Shiro Nakajima had long made a name for himself as a musician before entering the world of customization, where his reputation is well established. In this video, the Japanese works hard on the careful development of a titanium exhaust system for a BMW R100RS restoration project, and wows us.
In 2014, after having been a musician in Tokyo, where he had also opened a motorcycle customization shop, Shiro left the metropolis to settle in the interior of Japan and opened a new store in the foothills of the chain of Yatsugatake Mountains: 46Works. Four in Japanese is "shi", six is "ro". Shiro's focus is clearly on craftsmanship. In Yatsugatake, he found the peace and quiet he needed to create motorcycles with both performance and fun in their DNA.
The intro and outro feature some extremely cold music to set the mood, but most of the video is dedicated to the making of this piece of art. Shiro Nakajima has headphones on while he works, but we have no idea what he might be listening to while he works. Regardless, his actions remain fluid, practiced and focused as he creates each piece of the exhaust system from a blank sheet of paper.
It is thanks to these kinds of videos that we recognize the artists: Shiro Nakajima bends these tubes to give them the perfect shape, using a model he created, just like the 2 in 1 collector, to arrive at a unique piece. He understands how to combine performance and striking details and thus creates a perfect balance.
But that's not all, since he also has to modify the original R100RS kickstand, cut it, then completely reshape it so that it is exactly the right size and shape to fully fit the new exhaust.
Other videos regarding the customization of this machine are available on the 46Works YouTube channel.
