Seems like the guys at Fuel in Barcelona have been busying themselves with putting together yet another classy BMW-based custom. It began life as a 1984 R80, now better known as the R80 S TRIAL.
The build was inspired by the Triumphs, BSAs or Pentons of the 1960’s that used to dominate the International Six Days Trials. All light bikes with small headlights, flat handlebars, minimalist seat and off road tyres; motorcycles that were capable of riding trails and woods for days on end.
The bike was commissioned by a classic bike enthusiast living in the Austrian Alps, but it's not all about the aesthetics, Karles and the guys were also tasked with improving the performance.
The front forks are from a BMW K75 Sport which has been adapted by designing and machining the front axle and the triple trees. The brakes have also been improved with a 320mm over-size disc, a 4-piston caliper Brembo and Nissin master cylinder. The entire front disc and displacer caliper has been designed by Fuel and built by a specialist.
The rear end ride has been taken care of with an adjustable Wilbers shock. The guys also worked on the exhaust and collectors for a set of 2 plus 2 exhaust manifolds and by varying the angle of the mufflers to improve the ground clearance.
The sub frame has been rebuilt to give the bike a slimmer line, while shortening and strengthening the bike for off-road use. The headlamp is from a classic Spanish trials bike mounted on a bracket designed and built for a “clean” look.
The speedo is a high performance Motogadget unit, handlebars are Tomaselli wearing classic enduro grips, and the indicator switches come from an old Triumph. The bike is brought to life using a car-type starter motor relocated to the side of the bike.
On one side of the Kawasaki tank they've incorporated a gearshift from an old Ural (suicide shift) and thanks to an ingeniously simple mechanism it acts on the choke, opening it when you push down on the handle - a "divertimento" to give personality to the bike.
The bike is result of five months of hard work enabling Karles and the Fuel workshop to take another step forward in how the design and build their bikes - five months clearly very well spent.
Bespoke parts include: Fuel 320mm front disc + displacer caliper, Rear subframe, Headlight holder, Indicators bracket, Collectors, Front fender bracket, Solo seat, Choke mechanism (Ural gearshift), Front axel and the Solo seat designed by Fuel and built by X-Sits.
New parts include: Kawaski KZ750 tank, Tomasselli handlebar, Classic trial headlight, Nissin front master cylinder, BMW K75 front fork, Motogadget speedometer, Wilbers 632 rear shock, Hoske exhaust, Brembo 4 calipers, Continental TKC 80 tyres, Magura clutch lever, Indicators from Moto Posh Japan and SW-Motech on-Road/Off-Road Rider Footpegs.
Karles would also like to thank the work, enthusiasm and talent of Fuel's engineer, Hilario, as well as Isaac and Jose the mechanics, and of course to Mike, the owner, who has trusted them since the beginning.
"As you know, we like to build bikes to ride and enjoy them so besides the studio pics we have also made a photoshoot of R80 S Fuel Trial in action. All taken by the photographer Claudio Rizzolo. ...Hope you like!"
Yes, we do - thanks!
