I flew to L.A. this past spring to talk about a new project between actor Orlando Bloom, Deus Ex Machina’s Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, and BMW Motorrad. I’m not much for Hollywood, but I was wide-eyed about their idea. They’d take an already naked S 1000 R (a bike I’ve spent a summer on and for which I have an affinity) and make it more naked: a high-performance inline-four turned cooler, lighter, and more nimble.
Talks on the new project began when Deus founder Dare Jennings, Woolie, and Orlando met with BMW Motorrad designer Ola Stenegärd and the design crew at the Munich factory in Germany last year. While the rest of the world had caught fire to the stripped-down lines of the R nineT as a starting point, Woolie drew upon his racing background and desire to do something different with the race-inspired S 1000 R.
“I quickly realized why not many people want to customize this bike!” laughs Woolie. “There are just a lot of electronics under there. And not a whole lot in terms of raw beauty beneath the plastics. It all had to be addressed.”
To find inspiration, Woolie looked to the clean racing lines of the successful AMA Butler & Smith superbikes of his youth.
The 999cc, 160hp four cylinder (nick-named “4CYL”) was certainly a challenge. To lighten its appearance, Woolie decided that rather than cover up its modern pedigree, he’d use what he could as functional art –for example, by exposing the Febur radiator out in front. He added new functional architecture in the board-track bars, which cover and secure the tank. Those two simple ideas give you a functional design motif that feels more raw and exposed.
Other details included a custom rear sub-frame, custom electrical box, a one-off seat wrapped in black Kushitani waterproof leather with double-diamond-tuck stitching, a round headlight, and a carbon fiber front fender – all giving the bike more classic than factory looks. The stock gauge cluster was retained to manage the electronics, tucked behind the hand-shaped aluminum fairing sitting above the headlight. Artist Ornamental Conifer brought the face of the analog counter to life. Finally, Gilles Tooling machined a custom top clamp and rear sets to apply the finishing touches to this reimagined superbike.
“BMW’s ride is phenomenally safe. It holds the road,” said Orlando. “We asked: If a modern (super bike) classic was built, what would it look like? I said, let me take this bike and work with my friends. All roads converged and the timing was right. It was a match made in heaven. This was ballsy in a way for BMW to take this one on.”
Spend any time with Orlando and you’ll quickly learn he’s a motorcyclist, appreciating a wide range of bikes in any garage, including his own. The S 1000 R isn’t the first BMW that Woolie has put his touches on for his personal friend. (He had previously restored a 1964 BMW R60 to original condition some years ago as their friendship was developing.)
Everyone considers the BMW brand elite. Beyond historical design and performance, the Bavarian brand is now making us care more. “We’ve always been very good at a functional, rational level,” mentions Ola, “but now we’re getting into really emotional bikes.”
This article first appeared in issue 20 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license
Words by Brett Houle | Images by Hermann Köpf | deuscustoms.com | bmwmotorcycles.com
