At the heart of any good design is its ability to provoke a response out of those who view it. Intrigue with its underlying meaning, interest in its form, perhaps even hatred for what it encapsulates. A Munich based customiser has taken a 1980s BMW K100 bike, and reinterpreted it to achieve pleasure in its geometry.
The bike catches your eye immediately with the classic colour palette of BMW’s iconic logo. The emphasis on triangles on the body’s white, the frame housing the engine, alongside the overlapping spokes really evokes visual satisfaction with the overall design. You really get the sense that the component defined compartmentalisation of each mechanical element serves a definite purpose. In all honesty, even if you yourself do not ride bikes, it’s really something to look at.
For this iteration (dubbed the K101), the K100 has been stripped down of everything deemed aesthetically unnecessary in order to make the principle components of the original’s design stand out as a focal point. This modern take of the bike leaves the barebone essentials exposed in clear view.
The K100 itself is quite well known for its comfort and stability. The bike’s engine was acquired from PSA Peugeot. It’s essentially “… a car engine flipped 90 degrees to the left…”, and re-purposed by BMW to fit the needs of a motorcycle. BMW’s ultimate objective with the K100 was to combine their boxer engine builds with most notable features of Japan’s early four-cylinder bikes. The result? A fully fledged, four-cylinder engine that can clock 100 BHP.
Two out of the three K101s released have already been sold.
