BMW RnineT ‘Dark Fighter’ by Mandrill Garage

Lau Hao is the owner and operator of the Beijing-based Mandrill Cafe & Garage. Since 2012, Hao and his dedicated staff have been producing exquisite custom builds, while the Mandrill Cafe provides a space where likeminded individuals can gather, party, and appreciate bikes.

Mandrill's latest creation is the “Dark Fighter”, aptly named to give an anti-retro take on the dark nemesis of the BMW R nineT.

Mandrill quickly went to work to reshape its whole charm, giving it a darker aura.

“Now everybody is building café racers, scramblers and trackers,” Hao explains, “but the R NineT is a modern retro bike, I wanted to make it more modern. My inspiration is anti-retro.”

He de-constructed the R nineT to its bare bones. With just its frame, front suspensions and the engine intact, they first decided to give the rear subframe a swap with an in-house designed unit and gave it a black powder coating, finally making it sit lower than stock.

This allowed Luo to change the stock seat, to a custom designed black leather tuck-n-roll bobber-style saddle that drastically reduced the visual length of the bike. It has a fairly large kick-up design at the rear to keep the rider from sliding off the seat.

The centerpiece of the Dark Fighter is the prominent headlight fixture, modeled after medieval armor. Its narrow eye-port allows a bright LED to shine through. But the real headlights are actually mounted off to the side, tucked in behind the number boards.

With the aluminium subframe powder coated black and sitting lower than stock, the tank was now showing off some unsightly pieces where the stock seat rests.  The stock aluminum fuel tank was reshaped, slimmed and the rear was smoothed out.

Affixed to the sides of the tank are a pair of number boards with the Mandrel M and the number 90 painted on in white and grey respectively. But everything else has been treated to a brilliant coat of gloss black, even the front forks were sent out for anodising.

To keep the "Dark Fighter" road leagal a custom taillight was made from three red LED strips with bar end turn signals.

The stock master cylinders on both the brake and the clutch levers get swapped with Brembo RCS radial master cylinders for precise control and tuning on the fly.

The carbon fiber front and rear fenders fit wonderfully with Hao’s modern take on the R nineT. The elongated, blade-like rear fender is befitting of a build that draws inspiration from medieval armor.

Following that line of thought and elevating its air of intimation are the exposed K&N air filters. The finishing touch comes in the form of the handmade stainless steel exhaust featuring a slash-cut muffler.