This BMW R1200 R LC is the Wildest Classic Custom Bike We’ve Seen
The custom wing of a Swiss German BMW dealer has produced one of the most stunning retro bikes we’ve ever seen, inspired by the Spitfire
BMW, which in 1940s Germany developed and built the world’s first jet engine, might not be the company mod readily associated with, say, the Spitfire, and yet they’re two entities which have been joined together beautifully.
Of course, the Spitfire and BMW were brought closer together, in a roundabout sort of way, back in 2003 when BMW AG took ownership of the automotive department of Rolls-Royce, whose name is also attached to the Merlin engine found at the front of a Spitfire.
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The credit for this meshing of historically opposed ideas, though, is VTR Customs, the creative outlet for Swiss BMW dealer VTR Motorrad, which has created the BMW R1200 R LC, a custom version motorcycle built on the base of a 2017 BMW R1200 R that takes its design cues from old aircraft.
Those design cues are fairly basic when you look at the bike, which is essentially wrapped in a cylinder of aluminium, which, VTR says, “immediately reminds us of old aircraft.”
The bodywork is handmade by VTR themselves, while the wheels and brakes are carried over from the standard bike. Additionally it’s from the base R1200 R that the LC gets its electronics, with a quickshifter and traction control included.
However, the seat is handmade, like the bodywork, and the standard bars are replaced with ABM Vario clip-ons. Further, the back end of the bike is without any kind of shock absorber: the standard steel swingarm is simply bolted straight to the frame. At the front, the fork is reduced in travel by 30mm. The standard dashboard is replaced with original RAF Spitfire instrumentation, and the bike is completed by a handmade custom tank and footrests.
Perhaps the standout feature of the bike, though, is the ‘flamethrower’ exhaust, which mimics radial aircraft motors which spit flames on start-up.
It doesn’t look to be the most comfortable motorcycle in the world, but this custom beauty is among the most stunning we’ve ever seen.
