The new custom arrived at BMW Motorrad and based on the R18 B is signed by Fred Kodlin. The American tuner who has been dedicating himself to motorcycle customization with specific research on design for over forty years.
For the first time, Kodlin started customizing a BMW together with his son Len. “The R 18 B Heavy Duty – commented the trainer – was a real father-son project. There was a lot of creative input from Len, which also goes to show that the next generation of Kodlin Bikes is already on the way. departure”.
The biggest challenge in customizing the R18 was related to the chassis. “We have completely redone the upper tubes to lower the seat height of the R 18 B.
We also redid the steering head and the triple clamps to adapt everything to the changed steering angle”.
The result was a custom Kodlin style. From a lateral point of view, the line of the bike descends sharply towards the rear, starting from the windscreen, cut out, taken from the range of original BMW Motorrad accessories. For the side cases, the Kodlins used fiberglass-reinforced plastic. From a technical point of view, the protagonist is an air suspension system at the front and rear, supported by a compressor positioned and barely visible on the left side. This system allows the R18 B Heavy Duty to be lowered and raised in a fraction of a second.
The decoration of the motorbike was entrusted to the tattoo artist Marcel Sinnwell who for this project created airbrushed drawings with translucent paint. Further design touches on the BMW Motorrad custom are provided by hand-painted details, as well as an airbrushed motif on the rear fender that links Kodlin’s name to one hundred years of BMW Motorrad.
Source: Ansa
I am an author at Global happenings and I mostly cover automobile news. In my time working in the automotive industry, I have developed a keen interest in the latest developments and trends. My writing skills have also allowed me to share my knowledge with others through articles and blog posts.
