The annual BMW MOA National Rally is a shifting caravan of motorcycle culture, moving its stakes to a new corner of the continent every summer to redefine what a mass gathering of riders can be. In 2026, the collective compass pointed directly toward the scenic northeast, landing at the sprawling Champlain Valley Expo Center in Essex Junction, Vermont. The venue proved to be an ideal canvas for thousands of riders converging from across the United States and Canada. Over the course of the event, the fairgrounds buzzed with an absolute overload of activities, from clinical riding seminars and gear-packed vendor marketplaces to multiple concurrent motorcycle displays and heavy-hitting nightly concerts.
A new highlight of this year’s social calendar was the debut of the Bikes, Bourbon, and BBQ event on Friday night. Limited to 100 lucky rally-goers, the exclusive evening served as a fundraiser for the newly established BMW MOA National Archive. Attendees were treated to a barbecue dinner alongside a curated collection of 18 distinct bourbons for sampling. The atmosphere turned electric during the high-stakes raffle, which saw several highly coveted bottles cross the block, including a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 12 Year.
For those with an eye for premium fabrication, the true center of gravity at the rally was the second annual Builders Best Motorcycle Show. Backed by industry sponsors such as Bridgestone, Quadlock, Kabuto Helmets, and Spiegler Performance Parts, the showcase featured 30 exceptional machines that bridged both BMW and non-BMW heritages. The stakes were elevated this year with the introduction of cash prizes determined by popular ballot vote, awarding $1,000 for first place, $500 for second, and $250 for third across the categories. With the ballots counted and the trophies handed out, the show has already confirmed its return for a third iteration at the 2027 National Rally in Great Falls, Montana.
Here are our five favorite BMWs from The Builders’ Best Custom Motorcycle show.
Hellgate Moto 1994 BMW K 1100 RS
Nick Rovello, founder of Long Island-based Hellgate Moto (@hellgatemoto), walked away with top honors and the $1,000 grand prize for Best BMW, a fitting reward for a machine with an unbelievable backstory. The donor 1994 BMW K 1100 RS arrived at Rovello’s shop under bizarre circumstances, having barely survived a severe house fire. While direct flames never actually touched the 1,092cc inline-four powertrain, the intense radiant heat completely melted and warped the sport-tourer’s plastic bodywork into a surrealist shell.
Instead of taking the well-trodden path toward a standard café racer silhouette, Rovello and his partner, Anthony Logalbo, leaned into a stripped-down, aggressive naked streetfighter architecture. The transformation began with media blasting the frame and machining every unused factory tab flush for a seamless finish. Rovello then fabricated a custom rear subframe to match the factory fuel tank’s lines, successfully preventing the awkward, broken-backed posture common to lesser projects.
The running gear on the streetfighter is a practice in in-family parts swapping, utilizing a modern BMW S 1000 RR front fork internally upgraded with a premium Traxxion AK-20 cartridge kit. The conversion is held securely by Powerbrick triple trees and a custom K 1200 front axle, while an Öhlins rear shock manages the shaft-drive chassis behavior over the tarmac. The motor breathes deeply through a Powerbrick DNA air filter assembly and a custom, ceramic-coated stainless steel 4-2-1 exhaust system that snakes cleanly along the left side before exiting out of a carbon fiber tip tucked under the tail. Finished in a subtle coat of contemporary Cacti Green paint by Coach Autobody, the 100-horsepower weapon balances raw New York grit with master-tech precision.
Bob Fair’s 1974 BMW R 60/6 “Little Blu”
Bob Fair traveled from Pennsylvania to showcase “Little Blu,” a 1974 BMW R 60/6 that quickly became one of the most eye-catching and heavily photographed motorcycles on the Vermont show floor. The bike’s current pristine state is a stark contrast to its starting point; Fair discovered the forgotten air-cooled boxer rotting inside an abandoned commercial warehouse. Upon initial inspection, the situation looked dire: the 599cc engine cases were completely filled with stagnant water, necessitating a total, ground-up mechanical rehabilitation and a full internal engine rebuild to bring its 40 horsepower back to life.
Once the air-cooled engine was restored to peak health, Fair focused on capturing the essence of classic café-racer proportions. He modified the factory mainframe with a completely custom-fabricated rear subframe engineered specifically to accommodate a set of modern laydown rear shocks. Perched atop the new loop is a handmade café-racer tail hump that flows smoothly with the bike’s visual lines. Tucked neatly into the rear hoop is a highly integrated string of flush-mounted LEDs, ensuring the retro racer remains completely street legal without disrupting its clean, historical profile.
