The BMW F650 Funduro, introduced in 1993, aimed at a new sector of the motorcycle market. It was a single-cylinder, chain-drive, 48-hp dual-purpose machine that cost only $200 more than a Honda NX650 Dominator — about half the price of the larger GS siblings. While the Funduro didn’t have a 100-hp engine, ABS brakes, shaft drive, heated grips, or the various luxuries of the R1200GS, it would remain in production until 2007, developing a reputation for no-nonsense reliability and performance.
“Despite its Austrian engine, British stylist, Japanese suspension, Italian construction, and despite its equally non-German price, the F650 Funduro offers much of what is traditionally good about BMW.”
Enter our friend Yann Le Douche of BCKustoms (Breizh Coast Kustoms), whose long racing pedigree includes stints as a race mechanic for Ducati France, a team coordinator in World Superbike, and a MotoGP journalist before he caught the flat track bug on a trip to the USA. Today, he mainly builds trackers, both street trackers and race bikes:
“My next project will be the 40th in 10 years, which is not too bad for a single man business. Learning with time extra skills to build custom motorcycles is the soul and what makes me smile every morning, switching on the lights in the workshop.”
Believe it or not, this 1994 BMW F650 GS Funduro was given to him three years ago by a friend who bought it to earn his motorcycle license but never got around to it. & It was in rough condition, and Yann planned to use the bike for flat track training, then extract the engine for another build once he’d beaten the rest of the bike to a pulp. However, upon taking the bike out on the road, he was mighty impressed…
“Nice engine, good position, comfort, all was working… Got some pleasure to ride it and found my first plans for that bike would have been a mistake. Then came the virus…”
With his other projects stalled due to the inability to get parts, he decided to turn this F650 into his #coronavirusbikebuildoff, using what he had available in the workshop and parts he could obtain from large e-commerce platforms. He had some 2015 sketches made for a customer who wanted a Moroccan rally raid machine. The client ghosted but the plans were revived!
We especially love the front facelift, conducting with the materials at hand, and the custom-made crash bars Yann built from the 2.5 meters of steel tubing he had — no second chances! Then there’s the paint. Perhaps not surprising for a man who once designed the liveries for BMW Motorrad France’s racing team, it looks damn impressive, and Yann even designed the graphics for his Bell MX-9 helmet to match! Below, we get the full story on this BMW rally raider.
Builder Interview on bikebound
#BMW #Adventure #Bike #Moto #Enduro
