As the BMW MOA’s Road to Barber series continues to gather momentum ahead of the Builders Best Motorcycle Show, the sheer variety of craftsmanship on display has been staggering. Having already showcased the exceptional talents of builders like Jay Beier, Parker Zamerelli, and Marek Kruszynski, the spotlight now shifts to the American Midwest. Hailing from Beecher, Illinois, Zack Witkowsky of Black Wolf Touring and Custom LLC delivers a machine that perfectly captures the spirit of two-wheeled joy. His custom 1978 BMW R80/7 is an exercise in juxtaposition, blending vintage Bavarian engineering with the playful soul of a dirt tracker and the aggressive heart of a supercross racer. And if this motorcycle excites you, it could be yours through the BMW MOA’s Fall Raffle.
For Zack Witkowsky, wrenching on vintage BMWs was never just a hobby; it was a lifelong education passed down from father to son. Zack disassembled and reassembled his first airhead at just eight years old under the watchful eye of his father, Jeff. While Zack was growing up, Jeff owned and operated a string of successful motorcycle shops across Park Forest, Crete, and Beecher, IL. Zack spent his childhood sweeping shop floors and handing tools to his dad, absorbing a passion for motorcycles. The two worked side by side for over two decades, sharing a bond forged in grease and exhaust fumes until Jeff’s passing in 2017.
When Zack and his wife, Jen, decided to turn Zack’s dream of owning a custom shop into a reality, they knew exactly how to honor that legacy. For years, Zack’s mother affectionately referred to his father as the “grey wolf.” Stepping up as the grey wolf’s protégé, Zack appropriately named the shop Black Wolf Touring and Custom LLC.
Today, Zack lives a demanding dual life. He balances a full-time day job with running the shop at night and on weekends, turning out high-caliber builds that often leave customers waiting over a year for a slot. “As a family-owned and operated shop, we offer our clients an honest, friendly, and informative environment where we can work together to design the bike of their dreams and see it come to life,” Jen explains.
While Black Wolf services everything from classic airheads and K-Series bricks to modern Motorrad machinery, Zack knew the 1978 BMW R80/7 donor was the perfect candidate for this project. The vintage touring platform offered a bulletproof 798cc boxer twin that originally produced 50 horsepower, paired with a stout five-speed transmission. More importantly, it possessed a raw, mechanical purity free of complex modern sensors and wiring looms. Before a single spark flew from a grinder, Zack went through the engine, ensuring the boxer twin was completely reliable. Once the foundation was rock solid, the real fun began.
Zack sought to create a clash of styles. He wanted the steadfast vintage motor to contrast against a modern, playful aesthetic. The result was a motorcycle that looked purpose-built to slide around a dirt oval after popping a wheelie out of the paddock. The transformation started at the rear. Zack replaced the dated, heavy subframe, the bulky rear fender, and the massive bench seat. In their place, he mounted a fiberglass flat-track race tail section with a custom tuck-and-roll-style seat pad, mounted to a custom subframe he designed and manufactured. The subframe, which features a 2-inch lift, visually shortened the motorcycle, dramatically shifting the visual weight forward while physically shedding pounds off the rear end.
Flanking that svelte new tail section is a custom stainless steel exhaust system. Rather than running the traditional low-slung route, the custom unit exits the boxer heads, flows tightly beneath the engine, and then turns skyward, terminating just underneath the tail section. While the pipes are fitted with internal glass packs to keep the decibels somewhat manageable, the exhaust note gives a distinctly aggressive tone, letting everyone know the bike is ready to play.
The front end received a similarly aggressive overhaul. The stock fender was binned in favor of an angular, repop Kawasaki unit from Acerbis. To maximize suspension clearance and enhance the off-road aesthetic, it was mounted high, directly beneath the triple trees. The dated factory headlight bucket was also discarded, replaced by a pair of modern, high-intensity Denali LED headlights. Knowing that a bike built for this much fun was bound to take a spill eventually, Zack fabricated a custom steel cage to protect the lighting array.
The stance was finalized by refreshing the factory wheels with a fresh coat of powder and wrapping them in aggressive Duro knobby tires, fully committing the vintage road tourer to its new life as a dirt tracker. Slowing the wheels down is an upgraded brake setup, made possible by an R90X Big Brake adapter kit. It now utilizes a 4-piston caliper from an S 1000RR and a 320mm rotor.
Up in the cockpit, a set of high-rise handlebars with an integrated cross-brace delivers a BMX feel. To keep the rider’s view clean, the bulky factory switchgear were replaced with minimalist pushbuttons, made possible by the NWT Cycletronics electrical system.
The final aesthetic touch was a paint scheme, inspired by an R90S design, that uses a mix of blacks and blues to accent the bodywork’s natural lines, set against a stark white powder-coated frame. The livery gives the tracker a distinct law-enforcement feel, a nod to the BMW MOA’s First Responder Appreciation Month, which takes place in September 2026 and is a charitable initiative offering membership discounts to those who serve on the front lines.
This magnificent blend of flat tracker and supercross racer will be featured at the Builders Best Motorcycle Show, presented by BMW MOA at BMW Motorrad Days during the Barber Vintage Festival in Birmingham, Alabama, from October 9-11. But the best part of this build is its ultimate destination. The BMW MOA is utilizing the R80/7 as the grand prize for its fall raffle. One lucky enthusiast will be drawn as the winner on the festival’s Saturday night. Because tickets are available online, you don’t even need to be present to take this incredible machine home.
Photo Credit: Bill Wiegand