The cockpit is a pure exercise in traditional café racer ergonomics, highlighted by a vintage-style front fairing that hunkers down over the front end. The rolling stock received an equally thorough restoration, featuring freshly powder-coated rims and hand-rebuilt, heavy-duty stainless steel spokes. Draped in a stunning, deep metallic blue paint scheme accented by glittering chrome finishes across the fuel tank, Little Blu stands as a brilliant testament to the timeless appeal of a properly proportioned vintage boxer.
Don Krumholz’s BMW R 69 AMOL Special
Don Krumholz brought a staggering dose of historical authority to the Champlain Valley Expo Center with his immaculate BMW R 69 AMOL Special. For the uninitiated, the “AMOL Special” moniker carries immense weight in American motorcycling history, as it represents the highly tuned, race-ready machines built by AMOL Precision in New Jersey. Founded as one of the very first official BMW motorcycle dealerships in the United States, AMOL became a legendary engineering powerhouse whose heavily modified boxer twins regularly dominated grueling long-distance endurance competitions throughout the 1960s.
Krumholz’s restoration honors that pedigree, presenting a 594cc boxer twin that looks as though it rolled straight off a starting grid and onto the show carpet. Every single element of the machine has been meticulously restored to period-correct racing specification, showcasing the incredible mechanical focus that enabled these bikes to outlast and outrun the finest competition of their era.
Racing clip-ons position the rider’s posture down over the fuel tank, while a pair of characteristic chrome cone mufflers extend rearward to broadcast the unmistakable, resonant bark of a high-compression vintage twin. It is an incredibly focused, track-ready time capsule that beautifully reminds the MOA membership of BMW’s deep-seated competitive roots in North America.
Andrew Dow’s BMW R 100/2
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Andrew Dow manages a unique double life as a busy bar owner by night and a dedicated motorcycle builder by day. Dow arrived at the rally with a remarkably tidy custom boxer dubbed the “R 100/2,” a machine he specifically built as a personal ride for his wife, Stacey. While purists know that the factory never officially manufactured an R 100/2 model, Dow took deep stylistic inspiration from the legendary visual language of the classic Slash 2 series and cleverly engineered those timeless shapes around a much larger, more powerful modern 1,000cc air-cooled powerplant.
The mechanical updates across the build are subtle, yet extensive, headlined by an Earl’s-style leading-link front fork. Dow re-engineered the classic front end to accept a modern dual-disc brake setup, an upgrade that Stacey openly praises as a complete “game changer” for real-world stopping power and road confidence. Similarly, Dow dragged the electronics into the 21st century, utilizing a minimalist suite of modern Motogadget running gear to keep the cockpit entirely uncluttered and reliable for long-distance tracking.
Remarkably, the stunning machine almost never made its public debut on the Vermont show floor due to a logistical scare during the transit from Michigan. While tied down inside the trailer, Dow’s secondary motorcycle shifted during the drive, causing its handlebars to rub directly against the R 100/2’s freshly-painted fuel tank, wearing the tank to the bare metal. Undeterred by the disaster, Dow deployed his skills in the parking lot, using automotive rattle-can paint and clear coat to patch the damage before cutting and buffing the paint on-site. The field repair was so flawless that the mishap was completely invisible to onlookers, serving as a testament to Dow’s exceptional craft.
Ken Gurak’s 2007 BMW R 1200 S
Ken Gurak arrived at the Builders Best show with a multi-bike assault on the podium; his immaculate 1975 Kawasaki H2C 750 custom captured the top Non-BMW trophy and the overall People’s Choice award. But his R 1200 S was an absolute masterclass in modern boxer performance. The 2007 R 1200 S is already an exceedingly rare piece of Bavarian history, with only 432 units imported into the United States during its single production year, and only 105 leaving the factory in this striking, vibrant yellow livery.
In stock form, the R 1200 S is a highly focused sportbike anchored by a distinctive tubular trellis frame, an innovative Telelever front end, and a Paralever rear single-sided swingarm. The factory package turned out a respectable 122 horsepower against a dry weight of roughly 419lbs , but Gurak wanted to aggressively sharpen the bike’s power-to-weight ratio. He internally overhauled the high-performance boxer engine with lightweight Wossner forged pistons and matching high-strength connecting rods, successfully reducing reciprocating mass by 1.1 pounds.
The lightened high-compression motor breathes through a high-flow K&N air filter and exhales through an Akrapović titanium exhaust system that exits cleanly beneath the tail section. To further reduce unsprung weight and sharpen steering response, Gurak binned the factory alloy wheels in favor of ultra-lightweight BST carbon-fiber wheels. The carbon theme flows seamlessly across the rest of the yellow sportbike, beautifully complemented by an array of Tekarbon body panels and lightweight carbon fiber engine case covers that solidify its track-focused intent.
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