Custom motorcycles come in all shapes and styles, but every once in a while, one comes along with a real story behind it. Meet Alfonso, a quite extraordinary custom – based on a BMW R100RT – that Wido Veldkamp of WIMOTO built, not just as a showcase of his skills, but also as a tribute to his late father.
For over a decade, Wido had been crafting precision-engineered custom motorcycle parts in his fully equipped workshop, especially subframes for café racers. But Wido isn’t just a guy who designs and builds bikes—he’s a full-fledged engineer who also builds the machines that build the bikes! His workshop is full of CNC machines and other fabrication tools that he’s either made himself or heavily modified to suit his needs.
So, after the café racer craze cooled down post-COVID, he started to branch out to all types of custom bikes, such as bobbers and scramblers. And then for himself, he decided to build something completely different – a unique ride that stands out from the pack.
Enter Alfonso. What started as a neglected R100RT became an eye-catching, hand-built machine that’s anything but ordinary.
Wido tore the old Beemer down and got to work. Up front, he swapped out the stock fork for a girder fork of his own design, carefully engineered and hand-crafted from sturdy tubes. At the back end, things got even more complicated. Wanting to fit a wider rear tire, he had to shift the entire rear section and realign the cardan shaft, a complex feat. Through 3D design and fabrication, he created a striking open-structure rear swingarm that exposes the cardan drive within an elegantly curved framework. The entire frame, wheels, and engine were overhauled and powder-coated in chic gray for the engine and wheels, and a striking bronze color for the frame.
With the rolling chassis complete, it was time to create the bodywork. And to realize what he had imagined and designed, Wido had to sculpt the entire thing himself. He glued together foam insulation panels, carved and filed and sanded them into shape, then used that to mold the final fiberglass body. The process took well over 1,000 hours—true dedication!
Alfonso is packed with one-of-a-kind details. The twin headlights sit on either side of the girder fork, covered by custom fiberglass caps that Wido carefully shaped using 3D modeling, prototyping, and molding. The handlebar, also self-fabricated, integrate a custom-made 3D-printed dashboard with warning lights and a minimalist speedometer.
The whole bike has an industrial-meets-futuristic vibe, blending old-school engineering with modern fabrication.
Alfonso has already racked up some awards, including “Best Roadster” at the European Custombike Championship held during the CUSTOMBIKE-Show in Bad Salzuflen, and has been showcased at several prestigious motorcycle shows. But more importantly, it’s helped Wido’s work gain even more recognition, with motorcycle fans from all over the world reaching out for custom builds of their own.
And the name Alfonso isn’t just something Wido picked at random—it’s a tribute to his father, Alfons. A huge supporter of Wido’s work, his father spent plenty of time in the workshop, helping out whenever he could. Sadly, he passed away before the bike was finished, so Wido named the project after him, as a way to keep his memory rolling.
So Alfonso isn’t just another custom bike—it’s personal. A tribute to a father, a showcase of serious craftsmanship, and a statement that custom motorcycles don’t have to follow trends to be great!
