BEN OTT
Spirit of Passion - In the 1930s, this motorcycle could have been debuted as an ultra-modern exotic. That's why I like it: it's got soul. Old soul. - FOTO © BEN OTT
Harley Davidson has seemingly always had the most significant fan base, and within that, you get a variety of opinions. There are those that won’t touch a screw because only the OEM is qualified to touch said screw. Then there are others who cut and weld to the point that the only thing left authentic and unmodified Harley Davidson is the engine, and that’s sometimes not entirely true. In the car world, some people believe you can’t paint a Corvette, like General Motors have some sort of magicians working behind the scenes with their doctorate in colours that properly bond to fibreglass panels. Remember those wild Corvette show cars in the seventies with fender flares and side pipes that would put a full-size van to shame? How dare they, I mean, depending on what crowd was watching, of course. As I say, I know a lot more about cars than motorcycles, but I know what I like when I see it, and I like this. It’s a BMW, so I guess it’s kind of car-related. Like a two-wheeled half-cousin.
Kingston Custom in Germany took a brand new 2020 BMW R18 and proceeded to re-design it right off the showroom floor into what they call the “Spirit of Passion.” Blasphemy to some, but I’m sure some of you are like me and find that incredibly awesome, especially since the results look like this. The front fairing looks like an art deco locomotive, with the headlight shining out through a tunnel. There’s a pair of vertical grilles underneath that, not dissimilar to what BMW uses on their automobiles, and the front wheel is entirely skirted. The fairing stretches way back to roughly the engine’s mid-point, letting only the original fuel tank and cylinder heads peek out. Custom exhaust has been fabricated to flow with the front fairing and pokes out the back at roughly the edge of the wheel, which has also been mostly covered in. A taillight is peaked into the top of the fender, like a fin. Mechanically, nothing was altered, as it didn’t need to be. The air-cooled, 1800cc flat-twin makes over ninety-one horsepower and is able to spin the rear wheel with a driveshaft due to the way the engine has been installed. It’s been done before, and this arrangement with the cylinder heads hanging way out there on both sides is a love/hate thing with many people. I’ve never been a fan of the look, but the fairing on this one hides it well, and honestly, it’s only an eyesore from certain angles on the bike, even in stock trim. BMW fully supports this sort of custom treatment on the R18 and offers many different bolt-ons for the enthusiast who doesn’t have a complete sheet metal shop at their disposal. If one was dead set on owning the Spirit of Passion, however, it’s only metal, and it could be replicated with the right set of hands and some imagination.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk