Time Warp: Revival’s Astounding ‘BMW Landspeeder’

Artistry in metal: The BMW Landspeeder by Revival Cycles

Every once in a while—maybe twice a year—we get to see a develop that doesn’t just break the mold, but smashes it to smithereens. This is 1 such bike, an outstanding hand-created BMW from Revival Cycles of Austin, Texas.

The story is just as unusual as the bike itself. “A year ago, a client asked if we would generate a custom to display in a gallery he was building for 20 motorcycles,” says Revival’s Alan Stulberg.

“His intention was to employ at least 5 custom builders simultaneously. All we really knew was that Max Hazan was developing one particular, and we were creating one particular. Of course, we had been interested!”

Alan was offered full creative freedom, subject to spending budget. “Not the first time that’s happened, but it was the first time we knew a motorcycle would in no way be ridden by its owner—and did not need to be street legal.”

After dwelling on the many possibilities, Stulberg chose to create a bike inspired by the extraordinary Ernst Henne Landspeeder. (If you have been fortunate adequate to check out the Wheels &amp Waves festival two years ago in Biarritz, you’d have noticed it there.)

That machine was a 1928 BMW R37 racer—one of the most effective record-breaking motorcycles ever built, and a sight to behold. Stulberg remembers getting smitten. “From the aero-shaped handlebars to the strong wheel cover, it was every little thing stunning about a race bike that you could imagine.”

Sadly, one particular of Revival Cycles‘ founding principles is that they don’t develop sculptures. “We build motorcycles that attempt to be better than their factory starting points: lighter, faster, far better handling and a lot more lovely.”

Unease spread throughout the workshop. “There was a revolt within the group when I presented this project,” Stulberg recalls drily. He staved it off by deciding to construct two machines: the design and style exercise to sit in his gallery, and a ‘real’ race bike primarily based on the very same platform.

The bike we’re searching at right here is the gallery bike. But the underpinnings are developed to perform at speed. “We want ‘our’ machine to exceed 150mph, so both builds need to be capable.”

“We also decided that we’d use a a lot more modern day version of the engine Henne employed—the liter-size airhead that BMW put in the R100/7.”

Even though the gallery bike will by no means be ridden by anyone except the Revival team, the engine has been rebuilt. It’s hooked up to a magneto ignition system with electronic advance control—since you do not require a battery, lights or alternator for race or show bikes.

Revival’s head engineer Stefan Hertel examined Alan’s photos of the Henne bike at Wheels &amp Waves, and constructed a CAD model. He’s lengthened the wheelbase just a bit for elevated high-speed stability, and dropped the engine in the frame for a reduce center of gravity.

The greatest departure is the frame itself: it is built out of flat-reduce steel, alternatively of tubing. “In land speed racing we know weight is not much of a issue for leading speed, so strength and beauty ended up getting the prime priorities.”

“As a group we’ve carried out really a bit of operate on a Zundapp K800 that had a stunning stamped steel box frame, so we chose that direction.”

The front suspension is far superior to the one Henne used on his bike, which topped out at 173 mph. The steering angle is a steep 24 degrees, but it’s balanced out with a full six inches of trail. “We did this to further test our theory that steeper rake angles handle much better even at high speed.”

It’s a modern interpretation of a classic trailing hyperlink suspension, but with a kinematic progressive linkage. A 5-way adjustable mono shock allows for alterations to preload, high- and low-speed compression, and high- and low-speed rebound.

“This is not your regular 80-year-old trailing suspension. It’s lightweight, has extremely low stiction, a virtually constant trail, low unsprung mass and minimal projected area.”

“We then devised a smooth-as-silk hand shifter,” says Alan. “It rides on sealed bearing axles and feels tighter than a drum, for a strong shift. We also laced up custom wheels with straight spokes for the front, because a brake would not be installed.”

Stefan has also machined up custom stainless hardware, plus the tooling to hold the bike collectively. There’s an internal throttle for a clean appear, and a period-correct reverse-pull clutch cable.

From there it was mostly a stylistic physical exercise. Machined aero-style valve covers give the profile a smoother look Revival are considering selling them, but at a price. “They took many hours to get correct.”

The next month was spent on the all-alloy bodywork and fairing. “At first we were going to hammer the alloy rough, and a bit ugly like the original Henne bike. But Andy got carried away, and produced smooth and flowing lines that are far greater than a racing bike would ever require.”

There’s sound to match the looks. With the velocity stack sucking air by means of the side of the bike, we’re told it “sounds like a monster.” The exhaust technique is stainless steel, with air-foiled headers—and the browned exhaust is a reminder that this piece of sculpture runs.

A multitude of hand-fabricated parts had been tooled up subsequent. The seat, that oddball belly ‘pillow,’ the grips and the knee protectors are all made from rough-finish leather.

If you want to see the Revival Landspeeder in the metal, you have got just one likelihood: its only public appearance will in April, at the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Austin, Texas. (Fittingly, BMW Motorrad supports this year’s show.)

The Revival team is still a little conflicted about creating a ‘show’ bike that will only sit beneath the lights and look fairly. But we feel they’re getting a bit harsh on themselves. And they’ve currently started developing the frame for the ‘race’ version.

The geometry, suspension and wheel sizes will be the identical, but the engine will be supercharged…