BMW R100 NOTTE VIOLA

BMW R100 NOTTE VIOLA

Purple night !

Inspiration to create custom bikes is something difficult to define. A kind of vision with multiple sources, often unpredictable. In the case of this preparation, the starting point was a trip. More precisely, a walk in Rome city in the Trastevere area. With its many colourful and typical alleys that give a certain idea of the « dolce vita », the place has kept its charm. In the middle of a rather cosmopolitan population, there are still many craftsmen, small traders, trattorias of traditional cuisine or some more hype café-restaurant like Meccanismo. Alongside of the terraces or in the streets, you will find many old motorcycles prepared in very different styles with some nice results.

On the way back, this mixture of influences quickly structured itself in my mind to imagine a new bike. A machine that would blend perfectly into this particular atmosphere. The colour had to be as warm as an italian summer night. The purple quickly established itself. But to avoid a too massive appearance, the tank will receive raw steel sides to catch the light. A metallic grey that I wanted to find on the whole of the cycle part to boost the main colour and give it all its strength. Only one detail, such as the cylinder head covers, would remind us of the black upholstery, commodities, shock absorbers and tires.

Once this base was established, the project was simple: keep the strict minimum to offer this bobber the purest possible line: a minimalist saddle support without any accessories, the most discreet fenders possible, a silencer under the saddle and no headlight at first look in order to give it a compact, almost « racing » look, at the limit of a café-racer. . . From imagination to reality, all that remained was to be done! The opportunity to acquire a first-hand R100 RS that had belonged to the same family since leaving the dealer doors was stroke of luck.

In perfect mechanical condition, this very healthy machine was an ideal base for this project. Once take to pieces, sandblasted and then completely rebuild in Patrick's expert hands, the boxer engine took its place again in a largely modified frame in its rear part and received a reworked exhaust system extended by a Supertrapp silencer. All that remained was to dress it in the most minimalist way possible, with the exception of this large headlight transfer to the left side of the frame, which comes to break the perfect symmetry of the bike. The result? A machine with a strong and unique character...

Antoine FLORIO / Founder and Inspirer of the Félix Garage