One of the key features of all the creations from Cafe Racer Dreams is their powerful and unmistakable aesthetic appeal. The combination of retro design with modern details is part of their special personality and the #CRD136 is a perfect excellent example. This latest project is inspired, at the request of its owner, by another of these unique customisations from CRD. 

This is a machine with a mix of different styles: it’s like putting a cafe racer, a bobber and a scrambler into a cocktail shaker, serving up a motorcycle with striking style and proportions. The single seat gives the bike its shortened, radical look. The rear of the original chassis, from a BMW R 100 RS, was replaced by new custom supports for the YSS G-Top shock absorbers. These have a black finish to match the rest of the bike with three settings to adjust the rebound and length. 

The most eye-catching part in the rear is the support bar for the single seat, making it look as if the seat is floating in the air. Once the supports for the shock absorbers and the seat were welded on, the team spent two whole days finishing the weld seams, grinding and sanding so that, with the powder coating finish, the chassis looks like it just came out of the factory. The seat is of 4mm buffalo hide with maroon diamond pattern, perfectly matching the Biltwell grips with the same colour and look. This breaks monochrome aesthetic of the rest of the machine, with the gas tank in grey painted with the number 11 at the request of the owner, a stylish contrast to the parts in black. 

CRD offers its clients many possible options for the front end, and here the choice was a set of inverted 43 mm Showa forks with 120 mm of travel and three adjustment settings, fitted with Tokico 4-piston radial callipers gripping 320 mm discs for excellent braking performance. Anchored to the forks is a very short, custom fender, matching the one in the rear, that fits this bike’s minimalist philosophy to perfection. In this same line we have the customary switches, indicators and rear views from Motogadget. 

The motor was fully restored without any changes to the original configuration from 40 years ago and fitted with a set of Trumpet pipes and K&N filters. The bullet headlight is another characteristic feature, with a built-in, classic Daytona speedometer fully in line with the look of the rest of the bike. But seeing the bike head on you understand how the reversed Ultra Low handlebars and underbar mirrors give the #136 that unique aesthetic appeal.