At Bakker Frames it is possible to have a motorcycle made
entirely to your style and wishes. We are no manufacturer of
engines, but we can build you the motorcycle of your dreams
based on a engine producer. If your budget is tight, but you
want to own a unique motorcycle, there is the possibility to us
a standard motorcycle as base, and to rebuild this a Bakker
Framebouw according to your ideas. You can choose to for example
keep the rear fork and to build a new frame and fairing. In this
way you can have your dream bike become reality.
Bakker Framebouw can fall back on many years of experience in
constructing all kinds of parts for both street- and private-
racing, as for endurance- and GP- racing. Also on a regular base
our company is consulted by the big motorcycle manufacturers
for, for instance the development of prototypes, improvements on
rolling chassis, and the adjustments for bikes for ambulance-
and police- uses.
Background History
By the early 1970s, Nico Bakker, a very accomplished road racer,
had reached a point in his career where his ultimate performance
was being restricted by the machinery he was riding. However,
this was not due, as in many cases, to a lack of power or
reliability – Nico had the right engines, and his racing
performance demonstrated his riding ability. The problem lay in
the handling of his bike, and this is the point where the Nico
Bakker story really starts. As a purely private venture, he
decided to build a racing motorcycle frame for his own use.
This first Bakker frame was built to very high standards, using
only the very best materials. This high quality was to become a
Nico Bakker trademark., and has led to a lasting reputation for
excellence of finish. That first frame also proved to be the
starting point for a new business, as the very marked
improvement in Nico Bakker’s race results with this home-built
frame was noted by the motorcycle fraternity. It wasn’t very
long before requests from other private owners for purpose-built
frames began to reach Nico. His first commercial frame was for
someone else who was to become famous in motorcycle racing.
In 1974, fellow Dutchman Wil Hartog asked Nico to build a frame
to house a 250cc Yamaha engine.
At the beginning of his frame-building career, Nico constructed
his frames from steel tubing in the traditional manner, but his
racing experience gave hem the knowledge of exactly where to put
the various tubes to achieve the optimum performance from the
frame he was building. This quality of design was matched by the
use of the best materials, and demand for Bakker frames was
strong.
By the mid to late 1970s, Nico Bakker Framebouw was producing
frames for a wide range of engines, from 50 to 1000cc, and in
many different forms. In fact, the versatility was such that
almost any engine was eligible for the Nico Bakker treatment,
and the list of customers was growing continually. It included
some very well know top-class riders such as Phil Read, Cecotto,
Agostini, Kork Ballington, Jack Middelburg and many others. The
comparatively short time in which this demand was achieved is an
indication of the admiration that Bakker machines commanded from
the motorcycle racing fraternity.
Amongst the frames designed and built during this period was one
to house a 125cc Morbidelli engine. Like many others produced by
Nico Bakker Framebouw, this frame could be purchased as a kit
into which all the original parts would fit, enabling the
customer to rebuild his own machine into the high-performance
frame.
Another engine catered for was the Suzuki 1000cc four, the
frame offered in road or race trim. The main difference was that
the race version utilized a monoshock suspension system, as did
the little Morbidelli frame. The 1000 frame was also available
in versions to accept the other four-cylinder Japanese motors of
the time: Honda 750 and 950cc; Kawasaki 900 and 100cc; Suzuki
750 and 1100cc.
Also popular and successful during this period was a frame for
the famous Yamaha TZ. When supplied as a kit, the frame would
accommodate all original 250 and 350 parts. In addition, all the
other parts, such as petrol tanks, fully-tuned exhaust systems,
fairings, seats and wheels were – and still are – produced by
Nico Bakker Framebouw to our usual high standard.
This line of frame design – that is the high quality, tubular
steel type – continued into the 1980s, and where the engines
remained popular of competitive, Nico Bakker Framebouw continued
to supply the relevant frames. Both offered in race or
street-legal forms.
Another popular model from the Bakker works at this time was a
street-legal frame for the six-cylinder Honda CBX. Other frames
to come Nico Bakker Framebouw included race frames for the
Cagiva 500 and Rotax 250 engines. The latter incorporated an
interesting feature for this period: not only was the rear
suspension monoshock, but the shock itself was mounted
horizontally, under the crackcase. Such innovation was
indicative of Nico Bakker Framebouw’s continual striving for
technical improvement.
