The vintage BMW R-series boxer remains a perennial favorite among custom motorcycle builders. But there’s a downside to its popularity; with so many custom boxers on the road, it’s hard to build one that truly stands out.
This lovely 1978 BMW R100/7 from Japan’s Heiwa MC doesn’t rely on wild engineering or crazy fabrication to grab attention. Instead, it’s the small details that distinguish it as a master-built machine.
The brief for this project was familiar territory for the founder of the Hiroshima-based workshop, Kengo Kimura. His customer wanted a handsome street bike with café racer underpinnings and simplicity as a guiding principle. That meant retaining recognizable parts like the OEM fuel tank, but nipping and tucking everything else.
Kimura-san responded with an array of judicious mods and subtle finishes, showing the sort of restraint that’s become a hallmark of his work.…