Cherry’s Company BMW HP2 Sport
Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: Hiromitsu Yasui
In terms of luminaries in the word of custom bike building, few shine brighter than Kaichiro Kurosu. The man behind Cherry’s Company in Tokyo often leads the way in terms of design, finish and manufacturing techniques. Kurosu-san’s latest creation combines all three into one unique package.
Cherry’s Company is no stranger to JUST BIKES. Starting with his ‘Highway Fighter’, a comprehensively reworked BMW R nineT from 2014 (see JUST BIKES #307), a turbocharged Harley Street 750 ‘Turbo Street Fighter’ followed in 2017 (see JUST BIKES #359), with a nameless, but truly unique creation based on a BMW R 1200 GS released in the same year but featured with us in 2019 (see JUST BIKES #368).
It’s been a few years since a Cherry’s Company build has been seen, so it's good to have Kurosu-san back, especially when his finished product, along with the bike it’s based on, is as intriguing as this.
Short Sport
The base for this creation, which Kurosu-san has called ‘Midnight Dancer,’ is a BMW HP2 Sport. Debuting in 2008, the Sport was the third and last in BMW’s HP (High Performance) series that had started in 2005 with the HP2 Enduro. Essentially an R 1200 GS on steroids, the HP2 featured a more powerful Boxer engine and advanced (for 2005) tech like air suspension, but swapped the GS’s Telelever front end for conventional USD forks and ditched the ABS entirely.
In 2007, the HP2 Megamoto followed, which was built to the same formula, but with supermotard-inspired styling, road wheels and tyres, Öhlins rear suspension, an Akrapovic silencer and some carbon fibre trim.
Arguably the ultimate iteration of the HP series was the HP2 Sport, which reinterpreted the same formula as a pure sports bike. Again, the engine was a highly-tuned and more powerful version (96kW and 115Nm) of the 1170cc air-cooled Boxer twin, but the Telelever front and Paralever rear suspension returned, albeit supported by premium, fully-adjustable Öhlins shocks. Brembo brakes were also part of the HP2 Sport package, along with a close-ratio transmission, MotoGP-inspired instrument display, carbon fibre subframe and carbon fibre panels that trimmed weight to 178kg, which was actually 1kg lighter than the HP2 Megamoto.
While not a limited edition, the HP2 Sport was only built in small numbers across its five-year lifespan. In Australia, fewer than 100 units were released annually, so they’ve always been a pretty rare sight here and likely the same overseas, too.
Although it failed to lure many Japanese and Italian superbike riders to the Bavarian side, the HP2 Sport remains highly regarded today, reflected in asking prices approaching $40,000 for good used examples here - more than what the bike sold for when new.
With the HP2 Sport’s rarity in mind, some may see Kurosu-san cutting one up as offensive, but in this instance, there was some justification.
Long Term Build
Back in 2018, a Cherry’s Company customer presented Kurosu with an HP2 Sport for customisation. The bike had been damaged in an accident, destroying much of the factory carbon fibre bodywork, but the frame, running gear, suspension and other mechanical parts were all usable.
Before Kurosu could start on the project, COVID-19 shut the world down, but there was nothing in place for the bike's transformation anyway.
“At that time, I didn't have a concrete customisation plan, but I had a vague idea that I didn't want to degrade the performance or styling of the bike.”
For the HP2 Sport’s new look as Midnight Dancer, Kurosu decided to retain a carbon fibre exterior, in tribute to the factory finish, but interpreted in a completely new way.
“I started to think about that [carbon fibre exterior] around the end of 2021, or January 2022.”
At the time, Cherry’s Company was building replicas of the Highway Fighter (still one of the custom motorcycle scene’s greatest ever creations) using carbon fibre panels. These panels were hand-laid, though, which Kurosu thought would compromise the look if applied to the HP2 Sport. Dry carbon forming would be better, but was impossible to replicate using his existing resources, so Kurosu looked elsewhere.
“I was searching for a new modelling method when I found Vacuum Infusion Technology. Using this technology, which hardens carbon fibre with epoxy, I found that it is possible to produce carbon parts with a quality close to dry carbon.”
Panels for the Highway Fighter replicas were used as a testbed for this technology, from which Kurosu devised his own vacuum forming method and developed the process to a point where he was satisfied with the results, but concedes it can still be better.
“The manufacturing method is still evolving and continues to improve the strength and quality required for bike parts, as well as the freedom of modelling.”
Modern – from the 1980s
Now satisfied that he could do the carbon fibre parts justice, Kurosu turned to the Midnight Dancer’s design. Inspiration came initially from grand prix bikes of the 1980s with their boxy fairings and bulky seat units that seemed to melt over the back end.
