Okay, okay, I’m gushing, but it’s pretty restrained Palermo-gushing for me. Yeah, I got a problem, but have you taken a look yet at Jack Cofano’s photos of this BMW-powered custom? You don’t have to be a BMW freak or even like anything about the Bavarian boxer, but you have to appreciate whatever the hell is going on there. You’ve never seen anything like this before and if seeing a work of motorcycle art doesn’t interest you, maybe you ought to take up crocheting or needlepoint and leave enjoying great custom bikes to the rest of us.
Actually, there’s not much BMW in Joe’s bike he calls Air Head other than the engine and there’s not too much BMW left in the engine. If you’ve ever looked at an old air-cooled Beemer, there’s not much in common except the most basic flat-twin architecture. From the potentially- blinding polishing some of the most “textured” raw case, barrel, and head castings you’ll ever see by Perfect Polishing Inc. in Daytona Beach to extreme external modifications including the final drive that would make a BMW purist choke on his wiener schnitzel.
Joe Gimpel Jr. at Gimpel Development in Daytona Beach was called on for his vintage BMW expertise that could fill an article on its own. Instead of some old dribbly Bing carbs mounted just aft of the cylinder head, there’s a set of voluptuously-curved tubing manifolds with a set of Mikunis extending forward and above the cylinders with slightly filtered one-off velocity stacks mimicking the finned header lock ring. The 2-into 2 exhaust has the left pipe snaking around the back of the engine before joining the right side in a set of always lovely reverse cone megaphones that are reminiscent of my old Norton Commando pea shooters. One of my favorite all time styles so I’m a bit biased here, but Joe has extremely good vintage taste in my opinion. Who doesn’t appreciate a classic reverse megaphone?
There’s a whole lot more too like the little bit of development work changing the legendary BMW driveshaft final drive for a chain final drive. Unfortunately I don’t know what type of 90-degree bevel gear box Joe used to ultimately chain it, but he didn’t stop there. A dual-set of spring-loaded idler gears keeps the chain on the straight and narrow. And just makes for more cool spinning stuff. On the right side of that box, he fabricated his own hand lever-operated trans brake out of a Performance Machine rotor and a PM four-piston caliper as the only brake (I can’t find another, but that doesn’t mean Joe didn’t hide a second somewhere you’d never guess). It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to the infamous “baloney slicer” flywheel mounted outside the engine cases of Moto Guzzi’s classic Falcone 500 single. Plus the whole mechanical bamboozle is controlled by that conveniently massive, yet delicate hand shifter mounted directly to the side of the gearbox that looks like it came from a high-end Camaro restomod.
Joe whipped up a truly one-off, ever-curving frame out of stainless steel, not the easiest thing to work with, that almost defies logic at first glance. It’s more supermodel skeleton-like than beefy and the swingarm and suspension could be their own story. The pivot point sits about as low as you can go then the twin tube swingarm curves up to meet the axle. A vertically-mounted half-leaf spring sits under the seat and reaches down to the cross member of the swingarm to provide suspension action. It’s a lovely all-mechanical change from one more air ride setup that is now as common as rubber tires. How it sits is how it sits without any silly sitting on the ground shenanigans that I still don’t understand the “attractiveness” of.
Handling the action up front is another leaf-spring item, but with a Palermo twist. Instead of the usual bulky leaf spring that dominates a fork, Joe’s come up with the thinnest set of leafs I’ve ever seen. His aggressively-curved tube stanchions look lovely, yet functional. It’s just a graceful re-design of a classic Indian style without the usual truck-look. The headlight mounting ears blend into the top of the fork and do double-duty. Obviously they hold the headlight in place, but look good too flowing directly from the top of the fork to the headlight like they were cast there. It may look simple, but I know there was a lot of thought and work to seamlessly integrate them.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, Joe’s become a bit fascinated with carbon fiber as a new material. Everywhere you look, there’s fastidiously laid-out carbon fiber from the tank that reminds me of a dolphin swimming to the rear fender to the headlight bucket and even the exhaust heat shield. I love the way Joe ran the throttle cables through the front of the tank and then out the sides directly over each carb. It’s an interesting case of hiding the cables in plain sight and I can’t even imagine what was involved in this slight of hand, but I like it. As far as the disc wheels go, I know not of what I speak, but I’m guessing they’re carbon fiber discs covering some sort of unspeakably traditional wheel right up past the rim’s edge. Or, does Joe know something about smooth, total carbon disc wheels I’ve never heard of? Like I said, I know not of what I speak so it’s all speculative on my part.
Somewhere Joe and Wes Fuquay of B&D Paint and Body Shop in Edgewater, Florida, supposedly put some paint on the bodywork they both worked on. I’m assuming it’s some kind of UV protection clear coat as paint in a can is none of this bike’s business. Some bright hue, graphic-laden paintjob would be a distraction instead of a plus. Joe let the lines, the materials, and the design speak for themselves and that couldn’t have been a better choice. Any custom this outside the box doesn’t need the tiniest bit of glam other than the vintage Indy, Bonneville, and the So-Cal Speed Shop decals discretely placed on the carbon panel just above the one-of-a-kind kickstand.
I don’t know if Joe’s garage contains a portal to a parallel dimension where he gets his ideas from, but that would probably sound a bit demeaning to a guy who thinks, then works his butt off making custom motorcycles that have a twist to the twist and then maybe one more added twist just to mess with us mere mortals. You gotta love a guy who builds bikes that make your heart go all a flutter and scrambles your brain while it’s at it. At the recent Motorcycle Expo and Bike Builder Invitational held at Quaker Steak & Lube in Clearwater, Florida, Air Head was judged by the IMBBA (International Master Bike Builders Association) as Grand Champion with a nice fat check and Super Bowl-style ring as his reward for all those nights spent dicking around (my words) in his garage. That’s nice and all, but I think Joe gets his own accolades internally just looking at what a piece of BMW Airhead art he created. I know I do.