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That was underlined during the mid to late 1980s, when Nico
Bakker Framebouw began to use aluminium in his frame designs,
including swingarms. Both frames and swingarm utilized
pre-formed aluminium extrusions and tubes. Considerable
modification of the extrusion was often required, along with
varying amounts of aluminium fabrication to achieve the required
result. This would depend on the style or design of the frame or
swingarm. The use of extrusions was ideally suited to the
construction of the widely-used, twin-spar type frame, which was
– and still is – a very popular frame style suitable for many
engine configurations.
Nico Bakker Framebouw took to the use of aluminium as a frame
material in the same professional manner that we did with steel
tubing. We chose the very best quality materials, and aimed for
a very high standard of construction and finish. During the
latter half of the 1980s, the fabricated aluminium frame became
the standard method of construction in the Bakker factory.
From the very beginning, Nico Bakker Framebouw has always been
prepared to design and build one-off or short-run examples of
our frames to house almost any type or make of engine. However,
we always had a range of catalogued models that have become
popular and, therefore, created a demand. This range of standard
frames includes both race and road examples. In most cases,
these can be supplied as finished machines or as frame kits.
In the early 1990s, the Bakker range included a full-race spec
aluminium twin-spar frame and swingarm to house 125cc engines.
In contrast is the Special Formula 1 design, a fabricated
twin-spar frame that could be supplied with, or to house,
engines from Suzuki, Kawasaki , Honda and Yamaha, in capacities
from 750 to 1100cc. In effect, this was a whole range of
machines in one design, but this particular frame had something
that rendered it extra special: it supported a single-leg rear
suspension in place of a conventional swingarm.
The single-leg was of Nico Bakker Framebouw design and
manufacture, and was fabricated from aluminium extrusions, and
it remains unique. The single-leg could also be bought as a
complete unit – leg, damper, brake, wheel and mudguard – to fit
most frames from 250 to 1100cc.
Unlike our sports and racing machines, the BMW Kangaroo was
quite different, a big traillie based on BMW R100GS, and offered
as a complete bike. The air-cooled flat-twin engine and shaft
drive were housed in a fabricated, aluminium twin-spar frame,
welded to swingarm pivot mounts that were machined from solid.
Square-section alloy tubes ran under the engine in normal cradle
fashion, while the rear suspension was designed to accommodate
the standard shaft-drive unit.
Upside down forks took care of the front suspension, with
stopping handled by two 300mm floating discs and four-piston
callipers at the front, and the standard BMW disc on the rear.
Running on 17in wheels, all this made the Kangaroo an incredible
street-legal machine, wrapped up in very distinctive and stylish
aluminium body panels, or fibreglass panels for those wishing to
save some of the cost.
An independent professional rider reported the BMW-based
Kangaroo as being an excellent handling road machine, with good
torque from the flat-twin and a claimed top speed of 125 mph .
The first ten Kangaroos were snapped up quickly, resulting I
Bakker putting a much larger batch into production.
If fact, BMW engine lovers were well catered for by Nico Bakker,
as he also offered a bike based around the K100 liquid-cooled
four-cylinder engine. This too used a fabricated aluminium
twin-spar frame with USD forks, plus four-piston calliper brakes
in a 16in front wheel, and an 18in wheel at the rear. The
complete machine weighed in at 188kg, which was only 3kg heavier
than the Kangaroo, due to the larger, liquid-cooled engine. The
Nico Bakker Framebouw K100 Special, as it was designated, was
finished off with stylish GRP bodywork and had a top speed of
140mph. It was an interesting alternative take on BMW’s standard
offering a K-powered sports bike long before BMW itself did.
From the very beginning, Nico Bakker Framebouw has been
extremely versatile and has pioneered a wide range of technical
advances, but one masterpiece crowned all of these achievements.
The QCS (Quick Change System) is a unique machine in that both
wheels were single-side mounted and easy to change (hence the
name) with both hub-centre steering and the Bakker single-leg
rear suspension.
But of course, the QCS wasn’t designed that way simply to
improve wheel changing times. The use of hub-centre steering
resulted in constant steering geometry and wheelbase
measurement. These two major benefits can never be achieved with
even the best conventional front fork layout. The QCS layout
also allowed quicker and easier suspension adjustments, a major
advantage for road-race machines.
Although hub centre steering is not new, Nico Bakker Framebouw
designed our version to take full advantage of the technical
possibilities it offers. This remarkable design utilized axial
pivot steering, which means that the kingpin (formerly the front
fork) angle remains constant during suspension movement,
resulting in little or no trail change, and the result was a
machine with more neutral handling than a conventional system
could deliver.
