Custom 1984 BMW R80 RT Inspired By Science Fiction

By Justin Hughes, RideApart

It sounds like a TIE fighter, on purpose.

When I did a non-sportbike track day on my Honda PC800, Kate told me that I sounded like a TIE fighter from Star Wars as I screamed down the front straightaway. This custom BMW, however, was designed specifically to sound like a TIE fighter. In fact, that was the only creative direction the owner gave to customizer Blitz Motorcycles.

Blitz fulfilled this request by installing a small sound system that, at the flick of a switch, reproduces the sound of the fictional Sienar Fleet Systems P-s4 twin ion engines. They didn't stop there, though, adding elements of various science fiction themes into the rest of this 1984 R80 RT. The extensive bodywork disappeared, and the bike given a new look, futuristic by 1980s standards. The gas tank comes from an unspecified vintage Honda, while the back wheel gains full disc covers. Both of these are a shiny gloss black that matches the TIE fighter pilot flight suits, as well as Darth Vader himself. The rest of the bike continues the blacked-out color scheme, including a custom CNC-machined 18-inch front wheel. It wouldn't be hard to imagine Vader on this bike, his cape billowing in the breeze behind him (ignoring Edna Mode's advice of "No capes.")

Star Wars was not the only influence on this motorcycle, though. The green-tinted triangular headlight comes straight out of Gattica, where all of the vehicles had such headlights. Green LEDs in strategic locations continue this theme throughout the bike, including under the shortened rear hoop and seat. The build goes more than skin-deep, as well. Blitz rebuilt the original BMW flat-twin engine, as well as rejetting the carburetors and adding a custom exhaust. The rear monoshock was upgraded to a fully adjustable unit, naturally including a black spring to match the rest of the bike.

The end result, names the Black Dot Mark One, looks great and stands on its own even if you don't get the science fiction references incorporated into it. It's not done yet, however. Blitz is already working on the second version of this bike. Will it be called the Black Dot Mark Two?