We’re big fans of the work of Californian motorcycle builder Samuel Kao and his workshop JSK Moto Co. JSK motorcycles are best described as neo-retro creations and his latest R Nine T unashamedly follows suit. It’s nicknamed the ‘Autobahn Streak’ and in building it Samuel has embraced BMW’s ‘born to be customized’ R Nine T ethos. Along with a long list of bolt-on styling and performance upgrades he’s fit the BMW with handcrafted bodywork of his own design.
We’re big fans of the work of Californian motorcycle builder Samuel Kao and his workshop JSK Moto Co. JSK motorcycles are best described as neo-retro creations and his latest R Nine T unashamedly follows suit. It’s nicknamed the ‘Autobahn Streak’ and in building it Samuel has embraced BMW’s ‘born to be customized’ R Nine T ethos. Along with a long list of bolt-on styling and performance upgrades he’s fit the BMW with handcrafted bodywork of his own design.
“With Project Autobahn Streak we tested the concept of easy customization,” says Samuel. “The fairing and tank cover is one piece that we made like a shell. We were able to achieve attachment of the shell to the motorcycle with just three connection points making installing it relatively easy. The process can be compared to something as simple as changing your phone case.”
To give himself complete flexibility with the shape of bodywork Samuel fabricated it from lightweight fiberglass. The muscular front end tapers off into a cafe styled seat and tail perched on a modified subframe that was surprisingly built on a different continent. “Three Harmony Fabrication from Taiwan built the tail section out of metal and followed our specifications flawlessly,” Samuel explains. Despite being built almost 7000 miles from one another the tail and tank form a balanced bone line to complete the bikes classic cafe racer stance.
After fitting his bodywork, Samuel was left with space to fill in the frame. Rather than covering it with a simple flat panel, he referenced some of BMW’s classic styling trends, in particular, those seen on their 4 wheeled machines. The new side panels he created are horizontal interpretations of BMW’s iconic front grille and there’s another unmistakable BMW styling nod up front.
“We wanted to have the signature BMW angel eye headlight for the motorcycle,” says Samuel. “We sourced it from a car although it was a bit too small for the bike”. To get around the sizing issue Samuel fabricated an aluminium surround for the headlight that helps to dissipate heat and well as adding a futuristic look to the overall finish of the fairing.
Lifting the lightweight bodywork off the bike reveals a custom made fuel cell and there’s a lithium battery tucked away out of sight too. As for the rest of the modifications they’re all sitting in plain sight. At the rear, you’ll spot a bright blue, fully adjustable H2 Plus mono-shock from Gears Racing. The exhaust is a complete custom system from the Slovenian specialists Akrapovic. The upswept muffler is held in place by a custom made section of the frame that also allowed the relocation and fitment of ENLiNT rear-set footpegs.
Both the front and rear mudguards, air filter and dash bezel were supplied by DK Design while the raw alloy wheels are RSD items. RSD also provided the BMW with a CNC milled breastplate, head covers, and brake discs. To keep the cockpit clean JSK milled a CNC top clamp and moved the ignition into the front of the tank cover. Clip-on handlebars complete the revised riding position and they’re wearing Berringer levers, Berringer reservoirs and Motogadget bar end indicators.
When it came to choosing a color scheme for the R Nine T Samuel once again looked to its roots. The German flag inspired scheme was applied by local paint shop Air Runner while the matching, hand dyed red leather seat is the work of Kingsman Cushion. As for the bike’s curious name, Samuel explains it like this. “The Autobahn is a motorway that can be found in Germany that vehicles can travel on at unrestricted speeds. A streak is what you see when an object moves really fast. We wanted this build to make you want to ride long distances on the motorway and when someone hears it coming, they may just see a streak of joy passing by…”
