BMW R80 Scrambler “The Alchemist” by Ironwood

Regular readers already know the cool boy story of Ironwood Custom Motorcycles (if not, read more here). In short: owner Arjan van den Boom turned his hobby into a serious business. But if you build bikes for a living and have to maintain a couple of social media accounts with some serious followers, it’s not weird that you forget things. Usually, when Arjan and his team are working on a bike, their followers can see the progress by the pics on Instagram and Facebook. But this bike right here somehow was a bit forgotten; only one or two images appeared on their accounts and before they knew, the bike was long gone… Luckily we’ve dug up some pictures in the archives of Jackson Kunis, the regular photographer of Ironwood. This BMW R80 Scrambler was already their 19th build and it’s called “The Alchemist”.

The base bike is a 1985 BMW R80 Monoshock, but if you take a closer look you see that the rear end and the suspension setup is far from original. While the frame is from a R80 mono shock model, the wheels and swingarm are from a duo shock model together with a tailor-made suspension setup from VVM Racing. This not only looks good, it also works like a charm. Combining this with the USD fork of an Aprilia RSV Mille and you have a serious (and fully adjustable) suspension package.

To give the bike a bit of a radical stance, they’ve fitted a superbike handlebar and created a cool seat and subframe with an integrated LED light, inspired by the Auto Fabrica Type 10. The suede seat comes from the hands of Marcel Miller from Miller Kustom Upholstery.

Some more mods: custom grips by Silvermachine, old school BMW M2 emblems, EX-Motorcycles gas cap, stainless steel brake lines, Halo LED headlight, digital Acewell speedometer, custom brake caliper adjuster plates, custom front fender, and of course the electronic heart is powered by a Motogadget M-unit. For some more air, they’ve fitted DNA pod filters and a custom 2-to-1 exhaust with a GP-style muffler.

The frame and wheels are powder coated in gloss black and the engine and headers are also “blacked out”. Which create a cool contrast between the pearl white finish of a BMW i8 on the gas tank and front fender. The Dunlop Trailmax tires give the bike a cool sharp edge. I asked Arjan why this bike didn’t get the attention it deserved. “I really don’t know… It’s a pretty cool build if I may say, and I really don’t know why I’ve forgotten about this bike a bit”. Well better late than never I guess…

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Photo’s shot by Jackson Kunis