Here’s the second bike from a guy who’s reputation is growing faster than a wave of nausea at a Nickelback concert. Arguable one of Eastern Europe’s top shops after only his second build, we’re genuinely excited about what this guy has up his oily, rolled sleeves. This BMW follows his blinding ’83 R80 job from a few months back; this time he’s turned his eye to a rather nice R60/7 from ’77. His name is Blaž Šuštaršič. He has 5 diacritics in his name. His shop is called ER Motorcycles. This is ‘Macchiato’.
“I have been a motorcycle enthusiast since childhood,” says Blaž. “Although I was impressed with the sounds of the engine and the speeds it can reach, I have always been more interested in the way a motorcycle was designed and built, giving my full attention to little details that make a motorcycle special and unique. A work of art you might say.”
“Growing up, a passion for innovative design and creating something from scratch led me to become a graphic designer. Working full-time in advertising and drawing design sketches of motorcycles as a hobby were my life for 6 years. But my heart and soul were more and more into motorcycles. Despite the economic crisis in 2009, I reached for a business opportunity that opened up for me. I quit my job and started chasing my childhood dreams. I gathered a team and opened a shop. ER motorcycles was born.”
“The name ER, or Espresso Racer Motorcycles, stands for our passion for 1960’s cafe racers. Thus, old café racers are usually the ones that are being redesigned and given a new look and feel. We always try to make sure our bikes have four key characteristics – a story, some innovation, a unique design and total attention to detail.
“So now for this bike. It’s a ‘77 BMW R60/7 that we have called ‘Macchiatto’. It’s a build for us, and wasn’t commissioned. It took us about 2 months of really hard work to complete. The carb is a stock Bing unit, and the air filter is stock too. The exhaust is custom and the silencers are HP Course units.”
“We modified the rear loop on the original frame and swapped out the original forks with a set from a R100 RT. The front wheel and rear wheels are from the same bike, with Continental TKC80 rubber; 100/90×19 at the front and 4.50×18” at the back. Other bits we took from the R100 include the dual front discs and the controls.”
“The tank is from a R50/5 and we did all the paint and graphics in house. The seat and seat pan are both handmade; this is one of our signature features. We pride ourselves on our upholstery. The ‘bars are Renthal items and the grips are from Ariete. We completely rewired the bike, too.”
The ER signature touch. Now that’s some sweet stitching
“And to top it off, we splashed out on a Motogadget ‘Tiny’ dial. They make beautiful stuff. We hope you love the bike as much as we do. Stay tuned for our next build soon.”
Photography buy Jernej Konjajev