Designed to look like the kind of motorcycle Robocop could ride, this custom BMR R nineT comes with a bespoke hand-crafted curved metal fairing.
This majestic curvilinear beauty is courtesy of Wayne Buys, better known by his internet moniker FabMan Creations. Wayne, who works out of his home and garage in South Africa, designed this piece for a client who commissioned the project and even supplied him with an R nineT to work with. The final build, which he refers to as ‘Storm’ takes inspiration from the aerodynamic forms seen on aircrafts. While the Storm can’t fly like its inspiration, it evokes a feeling of weightlessness in whoever rides it, thanks to its form that slices through the air the way an airplane would. The custom R nineT even sports two massive air scoops on its base that keep the motorcycle’s boxer engine cool and breezy.
Designer: Wayne Buys (FabMan Creations)
Wayne’s build has an undeniable organic appeal, akin to something from the mind of iconic designer Luigi Colani. There isn’t a single straight line on this bike and that’s honestly refreshing after the Cybertruck copycats we’ve been seeing for the past 3 years. It’s worth noting that the bike’s aluminum fairing was built entirely by hand, but more importantly, it was built freeform, without any prior sketching, modeling, or template-building. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Wayne’s metal-forming skills are also entirely self-taught.
Designing and building the bike was an eight-month-long endeavor from start to finish. The client provided Wayne with a low-mileage R nineT, and for the most part, the entire motorcycle uses pretty much all the original stock parts on the inside, although Wayne had to make a few customizations and rearrangements to bring his design to life.
In keeping with the Storm’s aeronautical theme, Wayne built the entire bike out of aluminum sheeting, with multiple parts coming together and screwing on to look like panels on an airplane. The various body panels interlock with one another, connected via small Allen head fasteners that resemble the rivets you’d find on aircraft. A silver coat of paint gives the Storm its raw appeal, looking like an aircraft sans the aerospace paint.
The custom R nineT has a rather interesting front and side profile, and chances are you’d never guess that there’s a BMW underneath that Iron Giant-esque aluminum fairing. The bike’s front boasts a dome-ish cover that is only punctuated by a single headlight located at the center, almost like a plane’s nose. In keeping with the airplane-inspired enclosed design, Wayne also covered both the front and rear wheels, and also modified the exhaust to make it less prominent. The exhaust now sits right below the boxer engine, with three holes to eliminate hot air instead of having it trapped inside the aluminum body. That scooped air intake on the back? Well, Wayne added that (along with an inner fan) to keep the repositioned oil cooler at a lower temperature.
The Storm also boasts of a unique dashboard, with buttons to control specific functions of the bike, and a central speedometer, looking a lot like something you’d see in a vintage cockpit. There’s also a stealthy seven-segment display hidden under the mesh panels below the dashboard. The Storm also boasts of a keyless ignition, with a remote-controlled start.
While it seems like Wayne has a talent for building custom motorcycles (make no mistake, he definitely does), his original training is as a millwright (designing/building/maintaining grain mills). After spending 15 years in Canada, Wayne moved back to his homeland in South Africa, but found himself without a job. It was around that time that he took to custom bike-building, carrying his prior skills in welding, machining, fabrication, and electrical and mechanical work to his new hobby. The one skill Wayne found himself without was shaping aluminum sheets – something he picked up with relentless practice, hammering the panels out on a tree stump and then finishing them by hand.
Wayne now is the founder and sole proprietor of FabMan Creations, with an upgraded garage and workshop that he uses to build custom bikes and fabricate parts like fuel tanks, fenders, and exhaust systems.
