Nelis-Bakker TL1000
Even when Suzuki stopped to roll out its TL1000R bike seven years ago, it still has a cult following, particularly in Europe. So, it’s no surprise to any one of us, who knows and love TL1000R, when a Dutchman, Mathijn Nelis, set out to create his first custom work under the careful gaze of master builder Nico Bakker.
In order to build his 1000R, Nelis used personally designed frame and this bike comes to its present by fitting the best components available for the TL1000 in the market. And the parts like tail, exhaust bracket, Tri-Clamp and aluminum body hand of TL that were not sold in the market are fabricated by Nelis.
For that matter, Nelis 1000R features his own crafted rear sets, exhaust hangers, triple clamp, and hand beaten aluminum bodywork. Whereas wheels were provided by Marchesini, its go-fast parts are form of Brembo monobloc calipers and are radially mounted to the Marzocchi forks up front.
The bike was built from the ground-up by Nelis under the watchful eye of his employer Nico Bakker, the ex-racer turned master frame builder, and is powered by a brand new Suzuki TL1000R engine.
Nearly all of the skills involved in the build were learnt as Mathijn built the bike – apart from a few basic workshop skills, Nelis entered the project blind. It makes the end result even more incredible – in the flesh, the overall look as well as the detail is stunning.
The frame for example is a complex construction of tubular chrome-molybdenum where no part is straight – each tube is curved. The swingarm is made the same way, and the brackets to hold the bellypan styled in the same way. The handlebars are hand-made, and all of the bodywork is flawless hand-beaten aluminium. The parts that aren’t made in house are top quality too.
