You may not know Sam Clercx’s identify, however you’ve seen his work. He launched his profession on the tender age of 15 as an intern at Ironwood Bikesbeneath the steerage of Arjan van den Increase. He’s had a hand in most of the wonderful machines which have graced our pages—and he’s discovered a factor or two, judging by this fantastically executed BMW boxer bobber.
“I used to be there with Arjan when he constructed the Mutantand many of the different BMWs that put Ironwood on the map,” Sam tells us. “It was an especially thrilling time for me, as you’ll be able to think about. Most of my associates had jobs in supermarkets or cafés and I used to be serving to construct these amazing-looking and sounding {custom} bikes.”
The niggles related to traditional bikes are partly why sir van den Increase hit pause on Ironwood a number of years in the past. However Sam nonetheless has an affinity for the beloved BMW boxer motor. So he constructed up this R65 basket case as a facet undertaking, whereas finishing one other internship—this time at Motoism in Munich.
“After Arjan closed up his store and stopped constructing his boxers, I acquired an opportunity to purchase a 1979 BMW R65 in components, for reasonable,” says Sam. “Thanks, partly, to Arjan and different folks constructing fantastic machines out of those outdated R-series BMWs, the costs rose considerably, placing a pleasant using rolling base out of my worth vary. I grabbed the chance and slowly began envisioning my good twin-valve {custom}.”
“With a decent finances, however loads of time, I picked up the uncared for R65 in bins. The brief R65 body and swingarm, paired with R100 cylinders, pistons, and heads, provided an inexpensive path to the short, agile airhead I all the time needed.”
In inventory type, the R100 makes about 25 hp greater than the R65—so rebuilding the engine with R100 components was an excellent name on Sam’s half. He additionally added BMW R100RS badges to the engine block to tease the engine’s true capability, and adorned the heads with traditional peanut covers. The airbox was swapped for pod filters, and the area it left behind was full of a 3D-printed cowl, housing a NOCO NLP9 battery.
Sam scalped extra R100 components for the entrance finish, becoming the lowered forks and twin Brembo brakes from a BMW R100RS. The R65 retains its drum brake and snowflake rims, which are actually shod with Shinko E-270 tires.
“It was an excellent assist all through the construct to have a whole lot of spare components from Arjan sitting in my storage,” he provides. “Small stuff like seals, throttle cables, and a whole lot of wiring—but in addition some good bling components.”
A pair of aftermarket shocks props up the rear, linked to a custom-made stepped subframe. Decrease down, the unpleasant brackets that usually maintain the mufflers and passenger pegs have been trimmed down, leaving simply sufficient area for the latter. “Whereas model was clearly vital, I didn’t wish to sacrifice operate,” Sam provides.
“There are, in fact, extra sensible bikes on the market, however I got down to strike a stability between operate and type: conserving it a two-seater and asking the gifted Tom Hurley to make the seat as snug and waterproof as attainable, whereas conserving it slim; including tie-down factors beneath the seat for my baggage; and becoming trendy LEDs for good visibility at evening, together with dependable electronics. I’m a rider first and a builder second.”
Preserving with this philosophy, Sam fabricated a pair of brief fenders for the bike and guarded the fork stanchions with contemporary rubber boots. A chromed LED headlight sits out entrance, nailing the combination of traditional model and trendy reliability that Sam was after.
The headlight is neatly tucked right into a 3D-printed fairing that was impressed by the plug-and-play fork covers that Motoism produces. It contains built-in Motoism flip indicatorswith a tidy housing for a slim Motogadget Motoscope Mini speedo up prime. Different Motogadget bits embody the bike’s keyless RFID ignition, and the corporate’s mo.unit blue module, round which the entire bike was rewired.
The fairing additionally helps to route the cockpit’s cables and homes, making for an uber-neat setup. Extensive handlebars sport vintage-style grips, a MessnerMoto throttle, and trendy push-buttons with inner wiring. Tarozzi foot controls spherical out the management bundle.
Motoism’s affect is obvious within the BMW’s rear lighting too. Sam designed and 3D-printed his personal taillight housing, equipping it with highly effective LED internals. The rear flip indicators are Motoism components too, however the bracket that holds them is a one-off.
The boxer’s superb two-into-one exhaust headers have been created by Sam’s good pal Chiel Nipius (of Nius Moto). They’re matched to a Spark silencer to create an appropriately throaty rumble.
Essentially the most putting factor about this BMW boxer bobber is how effectively judged each final half and end is—from the refinished motor to the period-correct pin striping and blacked-out tank roundels. “The colour scheme was impressed by an image of a traditional Porsche 356 convertible I discovered—black leather-based, chrome silver, and this gorgeous blue,” explains Sam. “It was completely executed by Royal Kustom Works on the tank, fenders, and entrance fairing.”
Now that his BMW R65/R100 is full, Sam plans to take it on a number of journeys earlier than promoting it to make manner for the following undertaking. However first, it’s being exhibited as his official commencement undertaking on the Utrecht Faculty of the Arts.
If it have been as much as us, we’d give him full marks.
Sam Clercx Instagram | Photographs by Paul van Mondfrans Lindén
