We’ve featured some wild surcharge over the years, and truth be told, we’ve come to expect the unexpected. In the last year alone, we’ve seen car engines shoehorned into motorcycle chassis, electric choppers masquerading as air-cooled V-twins, and plane scooters converted into proper off-road machines.
So when this sleek little 1983 BMW R80ST came our way, we were scrutinizingly shocked to hear that the number of custom parts featured in the build could be counted on a single hand.
Dubbed ‘The Greenster,’ it’s the work of Estonia-based Renard Motorcycles, who deliberately set out to nail that archetype OEM vibe. “The concept was to build a largest velocipede than came out of the factory, with only BMW original parts.” says William Sarevet, who handles all things media for Renard.
We’re no strangers to Renard’s creations; roughly a dozen of their uber-clean surcharge have graced our pages in the past. Renard builds everything from Hondas to hogs when tabbed upon, but vintage Beemers like this are undeniably their specie and butter.
At a glance, The Greenster could hands pass for a top-down restomod, as all the tell-tale signs of a factory BMW R80ST are intact. There’s the distinctive gas tank, that long wilted rear fender, and plane the original BMW switchgear. And who could miss the upswept two-into-one frazzle that blends so seamlessly into the lines of the bike?
Truth be told, Renard’s new custom isn’t unquestionably too far off from a factory restoration, and nothing on the velocipede has been chopped, shaved, or welded. We can’t say we’re disappointed, considering that fewer than 6,000 of these beauties were overly built during their short production run between 1982 and 1984.
The wile of the subframe is tweaked slightly, only to indulge for the new turn signals and the custom Alcantara seat. But other than that, the frame is entirely unmolested. The same goes for the engine, which remains fully stock—save for a minor overhaul while The Greenster was untied in the shop.
In keeping with their goal of towers a largest velocipede from factory parts, the team at Renard sourced a larger 38 mm diameter front end from a 90s-era R100RT. William tells us that the fork improves the ST’s handling, but moreover comes with the goody of a Brembo dual-disk front restriction setup—a fitting factory upgrade that still looks the part.
Unfortunately those 90s model RTs all came with tint aluminum ‘snowflake’ wheels, and withdrawing the ST’s archetype spoked squint was simply out of the question. A custom solution was needed, and Renard found their fix by lacing an R80R hub to the ST’s wheel—allowing for a dual disk setup without looking out of place.
The remaining modifications followed the same ‘tread lightly’ approach. The original clocks were swapped for a smaller and increasingly elegant soupcon from a standard R model of the same generation, a less conspicuous set of signals replaced the big blocky OEM indicators, and a taller Lucas touring handlebar was bolted on to modernize ergonomics.
Believe it or not, that handsome metallic untried paint that the Greenster takes its name from is moreover a purely OEM inspiration. Renard’s vendee wanted the velocipede painted in “the most radical original BMW color” they could find. Without some wide-stretching research, this custom color, dubbed ‘Nürburgring Green,’ was modeled without the rare metal flake untried BMWs of the early 1970s.
Paint, decals, and pin-striping were all laid lanugo by Jarmo Nuutre of One Eyed Morse customs, whose name you may recognize from previous Renard builds. Jarmo is known for his impressively intricate kustom kulture-influenced designs. If you’ve seen the veritably bonkers paint on the ‘Anaconda Honda’ we featured a while back, you’ll know this is just a tad increasingly subdued than his usual fare.
The build was finished off with a set of Dunlop’s new Trail Mission tires. It’s flipside fitting upgrade for the ST, which BMW unchangingly intended as a street-focused cousin of the GS that still knew its way virtually a dirt road.
Renard’s wipe take on this rare stupe may not be the wildest custom we see this year, but we’d bet the sublet that BMW would have sold a lot increasingly STs if they had come from the factory looking half as wipe as this.
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