6-cylinder engined Ignite Straight Six project

Customisation is a, as all motorcyclists know, a near religious project for enthusiasts. It reflects creativity and designs of individual philosophies presented in unique packages. All along the development these designs face delays, fights, fires and discontent, but at the end they do come out mostly looking like their dreamy sketches. After trying their hands on the BMW R nineT, two more have set their eyes on BMW K 1600 GTL. This one is a 1,649cc 6-cylinder based project correctly termed as ‘Ignite Straight Six’.



Kenji Nagai of Ken’s Factory and Keiji Kawakita of Hot-Dock Custom-Cycles are two of the leading designers in the Japanese customisation region. Both these men took their attention to the massive K 1600 GTL’s six-cylinder engine. With a free mind, both these men retained only the engine and the frame. The rest was essentially thrown away and completely redesigned, and what a design that is!



Keiji Kawakita’s creation is the ‘Juggernaut’ with the BMW Motorrad Duolever front suspension as a major highlight. The appeal of the ‘Juggernaut’ is actually contrasting the way it looks with its dark, masculine stature. It may be dark but without any sign of minimalism. It looks like it is out of a beyond zombie outbreak movie. Absolutely out worldly, it looks amazing.



The frame structure made of aluminium tubing widens the front of the naked K 1600 GTL. Also the instruments positioned on both the sides of the fuel tank are without a doubt one of the neatest fittings seen in recent times. You can keep close tabs on your engine oil and water temperatures as you wade through post apocalyptic zombies. Slight hints of the BMW Motorrad GS range can be seen in the form of dual fog lights and front trail-like beak.



Excited and ecstatic, Keiji Kawakita speaks on how he got inspired by history for his creation, “I found an old photograph of the cockpit of a convertible that looked like something from the near future, and I got the idea of making a bike that had that kind of atmospheric feel. Looking at the front forks and Duolever suspension, I thought I could do this with the K 1600 GTL. But the actual work was long and hard, a tough job to handle. Even when I finished, I still wasn’t really sure whether the work was complete. But that’s the thing about customizing, isn’t it?”



Kenji Nagai’s made the ‘Ken’s Factory Special’ relying on hand-built aluminium girder-type front forks which have been raked out in chopper style using a custom headstock. The entire fairing has now been replaced by an aluminium front cowl. This also houses the headlight assembly and the stock rear sub-frame and seat have been replaced by a low positioned aluminium seat. Kenji Nagai says, “At first I had a bagger style in mind that grew out of the tourer image. But simply transforming a tourer into a bagger was a bit too obvious a choice. So I thought of a different approach. I settled on the digger style. The long, thin digger style would make the in-line six-cylinder engine look even more prominent.”



The wheel sizes are dramatic enough to make you jump off your chair, a 23-inch front wheel and a 20-inch rear wheel. This does however is contrasting to a very low seat height and the sheer narrow dimensions of the motorcycle. Among many of the niceties are details made from aluminium, like covers for fuel tank and radiator or handlebars, add much needed exclusivity to Kenji Nagai’s craft.



You have to commend these men who go through impossible lengths to establish timeless creations. Design is a product of an imaginative mind which comes alive after burning a lot of midnight oil in the shed. These two have raised that bar yet again for others to top, very soon possibly, with a new aggressive approach towards motorcycle design.