“I loved the GP machines of that era and have used that image many times in my custom bikes. This time, I tried to make it work with a BMW flat twin engine.”
It doesn’t look it, but the fundamental configuration and geometry of the HP2 Sport was unchanged for this build. The front and rear suspension remains as is, along with the engine, six-speed transmission, shaft drive, all the electronics and most other related parts.
Challenges started with the inner fuel tank, which on the factory bike, is fitted with a tank cover.
“The side of the front cowl is integrated into the tank cover,” Kurosu explained. “Furthermore, the front cowl has a separate structure from that side part. And behind that front cowl, there’s an air intake for the ram air and a device holder.
“The design process was carried out without changing the arrangement of these parts, which led to the exterior parts overlapping each other.”
The overlap Kurosu mentions is best seen in profile, where the forms of the carbon panels seem to flow and arc around each other like waves.
Modern – from the 2020s
Along with the tank cover and front fairing, the front mudguard was also remade using vacuum-formed carbon fibre, but the commitment to reproduce all this bike’s bodywork in carbon took a detour partway through the project, resulting in the tail unit being hand-formed from aluminium.
“True, I was going to finish the rear cowl in carbon,” Kurosu laughed. “But during the production process I started to think that I wanted to combine metal and carbon.”
The idea for this came from seeing the current crop of MotoGP and World Superbike machines that run bare (or minimally decorated) bodywork and bare metal tanks during off-season testing.
“Racing teams testing with an aluminium tank and a raw carbon cowl is cool. That's what I wanted to express this time.
“By combining the carbon exterior with sheet metal parts, I was able to create a new world that is neither a chopper nor a supersport.”
Custom Garnish
As mentioned, much of the BMW’s underlying mechanical componentry was unchanged for the Midnight Dancer, but the frame was nickel plated and a bespoke silencer was fitted to the factory exhaust system, nestling within that custom seat cowl.
All the braking componentry is factory BMW, as are the wheels, which have been repainted black and shod with Michelin Power Cup 2 tyres that are street legal, but essentially designed for track use.
Pegs and pedals are unchanged, as are the factory clip-on handlebars, levers, switchgear and instrumentation. There is a bespoke trim piece replacing the BMW badge in the top fork yoke and much of this control area has also been repainted black.
The seat is a one-off unit, with a distinctive, chopper-esque back support and retro-look horizontal pleats. Skunk, a collaborator on all previous Cherry’s Company projects, produced the one-piece saddle.
Keeping the retro look going, a circular 4-inch aftermarket headlight is tunnellled deep into the fairing, giving the front end of Midnight Dancer the vibe of a Suzuka 8 Hour racer. The bare metal surround for this links to the finish of the tail unit.
Indicators are compact ‘Nano’ units from Japanese company Kijima, who also provided the tail light for Midnight Dancer.
The finishing touch is delicate scrollwork outlining the fairing panels and accenting the front mudguard. This gold leaf detailing was applied by Tetsu of Hopping Shower, who’s another Cherry’s Company collaborator.
Yokohama Surprise
Completed late in 2022, Midnight Dancer made its public debut at that year’s Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show, to a response that wasn’t entirely positive.
As the Yokohama event is something of a trad custom show, Kurosu was grilled on his choice of carbon fibre for this bike’s transformation.
“Many media asked me why I tried a carbon exterior,” Kurosu recalled. “It seems that the hot rod scene and carbon parts, or resin parts for that matter, are not a good fit for each other. However, the bike scene has been customising with resin parts since the 1960s, exemplified by Tracy Nelson.”
If you’re not familiar with him, Nelson was a surfboard builder, based in Santa Cruz, California. When the US custom bike scene started to grow in the 1960s, Nelson transferred his skills with fibreglass to motorcycle fairings, panels and seat units. Under the ‘Tracy's Fiberglas Works’ brand, fibreglass kits in tourer, café racer or chopper style to suit all manner of Japanese, American and British bikes were produced. Custom-made seats and a painting service were also available.
“More than 50 years on, even the aging of Tracy's custom bikes, with chipped fibres and faded paint, is part of the customisation process,” Kurosu added.
Despite some negative feedback, Midnight Dancer was awarded ‘Best Motorcycle – European’ and ‘Best Café Racer’ at Yokohama, validating Kurosu’s decisions. It also got a good response from enthusiasts when doing the rounds of the online custom bike forums earlier this year.
In many ways, Midnight Dancer is a custom that could only come from Japan, and more specifically, from the fertile imagination of Kaichiro Kurosu. Here’s hoping he continues to push the boundaries with more Cherry’s Company creations like this in the future.
Thanks to Tadashi Kohno for assistance in compiling this article.
