Here is a detailed explanation from the team that built this sexy looking motorcycle.
The BMW Concept 7 project was in the works for quite some time. It is a project that required full attention and over 6 months of solid fabrication and build time. Starting with nothing more than a motor and transmission in a frame table is a daunting task, even more so than we’d originally imagined. Every detail was discussed and dissected as we combed through images and assessed the machine from every angle hoping to achieve a balance from tip to tail and a feeling of both honoring the original BMW concept 7 and moving the needle forward in the quality and design of the execution.
It is both the overall flow of the machine and the details that set this bike apart from others built at RSD. From the heel operated linked RSD braking system with floorboards and through the gas tank shifter to the over simplified bars with internal throttle housing operating twin carbs, every operational decision was critical. The bike had to run and work as well as it looks. This is by no means a high performance bike, it’s more along the lines of a rigid chopper, but a fantastic one that takes a traditional design and places it into the modern age.
The choice of the midnight blue paint was from the owner of the machine and is a color he used for a beautiful Porsche Speedster. The color is so dark it tricks the eye into thinking it’s black, but upon closer inspection the deep blue plays with the unique lines of the bike and acts as a beautiful offset to the raw motor, RSD Breast Plate and black ops detailing of the RSD Valve covers.
Paint was incredibly important as was the bodywork on the frame which carried a number of intricate zones for mounting the inner fabricated aluminum frame panels, electrics, shift mechanism and everything else. Chris Wood from Airtrix did what he normally does and knocked it out of the park with the original inspired line work.
The split line of the frame and the motor which on the original bike looked to be cast together was a point of much discussion. The lower side panels were fabricated of aluminum and aim to duplicate the feel of the original bike as well as the way the frame wraps around the front of the motor and breast plate creating a distinctive line and honoring the original design.
Gas tank was fabricated with the stock fuel pump components and fitted over the fully fabricated steel and tube frame. The paint job is literally the bodywork as the rear fender is welded directly to the frame. This is usually something we wouldn’t do, but for the R7 it honors the original concept and helped with the overall flow.
