100 RT) to be able to dismantle to the original version at any time! So nothing was cut off, nothing was welded on! And for me very important, to do it with a realistic budget and in a reasonable time! I think that it is easy just to buy everything you like to change on the bike if you can spend 7.000 or more Euro but it is much harder to do a budget project but still make your bike dream come true. To do it in one piece and not spending four years with it was also important for me to keep the motivation and to be back on the road with the next coming season!

Building my BMW R100 RT

I wanted to prove that a normal ambitioned guy like me is able to handle a project like this without buying everything, without help from professionals. In this case, I did everything on my own! Screwing, drilling, painting, assembling and dismantling and killing problems, and finding solutions. Also, the electricity I did on my own (but I was afraid of) What I felt was tricky, was the rear fender with rear light and turn signals. To find a solution that visually worked and was ok with our TÜV was hard. Took my brain cells!

The BMW DNA

In the whole vision of my own future bike, I didn’t want to overwrite the DNA of the BMW completely so you can still recognize the old style in it. Not too clean, no LED, no science fiction speedo, no fancy lights!

Costs all over: around  1.650,­- Euro

Time: (spare time) 3 month

Bike: BMW R100 RT Monolever from 1988 in color 644 – Bermuda Blue Pearl