BMW R 1200GS Dakar by Stasis Motorcycles

Cliff Fisher, owner and builder of Stasis Motorcycles, based in Austin, Texas, started out with a 2007 GS Adventure and then let the nostalgic aesthetic take flight.

Fisher says, “I’ve owned a few adventure bikes, including a couple mid-’90s Ducati Elefant 900s, but the R80 G/S has always been the ultimate forefather to everything that has come since. I wanted a vintage bike that I could live with daily - one that shared the closest visual traits with the original adventure bike, but had the abundant fuel-injected power and ride that the modern platform offers.”

Here is a brief overview by Cliff Fisher of the Dakar build taken from the BikeBound website:

"The greatest undertaking in this build was mating the R80GS PD tank to a new sub-tank that runs over the mass of electronics, ABS and fuel injection, down into the space the airbox used to occupy and back up beneath the seat and surrounding the new battery location.

As I wanted to leave the OEM GS Adventure suspension untouched, we gave up volume beneath the tank to allow room for the front swingarm to rise beneath it.

Since I didn’t want to diminish this long-range tank to a facade, I cut the OEM airbox out of the frame to use that space, as well as the area beneath the seat to regain another 5 gallons of volume. That along with the newly fabricated underside, totals over 8 gallons of fuel…which is nearly the original capacity of both the GS PD and the R1200GS Adventure.

Needless to say, the tank is massive, but the last 5 gallons sits low in the frame, giving this GS a far lighter feel than the OEM Adventure.

Zac Roberts of Full Custom Fabrication, the very talented fabricator instrumental in all Stasis builds, designed this complex piece of work totaling hundreds of hours.

Another modus operandi for Stasis is to use parts from other models of the same make as often as possible. While I did employ a headlight/fender mount from Unit Garage, which is part of their R120GS kit, Zach fabbed up mounts for an R9T headlight and the additional space behind the headlight was utilized to mount a pair of R1200C split.

The R100GS rear rack was welded to the existing rear subframe, and a rear hoop with matching luggage loops was added for closure and support of the vintage Husky fender.

Mounted to that fender is a taillight cut from acrylic on a waterjet, combining a red LED ring recessed from below, surrounding a BMW roundel recessed into the surface of the acrylic from above. Signals are subtle pin-units from MotoGadget that are amazingly bright.

The other handmade bits are the seat, sculpted and stitched to match the pattern of the original R80GS saddle, and covered in a butterscotch leather by Russell of ElevenATX as well as a tank bag designed by Russell that combines the same leather with waxed cotton and straps to the luggage hoops Zac welded to the tank. A matching rear tool bag is in the works to reference the original R80 Paris Dakar tool bags.

Lastly, the paint. I wanted to acknowledge the very iconic original paint schema from the R80GS Paris Dakar with a subtle update. The stripes are separated by brushed, bare steel pin-stripes and brushed knee pads show through the clear-coat executed by Josh Trevino of Trevino Customs. Exchanging the Paris for ‘Stasis’ in the Dakar graphic, and I’ve built my dream bike!