The BMW R80RT is no stranger to custom workshops, but when Earth Motorcycles received a 1987 model with a request to turn it into a sleek café racer, they weren’t content with simply dressing it up. They set out to solve one of the boxer’s most awkward quirks – its off-kilter visual geometry. The fuel tank leans in one direction, the engine block in another, and the usual workaround has always been a tilted seat to smooth over the misalignment. Not this time.
“Typically, this imbalance forces builders to angle the rear of the seat upwards, giving the bike a more aggressive, dramatic posture,” says Earth’s founder, Vlado Dinga. “Like many others, Earth has gone that route before. But this time, we chose to challenge the geometry instead of accepting it.”
The team began by adjusting the tank’s angle – a relatively straightforward task. What came next was trickier. Instead of relocating engine mounts, they designed a new top engine cover from scratch. Dozens of prototypes later, they landed on a minimalist design with subtle vents that aligned visually with the reshaped tank and introduced a sleeker silhouette to the bike’s core. The engine got new peanut-style valve covers, a full black finish with polished touches, DNA pod filters, and SC-Project exhausts terminating from short headers.
Some components, like the exhaust and tail, came from WalzWerk at the client’s request. But even off-the-shelf parts didn’t escape Earth’s obsessive attention to alignment and detail. The subframe, which originally clashed with the new tank line, was reworked and mounted parallel using custom hardware. The seat was rethought too, combining high-density foam with a rich orange leather that not only reshaped the bike’s color scheme but introduced a new stitched signature Earth plans to use across future builds.
“Seats are often a battleground for taste and function,” says Vlado. “After several iterations, a color and texture were chosen – until a simple leather sample shifted the entire bike’s color scheme.”
The finish extended to the cockpit, where clip-ons wrap around a top yoke custom-machined in-house, secured with flush-fitting fasteners that need a special tool to adjust. A Motogadget speedo sits dead center in a CNC bracket. The bars hide an internal throttle, while leather-wrapped grips, Motogadget turn signals, and ISR levers – anodized in a custom dark grey – complete the look. In the rear, an adjustable YSS shock and custom license plate holder mirror the yoke’s fastening style. Even the LED taillight and bracket tube follow the precise angles of the frame.
An LED headlight sits in a custom fairing that was originally designed to be small and discreet – until the client asked for something bolder. “At first, the lead designer was disappointed,” says Vlado, “but over time, the bigger fairing revealed itself as a statement – one that fits the client’s personality and gives the bike a striking face.”
And that’s the philosophy at the heart of this build. It’s not just about lines and finishes – it’s about making something that reflects the person who’ll ride it. As Vlado puts it: “It’s not the designer, fabricator, or salesman who rides the machine – it’s the owner. The rider. The personality behind the handlebars. Great motorcycles are born when the vision of the builder meets the soul of the client.” Also you might be interested in 25 Best Vintage Motorcycles.
