The R18 The Crown is a sleek celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary and one of the most extensively modified motorcycles BMW has commissioned recently.
BMW’s motorcycle division occasionally gives one of its bikes to a well-known customizer to see what they can come up with as part of its advertising machinery. The results are always cool, but they rarely have the same artistic impact as the most recent design, The R18 The Crown.
Although it sounds like a Netflix drama, the sleek custom bike was built to commemorate the 100th anniversary of BMW Motorrad, the company’s motorcycle division.
The motorcycle, designed by Dirk Oehlerking of Kingston Customs, was unveiled at the BMW Motorrad Days in Berlin over the weekend. Operating in the Ruhr region of Germany for the last 30 years, he has become known for his unusual and unique motorcycle builds, and says that this one is “the essence of my creations to date.”
“I started with a new BMW R18 which I then stripped down,” King said. “I used cardboard and hard foam to create the shape, lines, and design as usual. The goal was for it to have an innovative appearance while also appearing strong, graceful, and quick.”
The extent of his customization program necessitated numerous modifications to the bike, as you might anticipate. A double-sided swinging arm with a central suspension strut, for instance, has replaced the front forks.
The outer body and the eight-liter fuel tank, however, were both constructed of two-millimeter-thick aluminum sheet metal. The aluminum seat was covered in genuine leather, and each panel was individually cut, bent, and driven by hand to produce the sleek shape.
Even though the stainless steel exhaust piping was handcrafted, a surprising number of its components came from BMW. Naturally, the boxer engine is original, but other original components include the rear suspension, the headlight, and a number of other instruments, switchgear, and footrests.
Oehlerking finished it all off with a mother-of-pearl trim and Champagne Platinum paint. The cherry on top was pinstriping and BMW logos topped with his company’s crown.
Reference: www.carscoops.com
