Beijing-based custom shop, Mandrill Garage has unveiled a one-of-a-kind custom motorcycle, based on a 2017 BMW R Nine T. The 'Dark Fighter' Neo-Racer has been built on a brand-new BMW R Nine T for a client who brought the bike straight to Mandrill Garage from the dealership. The result of this stripped down custom job is a bike which is certainly an attention-grabber, a piece of work which is so unique, yet stylishly modern with touches of streetfighter design. This avant-garde custom job certainly underlines the Chinese custom builders' skills as a world-class shop.
The Dark Fighter is a neo-racer custom
Mandrill's founder Lou Hao is a graphic designer by profession and along with three other friends founded Mandrill Garage to combine their talents and their love for building custom motorcycles. The shop also houses a Mandrill Cafe, a cool place for bikers to hang out, throw a party and spend time with like-minded motorcycle lovers. This particular custom job had to be different, because Mandrill had already built several classically styled machines.
"The idea was to create something anti-retro, to remove the headlight and instead use a mask like a medieval armour. I wanted to build it like a streetfighter," he said.
The Dark Fighter is a custom motorcycle built by Beijing-based Mandrill Garage
The seat was removed and with it the entire sub-frame, and in its place a smaller piece, built in-house was installed. The front mask, also designed in-house, is an LED light which acts as a single eye and gives a medieval look. The real headlights are actually mounted to the side, tucked in behind the number boards along the sides of the tank, with the Mandrill M and number 90 painted in white and grey. The tank has been modified too, with the rear completely smoothed out, and the stock BMW badges ditched. In place came machined shop items which sit recessed into the metal work.
The front and rear fenders are made from high quality carbon fibre, and help save weight as well. The airbox has been removed and K&N pod filters add some more performance to the machine, as does the handmade stainless steel exhaust system with GP style slash cut muffler. The rear shock is a custom unit from Gears Racing, and Brembo RCS radial master cylinders have replaced the stock items for brake and clutch. The final result is as stunning and high quality as the best custom jobs from around the world. Mandrill Garage has certainly arrived!
