BMW customising stalwarts Untitled Motorcycles, or UMC as they're now known, are entering their sixth year of re-engineering bikes from their London and San Francisco workshops. Hugo Eccles runs the stateside branch and Adam Kay heads up their relatively new facility in Finchley, NW London. Although the guys have worked on other marques from Ducatis to Royal Enfields, the venerable air head BMW is their platform of choice, certainly for the London team anyway. Adam's crew consists of Nico on engines and fabrication, Rex who can turn his hand to anything mechanical and Anita looks after the electrics. As you might have gathered from the title this is build number 36 and what UMC London don't know about beemers is probably not worth knowing. Their customer base continues to grow both here in the city and across Europe. One such customer David, also from London, came to UMC looking for a more visceral riding experience as he'd become bored of the sanitised experience offered by modern motorcycles. Having selected attributes from previous builds and adding ideas of his own David left the team to deliver on a brief of classic and classy, with a raw finish. These days a quick paint job and a cut 'n' loop no longer satisfy a discerning buyer so it was back to bare metal for this R80. With the engine out Nico ripped it apart, refreshing most of the internals. Big end shells, piston rings, timing chain, valves and guides were replaced and a new clutch installed. Recalcitrant points ignition has been updated courtesy of a Boyer electronic unit, after all, there's no point looking good if its stood the side of the road waiting for a tow truck. Whilst at it Nico rebuilt the carbs and overhauled the gearbox. Barrels and heads have been blasted and polished, as have the crank cases, airbox cover and carbs. In fact everything has been buffed to a natural sheen. Stainless fasteners have replaced original mild steel so there shouldn't be anything ferrous to let the side down visually as David plans to use the bike in all weathers. Stock exhaust headers remain although they've been scotched to matched the rest of the metal finishes. Simple slash cut silencers deliver that familiar boxer rumble without looking obtrusive or attracting an ASBO. Over the last couple of years Adam has developed a few plug 'n' play components to speed up the build process and make the customer's budget work hard. One of which is their 3/4 length subframe which bolts straight on to the existing frame without faff. Both the frame and subframe are mild steel and therefore needed a post polish coat of clear Armourtex lacquer. The saddle is by another custom scene old-timer (in experience not age) Glenn Mogur, and the stitching is arrow straight. Hagon classic shocks prop everything up and the shrouds were aged to suit. With all of the space freed up below the new seat a smaller battery needed to be hidden. It's now underslung in a UMC carrier beneath the gearbox and powers a fresh loom courtesy of Anita's electrickery. With rusty R50 headlight shells commanding north of £200 Adam has worked how to successfully alter a 1960 Brit repro bucket to accept the original speedo and ammeter. Thanks to Untitled's own headlight ears the whole lot sits lower down making for a sleeker silhouette. The most diminutive of LED indicators from Motogadget are mounted fore and aft but also required hand-finishing to blend into the raw metallic background. Wiring is hidden inside the bars and the brake master cylinder now lives under the fuel tank, creating a clean cockpit and suggestion the R80 donor is much older than its VIN suggests. Finally the fuel tank was painted in a two-tone sunburst orange and smoke silver, nodding towards BMW's heritage colour schemes whilst maintaining a custom edge. Adam is really pleased with how the build has turned out saying "The result is a considerably lightened, stylish and practical R-series with a bias towards town use. However, David also plans on visiting his son in the countryside which this bike is can do with ease". Usually we'd direct you to the Bike Shed Archive to see previous build form UMC but if you're in London tonight UMC 0-36 Raw II will be unveiled at Bike Shed London. If you can't make it here's the Bike Shed Archive | Facebook | Web | Instagram Photography by Ludovic Robert