Among the greatest achievements in the custom bike world, this BMW R being WalzWerk Motorcycle’s 1010th full custom build stands in the upper echelons of success. For the last 33 years, the proudly German company, spearheaded by master builder and designer Marcus Walz, has been at the top of the game. He’s built incredible machines that have won international awards, been featured on global TV, written a book, expanded into his own brand of hospitality, and built bikes for Formula 1 World Champions and A-list celebrities. But at the end of the day, Marcus is a hardcore biker and builder, and this clean green machine is another stunning example from his production run of SCHIZZO® Roadsters.
Located just a few minutes up the road from the famous Hockenheimring racing circuit, the WalzWerk factory is both a motorcycle nirvana and a hive of activity. The SCHIZZO® lineup includes the Roadster, Cafe Racer, Scrambler, Bobber and the very special GT1, of which just a handful are built. Throw in a few BMW K and 9 nineT builds, and roughly 100 complete custom motorcycles leave the facility each year. By the time a handful of one-off projects are built and the constant demand for the company’s brilliant parts collection is created and sent out, and you soon understand that this place has to run like a well-oiled machine.
“This build starts with a BMW R80RT Monolever from 1989. As we do with all our bikes, the bike was completely disassembled. The main frame was sandblasted and then we cut all unnecessary brackets and we re-weld the important structural welds to make the frame more stiff and strong. The battery is located in one of our battery boxes under the gearbox,” Marcus tells us.
The subframe, which bolts on as a single piece, is one of the many off-the-shelf items that WalzWerk produce and sells, along with other items like the chopped front fender, number plate mount, and full lighting package.
Turning to the suspension, Marcus explains, “Since we want to keep the bike still classic, we do not opt for an upside down fork but we keep the stock forks and lower it about 130mm.” But don’t think that means they’re lacking in any way, with new internals, progressive springs and new fork tubes all added. The triple trees are machined in-house and the lower legs are turned down for a stunning appearance, before they’re all hit with a black powder coat. The super short gaiters are from the company catalogue and the fork covers are a brilliant touch, with integrated turn signals for an uber-clean finish.
Having spent much of his life as a racer and competing in championships like the Boxer Cup, solid braking performance is always top of mind for Marcus. So, while the setup has a stock looking appearance it is anything but. “We always upgrade the brakes to a double disc brake kit and we always upgrade the discs to full floating Brembo discs.” Which along with completely rebuilt calipers, custom lines and uprated pads deliver stout stopping power. The bike rolls on Walzwerk Cross-Spoke wheels, which feature rebuilt hubs, stainless spokes and lightweight rims, that have then been wrapped in Shinko rubber for a classic look.
But as Marcus explains, a huge number of his clients make a very wise choice. “We have another wheelset ready with some soft Continental RoadAttack tyres for those who want a real Canyon Carver, and not just an Urban Warrior. We offer this option on all of our bikes and around 80% of customers order a second set of wheels along with the bike.”
For the sake of incredible handling and the ability to work with any set of tyres you want to throw on your SCHIZZO®, the rear shock is an exclusive development between WalzWerk and Touratech, who use a unit from their BLACK T line to build the perfect match for the BMW.
One of the great successes of the Walz BMW is just how brilliantly the famous Boxer twin is both tuned and presented. The internals are entirely overhauled and upgraded to give a full 1000cc of capacity, with modified heads featuring upgraded valves and flowed ports. To take full advantage of these upgrades a mild racing profile cam is fitted and the Bing carbs are completely rebuilt and jetted to suit, with their own pod filters for improved breathing.
The signature exhaust comes from a long established partnership between Walz and SC-Project, and not only is the engine finished in a proprietary thermal coating, but all of the wiring, including the electronic ignition, is neatly hidden away for a flawless appearance.
Speaking of looks, this is where the customer really gets to send a strong sense of self, and this Roadster was spec’d in a glossy and yet utilitarian ‘Porsche Dark Olive’. It looks simply stunning and the custom filler is a neat touch, which is joined by the outfit’s GT seat. “Which is inspired by the old Ford GT40 racing seats. Most people think the seat is inspired by the Porsche Singer seats, but those seats were invented some 50 years before.”
The end product not only looks incredible but performs exceptionally well, weighing just 172kg with fuel and pumping out 75bhp. To make the ordering process even more customer focussed, a 3D online configurator is nearly finished and there is a whole new production run of a different kind of BMW on the way; when it’s Walz, it works.
