This is the Maeving RM1S custom build by Robert Sabel of Roughchild, one of the best-known custom motorcycle shops on the west coast and one of the most respected in the world.
Roughchild has built dozens of high-end customs over the years and they include a slew of major celebrities in their client list. Each build starts with an examination of the original bike and a full teardown, before a careful rebuild is undertaken to improve the bike from the ground up.
This is the Maeving RM1S custom build by Robert Sabel of Roughchild, one of the best-known custom motorcycle shops on the west coast and one of the most respected in the world.
History Speedrun: Roughchild
Roughchild is a custom motorcycle workshop based in the Los Angeles area, founded by Robert Sabel, a British expat who came to California by way of the Cannes Film Festival where he met his future wife. He followed her back to LA, sold off his car collection in the UK, and started fresh with little more than the money in his pocket and a lifelong appreciation for all things mechanical.
Before motorcycles entered the picture, Sabel had a background in Porsche 911 restoration and worked as an automotive writer. The pivot came when he was offered a vintage air-cooled BMW motorcycle as a sweetener while purchasing an early short-wheelbase 911. It was a /2-generation frame with a /5 motor, and when Sabel cracked it open for servicing, he was struck by how familiar the horizontally opposed boxer engine felt compared to the Porsche engines he already knew.
He was hooked from the get-go, captivated by the Airhead’s symmetry, the gauges tucked into the headlight, the spoke wheels, and those unmistakable cylinder jugs jutting out from each side of the bike. He started collecting more, and before long the bikes outnumbered the cars.
Sabel began working on air-cooled BMWs in 2012, and formally launched Roughchild as a business in 2014. The shop specializes primarily in BMW Airheads, especially 1970s and 1980s models. Every build starts with a donor bike sourced specifically for the client’s goals, which is then stripped to the bare frame and rebuilt from the ground up.
Engines are refreshed to factory spec or beyond, with optional Stage 2 and Stage 3 performance upgrades available. The parts list reads like a who’s who of premium suppliers – Öhlins suspension, Brembo brakes, Motogadget electronics, ARP fasteners, and SmartCarb carburetors on select builds.
Roughchild’s client list includes some serious Hollywood A-listers, Brad Pitt commissioned a custom R80 that received a rebuilt 1,000cc R100RS engine producing 73 bhp, along with Öhlins suspension and Brembo GP4 calipers. Ryan Reynolds also owns a Roughchild bike, as does Michael Barrett, the film producer best known for Ted, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Bobby, and the husband of Anna Faris.
Robert’s two-wheeled work has earned widespread recognition across the motorcycle and automotive world. His builds have been featured on Silodrome, Bike EXIF, Petrolicious, Gear Patrol, RideApart, The Rake, and Return of the Cafe Racers, among many others. Sabel himself has shown bikes at The Quail and has been a speaker at the Pebble Beach Concours Classic Car Forum during Monterey Car Week – two of the most prestigious motoring events in the world.
Up front, Robert and the team at Roughchild have added a pair of Ohlins upside down forks using a custom triple tree that makes use of the original headlight and instrument mounts. The headlight has been swapped out for an adaptive LED unit from JW Speaker and all of the switchgear has been replaced with momentary switches from Motogadget.
The Maeving RM1S By Roughchild
Robert was first approached by Michael Barrett in 2025, an LA-based film producer known for Ted, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Bobby. Robert was reluctant to take the job and turned it down a number of times due to the fact that he had little interest in working on electric motorcycles.
Michael persisted, and when he and wife Anna Faris lost their Pacific Palisades home and an eclectic motorcycle collection to the fires that swept through the area, he was left with one motorcycle, an electric Maeving RM1S, and he sent it on a truck unannounced to Robert at Roughchild in the hopes that he would take on the project.
Perhaps partly out of pity and partly out of his own curiosity, Robert was surprised by how much he didn’t dislike riding the Maeving.
“It’s a genuine surprise. By no means comparable to a real motorcycle, it’s something completely different. An enjoyable experience. I have a stable full of big motorcycles ready to go anywhere. But having something to jump on and fly down to the shops, nip around town, full throttle trying to extract everything it has to give. It’s just basic fun. Much like the vespa I used to scoot around London on. They’re not fast machines, but you’ll quickly exceed legal speeds and it encourages you to carry momentum.” – Robert Sabel
He decided to take on the project, and he completely reworked the bike front to back and in his trademark style, honoring the original design and making it better. Robert calls it OEM+ and it’s a name that fits.
Up front, Robert and the team at Roughchild have added a pair of Ohlins upside down forks using a custom triple tree that makes use of the original headlight and instrument mounts. The headlight has been swapped out for an adaptive LED unit from JW Speaker and all of the switchgear has been replaced with momentary switches from Motogadget.
Robert was first approached by Michael Barrett in 2025, an LA-based film producer known for Ted, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and Bobby. Robert was reluctant to take the job and turned it down a number of times due to the fact that he had little interest in working on electric motorcycles.
Bar end turn signals lend themselves to the vintage theme and are activated by updated relays also from Motogadget found under the fuel tank (that is actually a storage box).
Robert does admit that the Ohlins and Brembos are probably overkill for such a small bike but it makes a hell of a difference to the ride quality. That along with custom 18” wheels and the oversize Road Rider Mk2 tires from Avon. The cases have been blacked out, much akin to Maeving’s own Black Out edition, which came after the project had already got underway.
The swingarm was modified to house the larger tires and the rear fender has been ditched entirely. Fine for California and in particular the rain free roads of the Hollywood Hills that this bike will frequent. Robert said that one of his favorite changes was reworking the brake lines so the rear brake is no longer activated when the front brake is applied, giving the bike more traditional road manners when the anchors are out.
The gas tank has been refinished in Porsche’s Slate Grey, first introduced in the 60’s and made famous by Steve McQueen with his 911 in the movie Le Mans. The seat pan was modified to house a small taillight and a small license plate bracket added to the side of the bike.
As ever with Roughchild, it’s the fit and finish that really showcases the attention to detail and sets the build apart. If you look closely you’ll see all of the hardware has been switched out for stainless 12 point bolts from American brand ARP.
Robert does admit that the Ohlins and Brembos are probably overkill for such a small bike but it makes a hell of a difference to the ride quality. That along with custom 18” wheels and the oversize Road Rider Mk2 tires from Avon.
The custom build caught the attention of the Maeving team and they’ve since approached Roughchild to build more bikes for their clients. As a result, you can now use the code “Roughchild” when completing any order of a new Maeving motorcycle for a $500 discount and a free upgrade to the carbon fiber package.
If you’d like to see more of Roughchild’s work you can visit their official website here. You can also follow them here on Instagram – YouTube – Facebook
Images courtesy of Robert Sabel – Roughchild
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
