Photo: BMW
The BMW R 5 Hommage is a spectacular custom motorcycle introduced to the public at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2016, and which pays tribute to the original R 5 model released 80 years ago.
This anniversary bike embodies the essence of what motorcycling was back in the day, albeit in a modern, custom form. It's not that often when we get to see custom BMW's created by the manufacturers themselves, but when they do such bikes, we can expect them to be nothing short of extraordinary.
The BMW R 5 Hommage is a rather minimalist build, with everything kept clean and simple, and carefully hiding the modern, high-tech solutions behind the strong old-school vibe.
The engine is an authentic 500cc boxer lump that was damaged in a race. Provided by bike enthusiast Sebastian Gutsch, the engine was restored and received special add-ons designed for this one-off build. The engine also served as the starting point in de design of the machine, a process that involved Head of Design BMW Motorrad Edgar Heinrich and Ola Stenegard, Head of Vehicle Design and Creative Director Heritage.
After the R 5 Hommage was conceived, the manufacturing was entrusted to builders Ronny and Benny Noren, two brothers with 30 years of experience in building custom bikes. The two even had to craft special parts that were missing, adding to the bespoke ones that were included in the build, such as the valve cover and the breastplate, machined from billet aluminium.
Save from the engine, the entire bike was custom made, including the retro-look bar-end reverse hand controls and the special design supercharger added for extra power.
Special hubs were needed to receive disc brakes at both ends, and steel exhaust pipes were also fabricated in-house. A handmade stitched and embossed leather seat adds further refinement to the R 5 Hommage, and the final touch is represented by the classic BMW retro color scheme with black paint and white pinstripes. BMW took things to a new level adding smoke semi-clear varnish in certain areas, letting the texture of the brushed metal shine through.
Needless to say, this motorbike only makes us dream about BMW cruisers even more...
The BMW R 5 Hommage is a rather minimalist build, with everything kept clean and simple, and carefully hiding the modern, high-tech solutions behind the strong old-school vibe.
The engine is an authentic 500cc boxer lump that was damaged in a race. Provided by bike enthusiast Sebastian Gutsch, the engine was restored and received special add-ons designed for this one-off build. The engine also served as the starting point in de design of the machine, a process that involved Head of Design BMW Motorrad Edgar Heinrich and Ola Stenegard, Head of Vehicle Design and Creative Director Heritage.
After the R 5 Hommage was conceived, the manufacturing was entrusted to builders Ronny and Benny Noren, two brothers with 30 years of experience in building custom bikes. The two even had to craft special parts that were missing, adding to the bespoke ones that were included in the build, such as the valve cover and the breastplate, machined from billet aluminium.
Save from the engine, the entire bike was custom made, including the retro-look bar-end reverse hand controls and the special design supercharger added for extra power.
Special hubs were needed to receive disc brakes at both ends, and steel exhaust pipes were also fabricated in-house. A handmade stitched and embossed leather seat adds further refinement to the R 5 Hommage, and the final touch is represented by the classic BMW retro color scheme with black paint and white pinstripes. BMW took things to a new level adding smoke semi-clear varnish in certain areas, letting the texture of the brushed metal shine through.
Needless to say, this motorbike only makes us dream about BMW cruisers even more...
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