positioning the legs . At the same time , I lowered the handlebars and changed the seat to my liking . The seat cushion was also designed by me and then handmade by BACKDROP Leathers in Japan . It all added up to the very natural posture that I like ," Kimura continues . The semi-shell fairing houses two asymmetrically arranged headlights that almost look like eyes and , with a little imagination , give Kimura ' s R 18 the appearance of a whale , together with a " set of teeth " incorporated underneath . The color scheme and the coarsely textured paintwork also match the theme of " Der Wal ". In short : " Der Wal " is an " animal " of a bike . Powerful , mighty , but always good-natured . " What I like best about my version of the R 18 is that I was able to change the style and seating position to my liking without destroying the excellent original functionality of the R 18 . But drastically changing the seating position and adding my own style and taste was a big challenge in my interpretation of the BMW heritage - all these computerized systems and wiring were quite new to me , so I learned a lot ," says Kimura . The handlebars are 8 inches narrower , and with the semi-shell fairing adding to the high-speed comfort created by the revised seating position and ergonomics . There is a special paint finish in the form of a bronze powder-coating - after the components have previously been hammered to give the surface texture . The stock exhaust was painted black .
32 AFTERMARKET MOTO DESIGN - JANUARY 2022 www . AMDchampionship . com