Most nine-year-old girls are into dolls, clothes and dancing. Even as a small child, however, the young woman in this story was fascinated by motorcycles.
Beatriz González knew at an early age that she was passionate about motorcycles. What the young Spaniard didn’t realise back then was that she would end up dedicating her life to them. Today, she works as a motorbike journalist. And she is also a test rider and presenter on a television show about cars and motorcycles.
From passion to profession.
At first, Beatriz González knew only that she wanted to work in the world of motorcycling. She spent years working for the magazine MotoGP, where she devoted her time and efforts to motorcycle sport and especially racing. Then one day she decided that writing and talking about motorbikes was no longer enough – she wanted to ride them herself. That’s when the real fun began.
Soon afterwards, she began working as a motorcycle test rider and presenter on a Spanish television programme: “That’s where I discovered my love of café racers,” she says. “I used to see them on the roads all the time and I liked them. But it was only when I started researching them and writing about them that I really started to understand them.”
A challenging environment.
Beatriz has always had to defend her love of motorcycles, especially to her parents, who did not approve of her lifestyle or her decision to travel the world and devote her life to motorcycling. They thought it was an unsuitable environment for a woman and that she would not be able to build a life around it.
She also found people constantly questioned her expertise and abilities. Today, she has a large following on social media and has gained people’s trust. Her motorbike tests have earned her guru status in the Spanish motorcycling world.
A dream parked on the drive.
When Beatriz decided to get her own café racer, she went for a 1983 BMW R80 – the model she liked best. Then she started making a few modifications. “I was sure my first motorbike would be a BMW R series,” she says. “Aesthetically speaking, it’s definitely the most beautiful and the most elegant model – both in terms of the tank, which oozes elegance, and the engine. The hallmark boxer engine of the classic R series is the first thing you notice when you see one of these motorcycles. I like this type of engine for its handling, not to mention its side valves and the roar when you rev it; these engines have their own special personality.”
“BMW R series motorcycles (the 45, 80, 100, etc.) have become icons of their time. They always take centre stage at events featuring classic or custom motorcycles, and their engines have even been used as decoration. I just knew I would choose this model as my first café racer when the time came.
Future plans.
When she finishes work on this first machine, Beatriz plans to modify another BMW R series model – an R100RS this time. She hopes to have her own motorcycle collection one day.
