BMW motorcycles have become increasingly popular choices of donors for bespoke builds, and while plenty of shops utilize the German machines for one-off projects, very few do it better than VTR Customs. Be it a vintage flying brick or modern R1200R or R9T, the Swiss shop has one hell of a knack for customizing the Bavarian bikes, as demonstrated by this stellar endurance race-style build, appropriately dubbed the “24 Hour”.
Built as a tribute to ‘70s/‘80s endurance racers, this one-off two-wheeler started life as a K100 before undergoing an extensive transformation. To achieve the desired endurance aesthetic, the guys at VTR started by sourcing an early Gixxer fairing which was chopped horizontally, removing the lower portion of the bodywork in order to leave the “Flying Brick” on full display. The modified fairing then had its windscreen slashed, lowering the bike’s profile and giving the bodywork a sleeker silhouette. A pair of endurance-style side-by-side round headlights were dropped into the Beemer’s nose, with the right headlight receiving a removable alloy-cover.
Following the contours of the tank are a new bespoke set of vented side panels, giving the front end a more complete and cohesive feel. The tail unit was another item sourced off a vintage sportbike (I think a modified GSXR tail?). To keep the rear-end as tidy as the front half of the bike, VTR opted to install what is reportedly the smallest street-legal taillight on the market (from Kellermann) atop the tail section — keeping in line with the retro endurance vibe. A one-off alloy grill was handcrafted and slapped onto the top of the new tail as well, while below, VTR’s people crafted an undertail panel for that spic and span look. Lastly, upholstery whiz Yves Knobel finished off the tail with a custom dark grey Alcantara saddle.
Moving on to the cockpit, we have center-mounted Motogadget instrumentation (Motoscope Classic), ABM Varios clip-ons, Magura throttle and brake master cylinder, and an aviation-style covered toggle switch that fires up the 90hp four-banger. VTR also added a Monza-style gas cap. The BMW’s stock rims were tossed aside in favor of a refurbished set of three-arm PVM wheels (powder-coated in light gold and wrapped in custom-printed rubber) complete with a Roundel slapped onto the center of the out-facing single-sided wheel in back — a look that I absolutely love.
Wanting a high-mounted single-pipe exhaust, instead of going the bespoke in-house route, VTR opted to order an existing four-into-one stainless steel system from UN1T Garage (an Italian outfit that makes some truly awesome bolt-on kits and parts primarily for BMWs) complete with removable dB killer and titanium muffler. The new exhaust flows from the headers and then up through the back of the build’s grilled belly pan which greatly helps to round out the bottom of the otherwise unsightly inline-four.
Finishing out this VTR build we have its elaborate, race-inspired paint job. Directly derived from the livery seen on the early-to-mid-2000’s Jaguar Racing Formula 1 car, this custom BMW features the same dark metallic green and gloss white scheme with red highlights/outlining, adorned in the complete bevy of Jag’s (then) sponsor logos such as HP, Becks, AT&T, and HSBC Bank, though VTR has tweaked the latter to “HSKV” — a nod to the VTR crew’s hometown of Schmerikon. The shop also says the “24h” logo on the number plate is styled after the original Le Mans logo. (Keen eyes will also spot small Jaguar logos on the tank). The light gold rims on the BMW were also borrowed from the F1 Jag.
Surprisingly, this K100 is said to be fully street-legal, albeit I don’t spy any indicators fore or aft (granted that’s a quick fix). Signals or not, this particular VTR build — like many of the shop’s previous offerings — received a full-length writeup on BikeEXIF. And, like all Flying Brick builds, this thing isn’t for everyone, but for a certain group of riders who grew up in the ‘80s, endurance-style builds don’t get much better than this.
You can find this custom BMW K100 from VTR Customs, entitled “24 Hour” for sale here on the VTR website in St. Gallerstrasse, Schmerikon, Switzerland with a price of $22,790 (still a lot but several thousand dollars under the original asking price).
Photos by Andri Margadant