This custom Russian R NineT is a fighter jet for the road

Zillers Garage of Russia creates custom lowrider R NineT

Matching motorcycles with fighter jets goes further back than their iconic pairing in the movie, Top Gun. Yet as far as design goes, there could be no better inspiration than the F-14 fighter (or the Russian Su-27) from the 80s.

That’s what influenced the styling of this custom R NineT made by Russian custom bike builders, Zillers Garage. We’ve seen many custom R NineT’s before, but this is perhaps the sleekest yet.

This custom bike was commissioned by BMW Motorrad Russia. It started out as a 2016 R NineT. However, the only things recognizable at this point are the engine, shaft drive, and some parts of the frame.

As you may have noticed, it’s practically scraping the ground. That’s because the bike is equipped with a hydraulic suspension lift system. When parked, it’s designed to rest on its flat belly, so there’s no more need for a kickstand. The hydraulics run inside the forks in the front, and use a revised shock linkage at the back. The height is controlled by buttons on the top of the fuel tank. It rides on custom-made 18-inch, machined aluminum wheels designed to look like jet turbine blades.

The entire motorcycle is covered in hand-formed aluminum panels. Pinstripes and rounded rivets are strategically placed around the body to mimic that classic cold war aircraft look.

Poking out are the cylinder heads. The bulges on each side house 3D-printed air boxes using car air filters. The exhaust is also custom, using two-to-one headers meeting in a single, surprisingly subtle muffler on one side.

As for the rider, he gets custom clip-ons and foot controls. The hydraulic clutch and brake master cylinders were machined from scratch, along with integrated switches. The speedometer and tachometer are in a simple red dot-matrix LCD display.

This whole bike is designed to be street legal, so it has LED headlights, tail lights, and turn signals (even mounted under the foot peg), and a license plate bracket mounted behind the rear wheel. For practicality, the tail light housing slides out to reveal a small storage space. It even has a phone charging port and power outlet.

Zillers Garage is run by Dmitry Golubchikov, who says it took ten months to complete.

Do you think Pinoy bike builder can create something similar or better?