London-based bike builder creates custom air-cooled R1200GS cafe racer – and you can have one too!

A London-based custom motorcycle builder is creating a run of four air-cooled café racer retros, based on the BMW R1200GS adventure bike.

Sean Sohrab, who owns the Original Café Racer Company created the first ‘BMW GS Street Racer’ following an adventure ride through Africa with Charley Boorman and later decided to create more in a limited production run.

Only the final bike remains available, priced at £16,500 when based on a nice example of an air-cooled model. Numbers of these are limited by the R1200GS becoming water-cooled from 2013 onwards.

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“I’ve been customising café racer bikes for 20 years or more, and in 2018 I went on a trip with Charley Boorman in Africa,” Sohrab explained. “I was riding a GS at the time, and when you’re travelling through the desert in Namibia there’s a lot of time to think about things.

“I thought, if I get through this trip, I will convert a GS into a café racer,” he continued. “It was very challenging because the GS has got a lot of electronics and ABS modules. I decided to go with an air-cooled bike because the later models have massive radiators.”

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The first machine produced was based on a 2011 bike, with 25,000 dealer-serviced miles on the clock. Changes included a new fuel tank, removal of bodywork, alterations to the back end, and changes to the oil-cooler – now smaller, more efficient, and placed between the exhaust header pipes.

The bulky standard pipe also makes way for a shorter SC Project exhaust, to unlock more bark from the 1170cc boxer twin motor, and the flat bars are gone in exchange for café racer clip-ons. Between them are the original analogue clocks, shrouded by a new rounded front headlight.

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“Knobbly tyres and café racer handlebars are never a good combination on a bike, but it actually rides quite beautifully,” Sohrab added. “The seat is also custom made completely.”

Despite the transformation, the front and rear all-terrain GS suspension componentry remains, with around 45kg removed from the original adventure bike to help make it feel a little lighter on its feet.