Rowan’s R65 street scrambler

This bike should really be appreciated alongside Rowan’s earlier BMW, a green R45 which got the Rupe’s Rewires treatment in May 2019. This bike (the grey one) was originally an R65, and follows the same overall vibe but with off road overtones: knobbly tyres, wider bars, crash protectors, a headlamp grille and a tool roll. Both bikes are beautifully finished – which is all the more impressive because Rowan builds them in a tiny shed with no power.

As with the earlier bike, Rowan had already mounted all the electricals, and just needed a loom to hook them up. It uses a Daytona Velona Dark speedo, which I love because it looks like a glass globe in a case – until you turn it on. The speedo drive is a mechanical-electrical adaptor made by Koso, which plugs into the original speedo drive on the gearbox. After that you need to programme the speedo to suit the wheel size. All these goodies come from Jon Pullara’s excellent Digital Speedos shop. Other choice morsels: Boyer electronic ignition and Rizoma bar end indicators.

You can follow both these bikes on Rowan’s Instagram. The grey one just needs a few cosmetic details sorting out and it’ll be ready for winter.