The French connection: Blitz Motorcycles + BMW R nineT = The 9 Tracker #RnineT #Custom As the name suggests, Wheels & Waves bike meet celebrates the modern-day custom culture of brat bikes, trackers, café racers and other cool two-wheel bikes with surfing. This year’s event at the Biarritz Lighthouse also became the unveil platform for Blitz Motorcycles’ project BMW R nineT. Say hello to ‘The 9 Tracker’. During the making of the Soulfuel video in late 2013, when BMW Motorrad’s modern roadster R nineT was first shown to a select group of urban custom specialists, Fred Jourden of Blitz Motorcycles along with Roland Sands Design (RSD), David Borras (El Solitario) and Peter Dannenberg (Urban Motor) accepted a challenge to create their own personal versions of the new motorcycle. Within a few months the finished project bikes started to appear. Firstly ‘Track Grinder’ from Urban Motor and then ‘Impostor’ from El Solitario. Then there was silence – until recently, when it was announced that the R nineT of Blitz Motorcycles would be revealed at Wheels & Waves 2014… The gathered crowd cheered, clapped and smiled in appreciation as the covering sheet was removed from ‘The 9 Tracker’. Resplendent in its black paintwork with signature Blitz styling – the removal of the original fuel tank for something completely different – the smiling faces of the onlookers were treated to equally happy smiles in return from the two men behind Paris-based Blitz Motorcycles. Somehow, sheer relief probably, there was nothing in their eyes to say that completing this project build had been an exercise in patience and learning. Right up until 6:25pm on June 9th – the day before the bike was due to be transported to Wheels & Waves – Fred Jourden and Hugo Jezegabel were wielding tools and giving up Gallic emotion by the bucket load. You see, before the R nineT turned up in the Blitz workshop, the partners had made many urban custom machines using the powerplants and chassis of older, carburated BMW ‘airheads’. Dealing with the electronics of modern day ABS and fuel injection meant it was a case of going back to school for these lovers of motorcycling. Part of that learning process involved building a new fuel tank. Not from metal, as is normal when fabricating a new tank, but from the unusual method of electronic 3-D printing with polyamide. To get the desired look, Blitz required the services of specialists in this field where rapid prototype construction is completely different to making a large, finished item that is almost perfect from the start. All that was left for Blitz to complete the tank was to seal it internally and externally with specialist coatings to ensure no petrol would leak, and the fitment of the standard R nineT fuel pump. The shape of the new tank led to the removal of the stock airbox and the use of individual K&N replacement air-filters. As it stands, the bike now needs to be set up and remapped using specialist BMW Motorrad diagnostic equipment to match the engine’s revised breathing to the 2-1 exhaust, with lightweight race-style silencer. However, a quick test-ride of the bike by Hugo led him to say the bike’s performance is now “brutal”. There is also the matter of adapting the bike’s ECU (Engine Control Unit – the brain) to run without the standard ABS (Anti-lock Braking System). Weight and space saving, along with visual clarity meant the system had to make way for basic steel-braided hydraulic lines from the front and brake master-cylinders to the three brake calipers. Blitz made a complete rear subframe to mount a bespoke low-level, old-school-look racing seat. Other notable adaptions are taller wheel rims. Both wheels are now 19-inch items that involved lacing new rims to the original R nineT wheel hubs. Large grooved tyres complete the look, which has the desired appearance of a 1970s clay-track oval racer; a purposeful tracker. “It is a style we looked to create right from the start. Our guide was the legendary Harley-Davidson flat-track racer XR750,” continued Fred. “The idea was to make the bike not look like an R nineT but something that makes people look and wonder what they are seeing. We are pleased with the result. Because it is aggressive; it is brutal just like a competition bike. It is still a BMW but doesn’t look like a nineT.” The 9 Tracker’s disguise continues with replacement wide handlebars that carry no switchgear (the starter button is set into the front brake’s master-cylinder). A Tommaselli dual-cable throttle assembly aids the minimalist, clean look of the front end. Copious amounts of black, powder-coat finish adorns the bike; the upper fork outers, handlebar clamp and triple tree, footpeg and associated controls and engine components. Detail touches by Blitz, such as the LED tail/stop light combo built into the seat/tail unit, do not reach the eyes instantly. Instead the 9 Tracker teases you into searching for such areas of change. On the other hand, the covering paint by Carmouche – a leader in custom paint application – is a masterstroke because it underlines the quality of the build. Neither Fred or Hugo can answer the question on the length of time spent on their R nineT because the project blended with customer projects. “All I can say is we worked together throughout the whole shebang. Really. From the start it was just Hugo and me to think how we can work on this bike. Then we collaborated with a friend of ours who could do some pretty pictures based on our ideas. After that it was a case of making contact with people who could help us make it happen, such as the fuel tank. Then it was us making the adaptation of the lines, the wiring connectors, choice of tyres and so on. It was our goal, as always, to make a bike unique to Blitz Motorcycles.” The next stage of the 9 Tracker’s life will be its appearance at BMW Motorrad Days, “This is another location where people will be able to view what can be achieved in order to be unique. We accepted the challenge for the beauty of the challenge in the same way an owner of an R nineT is able to change areas of his machine – this is how and why the basic roadster chassis and parts were designed.” BMW Motorrad Days took place over three days, 4-6 July, in the alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. 35,000+ fans of BMW Motorrad attended this weekend event to party and also to raise a glass in celebration of the completion of the 9 Tracker, and other notable R nineT projects by the likes of David Borras of El Solitario and Peter Dannenberg from Urban Motor GmbH. In the meantime, other custom specialists from across the globe were also fine-touching their interpretations of R nineT.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 09:31:01 +0000
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