Hutchbilt BMW ‘Skyway’

When presented with a donor ’79 BMW R80 that clients were more than happy to let him have his way with, Jeremy Hutch of California-based Hutchbilt went more than a little crazy creating the Hutchbilt BMW R80 “Skyway” Boardracer. When asked about his inspiration, Hutch told Pipeburn, “Early boardtrackers, California culture and the iconic “Skyway” freestyle BMX bike of the early ’80s with its white plastic Tuff Mags.” We can see all those elements in the bike, but the final creation is so much more than the sum of its inspirational parts. This bike has been built and rebuilt from the front end to the rear subframe more than once using stock parts, donor pieces, custom built components and a whole slew of Motogadget upgrades. Because Hutch wanted the bike as clean as possible, cables were routed through the frame, a digital display was mounted in the bars and the braking system was converted to operate front and rear simultaneously from the pedal. It’s a clean bike that’s downright gorgeous and, according to Hutch, “super smooth and really fun on the road.”