You might not know Sam Clercx’s name, but you’ve seen his work. He launched his career at the tender age of 15 as an intern at Ironwood Motorcycles, under the guidance of Arjan van den Boom. He’s had a hand in many of the amazing machines that have graced our pages—and he’s learned a thing or two, judging by this beautifully executed BMW boxer bobber.
“I was there with Arjan when he built the Mutant, and most of the other BMWs that put Ironwood on the map,” Sam tells us. “It was an extremely exciting time for me, as you can imagine. Most of my friends had jobs in supermarkets or cafés and I was helping build these amazing-looking and sounding custom bikes.”
The niggles associated with classic motorcycles are partly why meneer van den Boom hit pause on Ironwood a few years ago. But Sam still has an affinity for the beloved BMW boxer motor. So he built up this R65 basket case as a side project, while completing another internship—this time at Motoism in Munich.
“After Arjan closed up his shop and stopped building his boxers, I got a chance to buy a 1979 BMW R65 in parts, for cheap,” says Sam. “Thanks, in part, to Arjan and other people building wonderful machines out of these old R-series BMWs, the prices rose significantly, putting a nice riding rolling base out of my price range. I grabbed the opportunity and slowly started envisioning my perfect twin-valve custom.”
“With a tight budget, but plenty of time, I picked up the neglected R65 in boxes. The short R65 frame and swingarm, paired with R100 cylinders, pistons, and heads, offered an affordable path to the quick, agile airhead I always wanted.”
In stock form, the R100 makes about 25 hp more than the R65—so rebuilding the engine with R100 parts was a good call on Sam’s part. He also added BMW R100RS badges to the engine block to tease the engine’s true capacity, and adorned the heads with classic peanut covers. The airbox was swapped for pod filters, and the space it left behind was filled with a 3D-printed cover, housing a NOCO NLP9 battery.
Sam scalped more R100 parts for the front end, fitting the lowered forks and twin Brembo brakes from a BMW R100RS. The R65 retains its drum brake and snowflake rims, which are now shod with Shinko E-270 tires.
“It was a great help throughout the build to have a lot of spare parts from Arjan sitting in my garage,” he adds. “Small stuff like seals, throttle cables, and a lot of wiring—but also some nice bling parts.”
A pair of aftermarket shocks props up the rear, connected to a custom-made stepped subframe. Lower down, the unsightly brackets that normally hold the mufflers and passenger pegs were trimmed down, leaving just enough space for the latter. “While style was obviously important, I didn’t want to sacrifice function,” Sam adds.
“There are, of course, more practical bikes out there, but I set out to strike a balance between function and form: keeping it a two-seater and asking the talented Tom Hurley to make the seat as comfortable and waterproof as possible, while keeping it slim; adding tie-down points under the seat for my luggage; and fitting modern LEDs for good visibility at night, along with reliable electronics. I’m a rider first and a builder second.”
Keeping with this philosophy, Sam fabricated a pair of short fenders for the bike and protected the fork stanchions with fresh rubber boots. A chromed LED headlight sits out front, nailing the mix of classic style and modern reliability that Sam was after.
The headlight is neatly tucked into a 3D-printed fairing that was inspired by the plug-and-play fork covers that Motoism produces. It includes integrated Motoism turn signals, with a tidy housing for a slim Motogadget Motoscope Mini speedo up top. Other Motogadget bits include the bike’s keyless RFID ignition, and the company’s mo.unit blue module, around which the whole bike was rewired.
The fairing also helps to route the cockpit’s cables and houses, making for an uber-neat setup. Wide handlebars sport vintage-style grips, a MessnerMoto throttle, and modern push-buttons with internal wiring. Tarozzi foot controls round out the control package.
Motoism’s influence is clear in the BMW’s rear lighting too. Sam designed and 3D-printed his own taillight housing, equipping it with powerful LED internals. The rear turn signals are Motoism parts too, but the bracket that holds them is a one-off.
The boxer’s glorious two-into-one exhaust headers were created by Sam’s good friend Chiel Nipius (of Nius Moto). They’re matched to a Spark silencer to create an appropriately throaty rumble.
The most striking thing about this BMW boxer bobber is how well judged every last part and finish is—from the refinished motor to the period-correct pin striping and blacked-out tank roundels. “The color scheme was inspired by a picture of a classic Porsche 356 convertible I found—black leather, chrome silver, and this stunning blue,” explains Sam. “It was perfectly executed by Royal Kustom Works on the tank, fenders, and front fairing.”
Now that his BMW R65/R100 is complete, Sam plans to take it on a few trips before selling it to make way for the next project. But first, it’s being exhibited as his official graduation project at the Utrecht School of the Arts.
If it were up to us, we’d give him full marks.
Sam Clercx Instagram | Images by Paul van Mondfrans Lindén
