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BMW R80/7 Cohiba Bobber by Cytech Motorcycles

Cytech was founded 38 years ago by Donovan’s father and they’ve been running African motorcycle tours since before many of us were born, the company also has a division that takes the expertise acquired during these tours and applies them to a function-first custom motorcycles garage based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

While the company runs its successful tour business, dealership, motorcycle rental service, and parts sales services after hours they have fun by building unusual custom BMW motorcycles for clients around the world, and of course, in their native South Africa.

The new BMW R80/7 Cohiba Bobber you see here is an altogether different bike, built for friends Eduan and Henk. The two men had previously ordered the Martini-inspired BMW from Cytech, and while building a holiday resort on an island more recently, they settled on the idea of building a Cohiba-inspired build.

Once Donovan had received the brief from Eduan and Henk he set to work finding a suitable BMW to use as a starting point. He knew that when the motorcycle was completed, it needed to look like it was cruising the streets of Havana with the iconic vintage cars and motorcycles Cuba is famed for.

A BMW R80/7 popped up for sale locally after a few weeks – so Donovan bought it and rolled it into the Cytech headquarters so work could begin. It was clear from the outset that the new bike was going to be a ’50s style bobber – a cafe racer or scrambler wouldn’t really suit the muse.

The first order of business was a full teardown, the original 800cc engine was dismantled along with the gearbox, and both were rebuilt after sandblasting. The front forks were lowered by 50mm by machining down the fork stanchions, and the rear shocks were modified with new heavy duty springs and fitted to new upper brackets to lean them forward.

A pair of new bobbed fenders were installed over Dunlop whitewall tires, and a single seat pan was fabricated, then upholstered in tan leather, along with the new leather tank strap designed to hold two Cohibas just above a small pocket that holds a cigar cutter and lighter.

Perhaps the most immediately noticeable part of the build is the Cohiba fuel tank – it was painted by Ryan and his team over at Custom Creations using the iconic pattern and logo from the Cuban company’s cigar bands.

Source Silodrome & Cytech