BMW K1100 - The Story Behind The Bike

Buying BMW K1100 cafe racer

I am Brian Hopman from Vinkeveen in daily life I am a project engineer and I work at an automation company that builds production lines for the food industry.
Because wrenching, welding, and grinding are hobby's, I thought building my own café racer would be cool.

It didn't take me long to decide, it had to be the BMW K1100 cafe racer.
The way this machine is engineered appealed to me, the horizontal four-cylinder of the K series.
Through the internet, I bought a completely standard 1997 BMW K1100 LT.

''Hopman Cafe racer''

The idea was to make the café racer tight & robust with custom parts and original details, like the custom stainless steel air intake with open chalice and the original steering wheel control. After I rebuilt and painted the engine, I had a custom injector protection plate made from stainless steel with the text "Hopman cafe racer".
I used the polyester backing from Twisted brothers and also adapted the frame of the bike. After welding, grinding, fitting, and measuring, I was very happy with the modification.

Buying parts for the BMW K1100 

After all the modifications the bike was sprayed in the color combination of high gloss black and Daytona grey metallic and the shopping at the Caferacerwebshop could start!
There I found everything I needed, including the BEP 3.0 for the wiring of the original display to an after-market display, so I could mount an old-school look around the display.
The wiring harness of the engine is completely adjusted for the new led headlight, led tail light, and led indicators. For the led blinkers the relay from Black Diamond is used because with one quick push the blinkers will blink 3 times and with a longer push 10 times.
Furthermore, the relay box and fuse box are original, as I wanted.

Building cafe racer BMW K1100

When assembling the frame to the engine, I mounted a custom YSS rear shock and had the front legs cut off so I could mount a slip-on steering wheel with an bar end, LED indicators & mirrors.
For the fuel & coolant temperature gauges I made stainless steel brackets so they could be mounted on the sides of the radiator.
For the coolant tank, I 3D printed mounting blocks by S.Koelemij who is currently engineering a custom 3D printed battery box for the lithium battery. Furthermore, the bike is finished with nice details like the CNC-milled fuel cap from Powerbrick, the CNC-milled brake and clutch lever, a leather saddle from Twisted Brothers, and new BMW emblems on the tank.
For a sportier sound, I have mounted a different silencer and for the tough café racer look, I have wrapped the exhaust manifold with heat tape.

Finish BMW K1100 cafe racer

Outside my work, I have worked day in and day out for 6 months on my BMW K1100 café racer, and also thanks to my brother-in-law who came daily to give his input, the café racer became as it is now and the result is beautiful!