BMW K75 Street Tracker
 

The donor bike was a good runner but drawing inspiration from BMW’s HP R1200 meant a full strip down. Not only did it allow for the cleaning and replacement of many parts but left the frame a blank canvas to be sprayed that gorgeous HP Blue. But before we were wielding a spray gun, we first had some ideas. The rear subframe was cut off and an entirely new piece fabricated that shortens and raises the rear 50mm.

 

The new subframe also acts as the rear mounting point for the tank that allows it to sit in an entirely more aggressive fashion on the frame. With the basic look now sorted the frame was closed out at the rear with a new hoop and the whole thing sprayed in that BMW Blue. Having gone up so high on the frame the seat is a sleek and slender unit, black leather, in a two-up design. The simple seat is offset by the unique lines of the K tank, further accentuated by the paint scheme that is a mix of everything from white, raw metal and splashes of color.

 

Having raised the tank and ditched all of the K series bike’s awful fairings it left more of the cooling system exposed than was to our liking. So a set of race plates are neatly folded and shaped to match the tanks lines while providing more of that street warrior look so popular in today’s trackers. The front fender was cleverly re-purposed, that’s the stock road item, cut and then mounted below the triple trees for the full off-road look.

 

The engine in the K75 is a peach, plenty of torque for all occasions, just enough power to have fun and shaft drive for unbreakable reliability. These things will still be going when most others have entered the wrecking yard in the sky, but the electronics can be a mess. So to clean everything up we took our time to relocate all the wiring harness and electronics into the airbox including a very small LiPo Battery. To give the ride a raucous note, we then fitted up an SBK Leo Vince Carbon muffler with a custom midpipe.

 

Having turned the old tourer into a high-waisted harder charger the suspension had to be brought up to spec. Searching through the large YSS catalog we found a shock normally meant for a K1100 that would give him the 35mm extra length we needed while providing far superior dampening over stock. The standard front forks have been given a refresh and sans gaiters you get an idea of the enormous amount of wheel travel there is to play with. While twin disc front brakes ensure there is always plenty at the lever should you go a little overboard.

 

Those levers are mounted up onto a set of new Hebo enduro handlebars. The rest of the front end is perfectly utilitarian, just the ticket for a BMW, with a grilled out PIAA headlight taking pride of place. This look along with the amber lensed indicators and rear numberplate stay are straight from the Ed Turner playbook; making no apology for functionality. A Koso digital speedo provides just enough information and is mounted on a bracket of The FoundryMC’s own design. Which brings us to the only thing we didn’t do on the build, mount those insanely aggressive Heidenau K74 all-purpose tires to the repainted BMW rims.