BMW R 80 RT Parne Valce Is a Caffeinated Airhead Customized in All the Right Ways

Machines built by Earth Motorcycles are always teeming with tasty upgrades, so as to not only look the part but also be practical for modern-day riding. The stealthy cafe racer we’re about to look at is no different, proving that Vlad and Ales can knock it out of the park regardless of what marque or stylistic direction they work with. In this instance, their starting point was an old-school airhead from BMW.

More specifically, we’re referring to an R 80 RT from the model-year 1989, which wasn’t in particularly great shape upon arrival at the shop. It took a good bit of elbow grease to make it look and perform the way it does today, but all the hard work has eventually paid off in spades. The Earth duo started with a customary teardown, deleting all the factory bodywork aside from the fuel tank.

Items like the OEM subframe, exhaust, and rear suspension hardware followed suit, as did several miscellaneous bits such as the lighting and cockpit equipment. This left the Slovaks with a blank canvas awaiting customization, and they wasted no time getting started. One of the client’s requests had to do with the new subframe, as he was pretty keen on a bolt-on unit offered by WalzWerk.

The said module got shipped from Marcus Walz’s lair in Germany, together with a gorgeous seat wrapped in black leather upholstery. Attached to the subframe tubing are multi-function LEDs to take care of all the illumination needs at the back. On the other hand, suspension duties in that area are now managed by a premium YSS shock absorber.

We still see the original telescopic forks at the front, but they’ve been lowered by 50 millimeters (two inches) in order to get the Beemer’s posture just right. A bespoke billet aluminum top clamp replaces the factory item, fronted by a Daytona LED headlight and a Motoscope Tiny dial from Motogadget. Motone clip-on handlebars are also present in that area, sporting Discacciati levers and some more Motogadget paraphernalia.

The grips, bar-end turn signals, and plain switches have all been supplied by the German aftermarket brand. In terms of bodywork, there’s hardly anything to mention here except for the stunning R 80 gas tank, but the guys did install a minuscule aluminum fender at the front. Earth Motorcycles kept the stock wheels, as well, cloaking their rims in vintage-looking Shinko rubber fore and aft.

All the braking components on this specimen have been rebuilt, with the front end receiving a modern drilled rotor and fresh pads. Moreover, there are high-grade Venhill brake lines all-round. The creature’s electrics were hooked up to a new wiring harness, along with a Motogadget controller and a LiFePo4 battery. Replacement spark plugs and high-voltage cables are also part of the electronic suite.

There are several other bits and pieces worth mentioning here, including the Earth Motorcycles tank badges, a stylish filler cap, and a custom side stand. On the powertrain side of things, a complete engine rebuild was needed for the boxer-twin to regain its former glory. All its internal workings have either been overhauled or replaced with youthful alternatives, and the refurbishment made its way further down the drivetrain to the gearbox.

Of course, some new intake and exhaust hardware was definitely on the menu, too. The revamped Bing carbs breathe through K&N air filtration technology, while a custom exhaust system can be spotted at the other end of the combustion cycle. A layer of black Cerakote covers the plumbing and the mill’s exterior, but there is a bit of bare metal left in various places.

Black paint is the name of the game elsewhere, too, done in a tasty mixture of satin and matte finishes for visual depth. When all was said and done, the bike’s dry weight dropped to a mere 168 kilograms (370 lbs), which is sure to make it that much more fun to ride. Lastly, the dream two-man team at Earth Motorcycles have dubbed their creation Parne Valce.

That translates to “steam cylinders” from Slovak, and it seems rather appropriate given this R 80 cafe racer’s stylish personality. Although it’s a different visual affair compared to the other Earth builds we’ve examined so far, the Parne Valce is absolutely mouth-watering for many reasons. It’s the sort of bike which doesn’t need any vibrant colors to stand out, and we totally love that!