BMW R 18 Becomes "The Wal", a Wild Beast With a Mad Max Style

Following Roland Sands and Dirk Oehlerking, BMW Motorrad commissioned renowned customizer Shinya Kimura to create the third official R 18 custom – "The Wal." The R 18 was turned into a unique machine for the "SoulFuel" series, which showcases various collaborations between the Bavarian brand and various customizers.

Shinya Kimura grew up in a family that owned a small rivet factory in downtown Tokyo. Naturally, the scent of steel and oil, as well as the sound of equipment and metals, was what surrounded him most of the time. This was the spark that lit up his interest in metal bits and pieces.

From there, the fascination for building things took off, and he ended up having his own workshop. There, he would do what he knows best: working to combine different elements to make machines that fit his vision.

His career as a customizer in Japan began with Zero Engineering, the company he founded back in 1992. Shortly after establishing his own business, his name successfully crossed the borders when he created a Harley-Davidson "Samurai Chopper" custom.

He moved to California in 2006 and has since designed and made exceptional models that fulfilled its customers' needs. Nowadays, the customizer builds a few motorcycles each year, and he's creating them only for people with whom he feels a mutual understanding, making what comes out of his skilled hands even more precious.

Besides working for his clients, Kimura is also focusing on projects that include modern bikes with an intriguing character – and "The Wal" is one of them. His approach is more of a "hands-on" one as he doesn't use any sketches, drawings, or mock-ups in the whole building process. He just follows the ideas that the customer has, or in this case, his own vision.

He knew he was starting from an R 18 classic design and had to make great use of the mighty boxer engine inside. To get familiar with the bike, he went all the way to Germany to visit BMW Motorrad R 18 development team. That's where he learned what makes the R 18 such an incredible machine.

Then, in February this year, he discovered the cruiser's character. Kimura rode the bike for a few hundred miles and had the chance to get up close and personal with the R 18. After feeling the roar of the motorcycle and seeing how it rides across the Californian streets, he felt ready to start on its new project.

Kimura began work in mid-February, and it took him four months in total to turn the classic machine into the wild beast known as the Wal. He learned something new every day while working on the project, which fueled his desire to complete this spectacular custom, and by the end of June, he was ready to show off his creation.

He says that the bike was made to fit his own character and style, so he chose to "adopt the frame, wheels and tyres as well as suspension elements and brakes because I didn't feel the need to change them after I had ridden the bike."

Its heart remains the iconic "Big Boxer" engine, which is the highest displacement boxer ever used by BMW Motorrad on a production motorcycle. At 3,000 rpm, the 2.0-liter two-cylinder produces 158 Nm (116 lb-ft) of maximum torque. The Big Boxer delivers 91 hp at 4,750 rpm, allowing the motorcycle to sprint at over 111 mph (179 kph).

With its character preserved, the wild custom got a new face. It received a semi-shell fairing for comfortable handling at high speeds that houses two smaller headlights. There's also "a set of teeth" underneath the headlight, which makes the machine almost look like a fierce robotic animal.

The handlebars were redesigned as well. They're narrower and lower and offer more maneuverability. The Japanese customizer also changed the seating position and moved the footrests further back to have more flexibility when riding.

Fo the final touches, Kimura hammered the components to create a textured surface and coated them with a bronze paint that gives the Wal a post-apocalyptic look. After completing the bodywork, Kimura decided to keep the traditional exhaust system's distinctive design but painted it matte black to match the bronze elements.