Skip to content
Bike Shed Motorcycle Club
Login
Cart
Search
Home Shop Locations
London Los Angeles Tattoo Barbershop
Membership
Membership Home Join Us Calander Bike Shed Adventures
Community
Journal Social Media YouTube Moto Sales
Barbershop Show 2025 Tickets Show 2025 Bike Submissions Custom Classifieds Journal Calendar & Events
Your Basket

£
Quantity
-
+
Remove { item.title }

Your cart is currently empty.

Subtotal
Subtotal { cart.total_price | money Currency.currentCurrency }
Continue Shopping
Check Out
Tickets - Bike Shed Moto Show 2025 Shop the Bike Shed up to 50% Off Sale! Free Delivery on UK orders over £100 Shop Our Newest Gear & Apparel
Bike Shed Motorcycle Club
  • Bike Shed Motorcycle Club
  • Shop
    • Clothing
    • Accessories
    • Gear
    • New Arrivals
    • T-Shirts
    • Headwear
    • Denim
    • BSMC x Dave Buonaguidi
    • Sweatshirts & Hoodies
    • Tubes & Scarfs
    • Outerwear
    • Retail Gift Cards
    • Jackets & Shirts
    • Leather & Silver
    • Jackets & Shirts
    • Restaurant Gift Cards
    • Womens Fit
    • Patches & Pins
    • Helmets
    • Gifted BSMC Membership
    • View All
    • View All
    • View All
    • Sale - Up To 50% Off
  • Locations

    Los Angeles

    London

    Barbershop

    Custom Classifieds

  • Community

    Journal

    Instagram

    Custom Classifieds

    Youtube

  • Membership

    Membership Home

    Join Us

    Calendar

    Adventures

  • SHOW

    SHOW HOMEPAGE

    SHOW TICKETS

    MOTOGP COMPETITION

    2024 SHOW

We've sent you an email with a link to update your password.

Login

Create account
Forgot your password?

Reset your password

We will send you an email to reset your password.

Access Denied
IMPORTANT! If you’re a store owner, please make sure you have Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin, as you have customer based locks set up with EasyLockdown app. Enable Customer Accounts

Shaka Garage Silver Gills

By James McCombe - 31 Aug 15

  • Category_Bikes
Shaka Garage Silver Gills
Shaka K100 1 THUMB There are certain things in life that can be just that little bit difficult to love, regardless of technical abilities. No matter how well something is engineered if it's missing that je ne sais qoui a frosty reception may well await. If luck is held, this could just manifest itself in a feeling of disgust in a social media comment. But even worse is when something receives no opinion at all. Design and engineering should always provoke a reaction. Particularly with custom bikes. Whether it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling in your nether regions, or provokes an E-coli-like 1-2 sucker punch of vomiting and diarrhoea, the end game of building something is revelling in it's reception. Except perhaps, for that last example. Shaka K100 2 BMW definitely avoided being ignored when the K-Series first appeared. Rather than play copy-cat to the Japanese factories, the Bavarians, at first glance, appeared to have left the orientation of the powerplant up to an origami fortune teller. The car-like 4-cylinder lump was wedged longitudinally in the frame on it's side. An excellent engineering solution for the shaft driven tourer, but leaving a certain blocky aesthetic that was never really overcome. Shaka K100 3 Eventually though, despite it having a devout, vocal following, and not withstanding the standard bike's epic capabilities at long-haul wafting, BMW caved and called it a day on the design. That original K-bike now seems like a brave experiment. It's bricks and motor equivalent might be brutalist architecture. But no matter the technical advantages, there's a reason Brunel University was used for A Clockwork Orange, and there's a reason the majority of IL4 engines spin their cranks across the chassis. Shaka K100 4 Not that this worries the guys from Shaka Garage; the boys from Bari revel in an unorthodox challenge. So costly R-Series donors were pushed aside at the opportunity to transform a K-bike. Found in fair condition, the 1985 K100, cast snowflake wheels and all, was soon being transitioned from render to rubber. Shaka K100 5 Rather than try and minimise the visual heft of the machine, which the engine then does it's best to undo, Shaka decided to enhance the main lines of the bike. Focusing on and exaggerating the tonnage and mammoth proportions as they put it, bringing the muscular design to the forefront. The bike is purposely unbalanced, the disproportionately small LED front light brings mass back to the middle of the bike, tight like a closed fist. The overall feel is classic muscle-bike, upright superbike bars give a commanding position once aboard the heavy hitter. Shaka K100 6 The rear portion of the frame was completely reworked however, no longer needing the additional scaffolding for touring duties. Sporting a dual Brat-style seat, a cowl was fabricated for the days when the rider can't muster an interested companion. A mixture of laser cut templates and old fashioned mallet mashing was used for all the aluminium pieces, a simplistic front fender carrying the style right to the front of the bike. Shaka K100 7 A real highlight is that handmade exhaust. In case of any doubt in the engine's layout, the dragster inspired row of tips shows intent and will keep your left foot affably warm in winter months. Pleasingly though, this is not some performance sapping 12 inch header, exiting into the atmosphere. A custom muffler, tucked under bike maintains back pressure and reduces the racket to more amenable levels. As a result, Shaka assure us the sound is not vulgar or annoying, merely full blooded and a bit rude. Deafening bikes are overrated anyway (or is that a bit of K-series conservatism rubbing off? Shaka K100 8 The name 'Silver Gills' came about as the result of the new side mounted appendages. Not only do they add to the lines of the bike, continuing the waist line and filling in the uplift at the front of the tank, they also hide the unsightly radiator whist letting the warm air dissipate. A simple addition that dramatically alters the bike's looks. Forgoing a flash paint job to emanate the bare concrete walls of aforementioned brutalist buildings, the bike lets it's base materials show. The raw aluminium finish to tank and tail are accentuated by simple graphics paying reference to BMW's motorsport division. Shaka K100 9 Whilst the aggressively treaded rubber may not suit everyones taste or riding style, they sure add character to the build. Just remember to take it easy and perhaps not use all of the litre bike's accelerative prowess at once. Contrasting the raw bodywork, a combination of black powdercoat and brushed highlights give the mechanical components a factory feel. The duality of this perfectly reflected in the transformation from staid tourer to two-wheeled uppercut. More from Shaka Garage Bari on Bike Shed Archive | Facebook | Instagram | Web
Share
Share on Facebook Tweet on Twitter Pin on Pinterest
Invalid password
Enter
Menus
Book a Table
Barber
Classifieds
FRANCHISE
Invest
Calendar
About Us
Contact & Opening Hours
Venue Hire
Delivery & Returns
384 Old St, Hackney, London EC1V 9LT United Kingdom
Tel: 020 7729 8114
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Payment methods accepted
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Google Pay
  • Maestro
  • Mastercard
  • PayPal
  • Shop Pay
  • Union Pay
  • Visa
Copyright © 2025, Bike Shed Motorcycle Club
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website, including personalised ads. By clicking 'Accept' you agree to our Privacy/Cookie Policy