OC Garage Dark Lady
By Anthony van Someren - 16 Jan 14
When his wife was nine months pregnant, Oscar Tasso had a motorcycle accident and was paralyzed for several days. As a dedicated sportsbike fan and track-day instructor he knew that his choice of bikes meant he was living a dangerous life, so while he was going through this life-changing event he promised himself that if he recovered he would take his passion for bikes into a new direction.
The good news is that Oscar did recover and he was determined to live up to his promise. ...Since the age of 21 Oscar had worked on sports bikes, including Moto2 machines, so he decided to take those skills and divert them into something more aesthetically driven. He went on to set up Oscar Classic Garage in Milan, where he was born, and this BMW R80 RT is the first of his builds to be featured on The Bike Shed.
OC Garage is all about the philosophy of "moving art" and creating bikes with a story to tell. Like many people who have builds on the websites like The Bike Shed, the need for speed is relative, and riding a Boxer Twin you built yourself round the local back-roads at 50-60mph can be every bit as rewarding as thrashing a Panigale around Brands Hatch, possibly even more so. Ultimately, it's also a lot safer - and more wife friendly too.
The donor for this featured build was an ex-Police model from 1989 which has been stripped back and rebuilt with a complete engine overhaul and bespoke exhaust system. The original Bing carbs were stripped, rebuilt, and fitted with cone air filters. The rear subframe has been chopped and remodeled to accommodate the three-quarter length seat, which sits short of the rear loop.
Electrics are all new and run off a lightweight Lithium battery which has been repositioned to sit under the seat between the top of the rear shock mount. The brakes are also all-new, running braided lines. The clip-on bars are adjustable and the top yoke has Acewell instruments with two ingenious indicators sitting either side and facing forwards, mirroring the setup at the back; which sits withing the subframe loop.
However, what you notice first is probably the finish. The bike is largely painted in a wrinkle-finish black paint which covers most of the frame and chassis parts, right down to the shaft and final drive. This is complemented by a flat matte black around the flanks of the tank. It's certainly pretty unique. Oscar tells us it's luminescent in the sunlight.
Oscar has christened the bike "Dark Lady". It's "a tribute to feminine charm", which sounds very Italian. You can see the build in progress on this Video...