BMW R 18 B Heavy Duty custom bike is made for your trip to galaxy
BMW Motorrad partnered with German customizer Fred Kodlin to customize the R 18 B, and the one-off product of this collaboration is called the Heavy Duty. The motorcycle looks out worldly, as if it is made for a trip to the galaxy. The motorcycle was customised for the Daytona Bike Week and is the result of months of work.
The biggest challenge was restructuring the frame of the bike as the customisation involved a lot of metal work. The BMW R 18 Heavy Duty was essentially a father-son duo project as Kodlin's son Len also significantly contributed throughout the customization. “We have completely remanufactured the upper tubes to lower the fly-line and thus the seat height of the R 18 B," Kodlin said.
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The windshield has been chopped; the steering head and the triple clamps have been redone so that the caster fits despite the changed steering angle and so that the bike rides well. The fly-line of the Heavy Duty drops to the rear from the chopped windshield, which has been sourced from the Original BMW Motorrad Accessories range. The top portion of the BMW R 18 B Heavy Duty features a strong waistline in the seat area and a flowing connection to the side cases.
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The bodywork alone took about three months as a completely new sheet metal tank was created - longer than the original, flowing in shape and with indentations on the sides. The connection of the tank and rear frame was also modified for this purpose. The original mobile phone charging compartment, on the other hand, has been taken over from the R 18 B.
Paintwork on the bike has been done by tattoo artist Marcel Sinnwell. Colour gradients were completely airbrushed with translucent paint while design touches on the R 18 B Heavy Duty are provided by hand-painted pinstripes and an airbrushed pattern on the rear mudguard that combines Kodlin and "100 years of BMW Motorrad"
