BMW G310R Street Tracker by Wedge Motorcycles

This BMW G310R Street Tracker, is the handiwork of Takashi Nihira, from Wedge Motorcycles based in Tokyo. This project was directly commission from BMW Motorrad Japan.

Takashi has a lot of customizing experience under his belt, thanks to his earlier jobs as a mechanic, painter and a metal shaper, before starting Wedge.
“I felt a different kind of pressure,” Takashi explains. “Usually an owner exists. To a certain degree, I know the direction of the custom bike based on the owner’s tastes and riding style. But this was difficult because I had too much freedom.”

“My impression of the G310R was a standard on-road bike with 17-inch wheels,” says Takashi. “That is why I tried to customize the bike in a different direction.”
“I personally like the tracker style because riders are able to ride the bike freely. I imagined a custom bike that could be ridden in the city, a bike that could be used for daily use, and at times for touring.”

In a bid to leave a good amount of the G310R’s character intact, Takashi decided against recreating the frame entirely. So he created a new sub-frame along with a new swing arm and suspension setup.

A radical design element is the monoshock, which has been repositioned under the fuel tank, though it still utilizes the original linkages. A whole array of items had to be created from scratch using aluminium. The exhaust system, which is a fully custom job, is a stainless steel unit that curls around the swing-arm and is positioned high on the right hand side.

“At first, the space between the rear suspension and the exhaust pipe was very limited,” says Takashi, “so I planned on moving the rear suspension to the side of the frame. But after starting the customization process, I unintentionally put the rear suspension on top of the engine, and the balance was perfect.”

The brake callipers and the USD forks are stock. However, the stock 17-inch wheels have been replaced by 19-inch 5 spoke steel wheels shod with on-off road tyres, and also feature custom brake rotors.

“I have never customized a bike with a front air intake device, rear exhaust and backwards-tilting cylinder engine,” says Takashi, “but this made me even more interested to take on the challenge.”

Having shuffled stuff around so much meant that some other things had to be moved around to make space. So out went the airbox, to get replaced by a K&N unit. The big battery has been replaced by a smaller Shorai make. The under tank monoshock meant that there was no space to store fuel in that tank anymore, so the fuel storage was moved to a place under the filter.

The radiator has been replaced with a new unit too and is now mounted offset with a TrailTech cooling fan kit. The handlebars are modified with mini switches and bar-end turn signals. The stock instrument cluster is junked in favour of a tiny LED speedo from Motogadget. The motorcycle also gets custom LED lights both front and back.

The bike, once transformed, the frame was painted olive green, and white and black for the bodywork.

It took Takashi two and a half months to make this beauty show-ready.