By Álvaro Escobar for AutoBild.
After retiring from the pitch, Xabi Alonso, the new coach of Real Madrid, bought himself a beautiful customized classic BMW motorcycle.
Inside Xabi Alonso’s garage, alongside exclusive cars, lies the secret to how the new Real Madrid coach relaxes. Want a hint? It has two wheels and is fully customized.
Yesterday, Carlo Ancelotti said goodbye to Real Madrid, the coach who has won the most titles with the club, but his replacement is already confirmed. It will be Xabi Alonso, coming from Bayer Leverkusen and a former player for both Real Madrid and Real Sociedad.
Just before leaving the pitch for good, on the eve of the match between Bayern Munich and Freiburg, Xabi Alonso revealed in an interview with the newspaper Marca the indulgence he wanted to treat himself to upon retirement: “I’m going to buy a motorcycle and ride it. No doubt about it. A road bike—not the biggest, not the smallest.”
No sooner said than done. Just over a month later, the new Real Madrid coach had his new bike: a spectacular BMW R100. But not just any showroom model—it was custom-built at the Madrid-based workshop Cafe Racer Dreams, located between the neighborhoods of Tetuán and Valdeacederas.
Xabi Alonso’s motorcycle
Surely, Xabi Alonso deserved such a treat after gifting football fans many seasons of skill, elegant play, and, as some claim, great sportsmanship.
The motorcycle is based on a 1981 BMW R100, with a value exceeding €7,000, but the former player from San Sebastián has modified it to his liking, giving it a more vintage look. It’s no surprise that Xabi Alonso gave his bike a retro touch—he’s a true enthusiast of classic cars.
It’s no surprise that the Spanish coach chose the specialists at Cafe Racer Dreams, as it is considered one of the best BMW customization workshops in the world.
Among the modifications made to the R100 are the suspension, handlebars, mirrors, front brakes, wheels, brake master cylinders, and the seat. The seat deserves special mention, as it was crafted with great care.
Its construction was carried out by the company Café Leather Supply, and it is made from leather sourced from northern Spain, combined with a vegetable tanning process using natural tannins such as acacia and mimosa. It was then shaped in the town of Ubrique, in one of the most exclusive artisanal factories in Spain.
Mechanically, the engine on the R100 is a boxer-type, twin-cylinder, four-stroke powerplant, which was completely disassembled to determine which parts could be reused and which were beyond repair.
Between €20,000 and €40,000
According to Vanitatis at the time, Alonso’s motorcycle could be worth between €20,000 and €40,000. Certainly not a fortune for a top-level footballer, but it reflects the extensive work carried out to turn it into a luxury accessible to only a few.
It’s worth remembering that the BMW R100 is one of the most iconic two-wheeled models ever produced by the Bavarian company. The first edition hit the market in 1976 and remained in production for no less than 20 years.
Although there are several versions such as the R100T, R100S, R100CS, and R100RT, the most legendary of them all is the R100RS, as it was the first production motorcycle to feature a fully integrated plastic fairing.
Shortly afterward, various custom builds began to appear—many of them worthy of being displayed in a museum for motorcycle enthusiasts to admire. Today, the BMW R100 range has become the paradigm of classic motorcycles.