Japan is not just one of the world’s largest producers of motorcycles, but it’s home to a whole host of the best custom motorcycle workshops on the globe. The chopper scene has simply never stopped growing, resto-mods are big business and just about any style you care to name, there’s a company doing incredible things. But cafe racers have never been a big deal in Japan and there are only a handful of workshops that focus on them exclusively. One such operation is Minami Motorcycle, a small outfit based in the beautiful residential area of Meguro, Tokyo. And their bikes come with a twist, they try never to use a single new part on any build, everything is repaired, recycled or taken from anywhere in the automotive world and repurposed to fit. And this is how you end up with this brilliant brat-styled cafe racer, a 1987 BMW R100RS, complete with a vintage car rear wheel.

You would expect then that such an industrial approach to bike building would see Minami Motorcycle operating in one of the manufacturing hearts of Japan, or at least a fast-paced urban setting. But Meguro City is one of the most expensive residential areas in Tokyo, a beautiful setting of museums, open parks and high-end living. And then, down a small side street, bringing recycled custom motorcycles to life is Minami, run by Kenji Heianzan. He opened the business in 2015 and worked on all bikes including Motocross machines, but it wasn’t long before he had one very single focus.

“I want to perfect the cafe racer style that suits my heart. I will fly the flag of “cafe racing” high and mighty,” he smiles. At first, the all-conquering Yamaha SR and Honda CB machines made up the vast majority of his fleet, but these days he’s found a love for the Bavarian Boxer, and with so many imported into Japan, there is no shortage. And unlike so many of us around the world, even those in Germany, he’s able to pick up donor bikes at a very reasonable price. Kenji buys almost all of his bikes at the famous Japanese auctions, where anything old that isn’t a collectable is knocked down in seconds for an absolute steal.

This is the approach he takes for all customer builds, but seeing this BMW roll onto the lot, he decided to buy it for himself, so that he could build a bike with complete creative freedom. “I build bikes that feel easy and approachable, like slipping on a good pair of sneakers.” And it’s fair to say that if this R100RS was a pair of sneakers, when first acquired, it had all but worn through the soles and snapped all the laces. But that’s never stopped Kenji before, and so long as the frame isn’t twisted and the engine is solid, he’s away! To get the BMW rolling, the front end has been stripped of one of the brake rotors, with the right side Brembo caliper rebuilt and the stock wheel retained.

This is wrapped up in a recycled bit of rubber, which if you can’t tell, is a classic Dunlop tyre, chosen to suit the age of the bike. The front forks are lowered a little through the trees and then even more so internally, with a fork brace added to give some steering stiffness to the now long and low look.

But it’s at the rear end, where Kenji displays his love for repurposed and recycled parts, finding a vintage Jaguar car wheel for the job. Getting it to fit is no straightforward task, but Kenji has cleverly made an adaptor that runs off the shaft-drive hub, and creates a four to five-stud conversion, with a Shinko white wall tyre used to finish out the look.

To ensure the bike handles well and can control the extra weight of the steel car wheel, Kenji has allowed himself a small extravagance in the form of a high-end Bitubo adjustable shock absorber to dial the mono-lever rear end in. Now with the stance set, the riding position had to match, and a second-hand pair of rearsets are mounted further back and higher than the stock position. They didn’t come with heel guards, but not to worry, as the factory passenger peg mounts have been cut back and drilled; problem solved! At the pointy end, the clip-ons are mounted down the stanchions and wear only the absolute necessities, no mess, no fuss.

And it’s this approach that is taken to the overall look of the bike, with all of the factory bodywork, the big touring fender and the long seat, set aside to be sold. The factory subframe is no more too, and in its place has been fabricated a neat seat post that runs off the backbone. The base is all hand fabricated, the generous solo seat bigger than a bobber item, but not by a lot, that is then foam filled and stitched up in black leather.

The factory BMW fuel tank wears its age with pride, the colour perfect for the task, with the metallic finish still showing a little pop. To complete the visual components, the headlight gets a big change, with an old French Cibie rally driving light getting the call-up and grilled out for the job.

The engine might not be a show pony by any stretch, but these BMW donks are near bulletproof, and with all of the vital checks and serviced, it could be given a little extra shove. To up the fuelling and provide snappy throttle response, the stock carbs are replaced with Keihin CR ites, re-jetted for the job and given a set of meshed-out velocity stacks to breathe through.

Then it’s over to the exhaust to make a big statement, and the stainless steel pipes head up and rearward from the heads, tucking in behind the frame, before belting out the Boxer burble from a set of handmade slash-cut mufflers. The Minami Motorcycle’s raw and recycled BMW cafe racer certainly won’t blend in around the quiet Meguro streets. But who said being conventional was ever part of the cafe racer ethos.

[ Minami Motorcycle | Photography by Yuhei Kodaka ]