Due to our own developed six-piston brake calliper, braking
equal to a twin-disk set-up was achieved using a single
ventilated disk, which brought a weigh saving, but more
importantly, the central position of the single disc in the
front wheel meant that its gyroscopic effect had a less negative
influence on road holding. The single central disc also has a
unique cooling system, air being forced through a
clever-designed hollow front mudguard onto the disc, which
itself was ventilated. The rear brake used a twin-piston
calliper.
All this sounds like a very formidable package to be ridden by
experts only, but such was not the case. In fact, the QCS is
much simpler to ride than motorcycles of conventional layout.
Road test reports by professional riders described it as being a
joy to ride, in terms of comfort and outright handling. They
remarked on the high degree of road feel, something reported as
lacking in other hub-centre steering designs, while another
notable point was the lack of road shock felt through the
handlebars. As there were no forks for mounting the clip-on
bars, we fitted a machined alloy plate on a short headstock
running on roller bearings. Attaching the clip-on’s to this gave
the overall appearance of normal handlebars.
The positive feel and lack of road shock were due to the unique
front suspension and steering arrangement. The front suspension
was connected to a front sub frame at the mounting points, which
meant that the forces were not concentrated at one point, as is
the case with the steering head of conventional front forks.
Another advantage of this system was that none of the suspension
movement was transmitted to the handlebars. All this improved
rider comfort which, in turn, reduced fatigue, something of
prime importance to long-distance road riders and endurance
racers. The QCS was enclosed by beautiful bodywork, optimised
for aerodynamics and comfort, and of course was finished to the
same very high standard as the rest of Bakker’s products.
The prototype QCS was built around a Honda RVF750, but the
production road version used Yamaha FZR1000 parts. It’s
significant that the complete QCS actually weighed approximately
10 per cent less than the original Yamaha. There was actually a
complete range of QCS bikes, to accept 250 and 500cc race
engines as well as 750 and 1000cc four-stokes.
It’s clear that Bakker Framebouw has a good relationship with
BMW, and we actually acted as consultant when the Bavarian
company was developing its Tele-lever front suspension. So the
Kangaroo and K1100 weren’t our only BMW-based bikes. The Bomber
was a high performance road-going sports machine based around
BMW’s eight-valve 1100cc oil-cooled flat-twin. This used the
engine as a fully-stressed member, the front end of the frame
consisting of an alloy box-section bolted directly to the engine
and carrying the suspension. The rear suspension was a single
sided swing arm that enclosed the driveshaft.
Our version of Tele-lever front suspension was based on a single
pivoting wishbone, which operated a suspension unit mounted
behind the steering head. This type of suspension maintains a
higher degree of steering geometry under braking and cornering
than conventional forks, and we designed the front suspension to
give a ride height that enhanced the handling necessary on a
sports bike of this calibre, while maintaining the overall
appearance of conventional forks.
As with the front end, the rear alloy tubular sub frame was
bolted directly to the engine and gearbox unit. It carried a
carbon fibre seat, while the gearbox, brakes (ABS is an option),
instruments, electronics, exhaust and lights were all standard
R1100rs items. Fuel was carried in a Bakker 22 litre alloy tank,
which is beautifully styled, along with the rest of the Bakker
bodywork. This elegant and modern design weighed in dry at
202kg, and is a true sports bike, with an estimated top speed of
138mph.
The range of parts or accessories continues to grow along with
the rand of complete machines. We will still produce anything
from the earlier years if required: the Kangaroo for example
based on the old air-cooled BMW flat-twin. The Bomber is still
part of the range too, to suit BMW’s eight-valve twin, and the
Barracuda is a complete motorcycle designed to accept big
V-twins, such as the Suzuki TL1000, Honda VTR or Ducati. The
well-known Grizzly can be supplied with any four-cylinder
engine, including the Suzuki GSX-R and Honda CBR. Executed in
naked road bike, or fully equipped All-Road endurance bike. Then
there’s the supermono racer, which will take Rotax, Yamaha,
Honda or any other big single-cylinder engine. The Hawk is based
on Honda’s Hawk, the 650cc engine expanded to 700cc and tuned to
produce twice the horsepower.
Over the years, the Bakker Framebouw has produced many one-off
or small production runs of machines for special needs, a prime
example of this being an off-road or enduro machine built around
the BMW GS flat-twin. It weighs 30kg less than BMW’s factory
bike.
The diversity of our product range and the innovation behind our
work is clear – not only that, but we have put these advanced
machines into production, and maybe that is our true
accievement.
Source Bakker
Any corrections or more information on these motorcycles will be kindly appreciated.