In the eight years since their inception, Earth Motorcycles has developed a particular affinity for classic BMW boxers. Although the Slovakian outfit doesn’t exclusively work on Beemers, over sixty percent of their portfolio features BMW R100 and R80 customs.
Each boxer build has allowed Earth to refine its approach, try new designs, and establish a signature. Now, they’ve distilled that experience into one machine—a 1990-spec BMW R100R café racer that’s set for production.
“Over the years of building various bikes based on the R100 and R80 platforms, we’ve explored a wide range of designs,” says Earth founder Vlado Dinga. “Each one had its own identity and many great details, but what most of them lacked was a holistic, helicopter-view design—a unified concept tying the bike together as a whole. Last year, we set out to change that.”
Earth picked the 1990 BMW R100R as a donor for its mix of classic and contemporary details. Originally released as a road-going counterpart to the BMW R100GS, it came with BMW’s new-at-the-time single-sided Paralever swingarm, tubeless laced wheels, and twin Brembo disc brakes up front. It also traded the usual square R-series valve covers for the older peanut-style items, as a nod to the past.
The overarching concept for this project was to set the bike’s components along a clean horizontal axis. It’s the same trick that Earth used on their last BMW boxer build—but this time, they wanted to push the concept further.
The first step was to ditch the BMW R100R’s OEM subframe and liberate its main frame of any superfluous brackets. Next, the crew fabricated a sleek subframe with an integrated seat pan. The subframe uses tubing that matches the main frame’s diameter, and features a hidden mounting system with no visible welds or fasteners, giving the whole arrangement a seamless feel.
Earth topped the subframe off with a svelte saddle, featuring faux leather and contrast stitching in their hallmark style. The layout is impossibly tidy, with a slim LED taillight neatly tucked into the kicked-up tail. A new YSS shock connects the subframe to the swingarm, secured by bespoke nuts.
The rear turn signals sit lower down—they’re part of a Motogadget part that includes an additional taillight, mounted to a hugger and license plate holder assembly. Another part carried over from Earth’s last boxer build, the support arm for the rear cluster runs perfectly parallel to the subframe.
Moving to the front, Earth lowered the stock forks and fitted a 3D-printed fender. The fork yokes are custom CNC-machined units, featuring a flush-mounted steering stem nut and fork caps that match the style of the rear shock nuts. The top yoke includes a modular speedo mount that can be swapped out to accommodate four different Motogadget options.
Earth specced this model with 1” drag-style handlebars, but they offer an option with clip-ons, too. The bars are fitted with Motogadget grips and bar-end turn signals, an internal throttle, and ISR levers with integrated switches. A streamlined headlight nacelle hosts a Koso LED.
Earth swapped the R100R’s GS-derived fuel tank for a traditional R100 part, which they opened, cleaned, lined, and welded up without any visible seams. They also tweaked the tank’s mounting angle to follow the linear geometry established by the subframe.
With the tank and tail set, Earth had to contend with the notoriously awkward angle of the BMW’s boxer motor. To work around it, they made a cast aluminum engine cover that levels out the top edge of the block. Visible between the tank and engine are three stainless steel tubes; these host the fuel lines and wiring, with an electromagnetic fuel valve negating the need for traditional petcocks.
The team also rebuilt the 35-year-old boxer engine with new gaskets, seals, and sundries, cleaned the carbs ultrasonically, and replaced the crankshaft bearings. The entire drivetrain was sandblasted and Cerakoted black, with select polished details adding contrast. The carbs now breathe through K&N filters and feature new stainless steel choke knobs.
No stone was left unturned on this R100R. Earth rewired it around a Bluetooth-equipped Motogadget mo.unit blue, also installing an Aliant LiFePo4 battery, a new regulator, an alarm, and a keyless ignition. The brakes were treated to new discs and Venhill lines and connectors, the calipers were Cerakoted, and the wheels were stripped and painted.
Final details include a full complement of stainless steel fasteners, rear-sets from Cognito Moto, and a pair of WalzWerk exhausts, which are made by the Italian specialists SC-Project. Avon Roadrider II tires complete the package, signaling a bike that’s meant to be ridden.
Resplendent in brushed aluminum with stunning BMW Motorsport-inspired details, this BMW R100R café racer is already spoken for—but Earth Motorcycles has orders for more in the queue, each tailored to its owner’s tastes. We can’t wait to see how they turn out.
Earth Motorcycles | Instagram | Images by Marian Svitek
