A custom bike is, above all: unique. The subculture of the custom bike community and its trends are of major importance, not only for the motorcycle’s hardware, but also for the software associated with the lifestyle. Customizers deliberately reject a digitized and perfected world with something handmade and raw— a kick start for the imagination of all free spirits.

With the market launch of the BMW R nineT in 2013, the unique Soul Fuel project started in earnest. Over the course of the nascent cooperation, the first selected customizers received an R nineT by BMW Motorrad, which they were able to remodel and modify pursuant to their own vision. To date, 17 customizers have created fascinating customizations of the R nineT through Soul Fuel. Five additional projects are to follow in 2018. Introducing the bikes completed to date, the book Soul Fuel is an homage to the “customizing attitude” towards life. When we take a look into the workshops of the most innovative customizers, we can virtually smell and hear the welding equipment. We experience the creative process that emerges from custom bikes made on the basis of the R nineT, up close and personal— like when musicians cover their favorite song, and in doing so, place their own distinctive stamp upon it. With full passion and dedication, customizers like Blitz Motorcycles, 46 Works, El Solitario, and others create exceptional interpretations of an exceptional machine.

As unique and customized as the machines it presents, Soul Fuel boasts incredible graphics, layout, and fascinating portraits of the customizers in one innovative, impressively-designed book.

DIRK MANGARTZ has been working as a motor journalist for various book and magazine publishers since 1992. He was the editor-in-chief of the motorcycle magazine Custombike for 15 years. His latest book publications include The Harley-Davidson Bookand Custom Bike Life, which were released by teNeues in 2017.