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The 9th annual "Eastside Classic" happened over the weekend showcasing some amazing talents through an array of mediums including motorcycles, scooters, art on helmets, music and more. The show is very interesting and caters to and audience of many interests and a favorite event for us to attend. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth and of course the great people who keep this event going, we will be there next year!
Photos by Matt Hildebrand
The iconic R90S was the first production superbike ever produced by a manufacturer built with the idea of taking the bike straight from the lot to the track in hopes of creating a more edgier BMW Motorcycle brand image in the early 70's. In 1976, US importer Butler & Smith helped clinch the success of the transformation when they won the first US AMA Superbike Championship with this bike under rider Reg Pridmore. This particular one didn't win any championships but did come to us in pieces longing to return to the road owned by Woody Allison, our same customer from the motocross inspired 1974 R90/6 refurb. One fun fact does exist with this bike. Some years ago before Austin Moto Works owner Steve Tyler was wrenching on bicycles at Bicycle Sport Shop, his co-worker Peter Murray owned a shiny burnt orange R90S and Steve and his Honda sweated the bike hard. Life works in mysterious ways and that very bike came through the shop doors. We did the full run through , every piece was refinished, replaced, rebuilt and then finished off with a fresh coat by our man Josh Trevino. Very satisfying bringing life back into a classic for more time on the pavement and this one has plenty more miles ahead with a tricked out performance cam for a little more juice.
We have so many things to keep our schedule inline opportunities for the fly by your seat getaway plans have met their match. Last weekend was a small victory for the good ol' days sending owner Steve and our photographer Jeremie on the road to Enchanted Rock for 24 hours to see some Texas country side, spring clean the mind a little and shoot some photos. The only real worry for the trip was rain and not missing the next road that doesn't show up on most maps taking them along the cracks of the counties under giant clouds refraining from letting go. After camping a night they warmed up for the day with a hike to the top of Enchanted Rock to take in the view they came for while taking photos for strangers and talking supertistions of the rock. Waiting at the bottom was shop friend Stu who came to meet up for our trek back aiding in stunt driving the truck so Jeremie and his cameras could truck-bed surf and capture Steve getting to enjoy the ride home on two wheels.
This refurbish was one of significance in many ways; one being the bike was going to represent us in our first appearence at the Handbuilt Show for last years show in 2017 and another being we were able to take this hacked up 1974 BMW R90/6 900cc motorcycle and showcase our creativity for such a thorough build like this. So without further ado read on a about how this bike came from concept to reality.
Our customer Woody Allison has a BMW R/90-S that we had previously done some restoration work to and when he came accross an old R90/6 that had seen better days he called upon us as to what to do with his recent find. As we started the process of coming up with a concept for the restoration we came to know a little of Woody's history especially his involvement in motocross in the 70's as a member of the "Allison Bros" team. This was to become the crux for the theme in designing this bike even going as far as recreating the paint job of the "Allison Bros" bikes back in the 70's. Bridging this gap between a traditional BMW Airhead and a Motocross bike was such a cool challenge always having an eye for the BMX/ Motocross aesthetic. Making the decision to do something a little more drastic verses a more tradition restore build came a little easy with the condition Woody had found the bike in. Woody was 100% into the final design and gave us his confidence throughout the whole project with all the details which we really appreciated. Getting started we had to fabricate a lot and for this we brought on Clint Reynolds who was a big help on making our designs realities. We created a whole new rear subframe, relocated the rear suspension, new header system, new seat pan/ seat (we then had sent off to be upholstered in leather) and the mounts for the headlight and taillight fitted with a Boyle Custom Moto light. The fenders were also a custom fabrication but handled by Joe Cooper at Cooper Smithing Co. As mentioned we wanted to recreate the signature Allison Bros purple and silver paint theme from the 70's. Helping us accomplish the paint we asked James at Powder ATX to powder coat the frame and Josh Trevino worked some magic on the fenders and tank. Seeing this bike come together piece by piece was exciting leaving a spark from the days where it all started. Jim Fox is another key individual who came on board playing a vital role more notably in the end so it made it on time to the Handbuilt Show showroom floor. Feedback on the bike has been pheonominal over the past year most importantly from Woody himself. Creating something not only unique but meaningful to our customer was a really cool opportunity to be presented with. We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or via our IG page @austinmotoworks.
The Hand Built show is all wrapped up but we are still buzzing from it. The weekend couldn't of gone any better thanks to Revival Cycles and their hard work. Check out a few photos of our bike along with a few others that really caught our eyes.
