BMW K75 Cafe Racer – The Bike I Won in Poker

Sometimes a project bike finds you. Sometimes you go looking for one. And, apparently, sometimes you win one in a poker game. This BMW K75 started life as a very different kind of motorcycle, but it has now found its way into the Tink Customs workshop with one job: become a proper BMW K75 cafe racer.

Before the cutting, welding and custom parts begin, this episode is all about figuring out exactly what I've got. We collect the bike, get it running, give it a proper inspection and start working through the big decisions that will shape the build.

The BMW K75 is an interesting starting point for a cafe racer. Its smooth inline-three engine, distinctive frame and unusual BMW engineering make it very different from the more traditional Japanese donor bikes I've built before.

In this episode I look at the condition of the bike, the ABS system, foot pegs, exhaust, seat, rear bodywork, fairing mounts and mudguards, as well as making some initial decisions about the direction of the build.

The plan isn't simply to bolt a few cafe racer parts onto a BMW and call it done. The goal is to turn this K75 into a clean, purposeful custom motorcycle while keeping some of the character that makes the original BMW interesting.

And first, there's quite a lot of BMW to remove.

In this episode

• The story of how I won the BMW K75 in a poker game
• Choosing a BMW K75 as a cafe racer donor
• Collecting the project bike
• Getting the K75 running
• Initial inspection and condition assessment
• Looking at the ABS system
• Removing the foot pegs
• Removing the exhaust
• Removing the seat and rear cowling
• Removing the fairing mounts and mudguards
• Looking at the BMW K75 forks and suspension
• Planning the direction of the cafe racer build

This is the beginning of the BMW K75 cafe racer build — and there's a lot more to come.