Woolie’s Workshop and Deus Ex Machina USA are proud to present the ’4CYL’ a collaborative bespoke motorcycle build for Orlando Bloom. The custom BMW S1000 R project was set in motion by BMW Motorrad and Bloom, who called upon Michael Woolaway here at Deus to make it a reality. This isn’t the first BMW that Woolie has built for his personal friend, whose garage is also home to a 1964 BMW R60 restored to original condition by Woolie some years ago. Talks of a new BMW project started a while back when Deus founder Dare Jennings, Woolie, and Orlando met with Ola Stenegärd and the design department at the BMW factory in Munich, Germany and before long the new superbike was sitting in Woolie’s Workshop ready for a considerable transformation.
The first step was to remove all the plastics. “I realized why not many people want to customize this bike!” laughs Woolie “There are 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.” As a point of reference, Woolie thought of the Butler & Smith racers from his youth that were successful in the AMA super bike class.
Unapologetically wide, the 999cc 160hp inline four cylinder motor isn’t an expected configuration to base a custom build on, which opened up new ideas and opportunities. Rather than being disguised, an oversized Febur radiator is celebrated as functional architectural piece that adds a unique character to the broad-shouldered bike. One of the key elements of the re-design are the parallel bars that stretch across the top to hold down the tank. “There were a few details that were important to Ola from BMW, such as the board-track bars across the top, so I wanted them to be practical,” says Woolaway. “They’re used to hold down the tank quite well.”
A custom subframe for the seat and tail section was built to incorporate the electrical box. “This was not easy as there were so much electronics and traction control gyroscopes and sensors that were required to remain in their stock location,” says Woolie. The new tray that fits below the seat was first shaped with aluminum, then vacuum-bagged in carbon fiber. The ABS brake pump and all the accompanying brake lines were removed to further free up space. The one-off seat is wrapped in black waterproof Kushitani leather with double diamond tuck stitching. Traction is provided by Pirelli on lightweight carbon fiber wheels by BST.
Up front, the 4cyl sports a round headlight secured by elegant brackets made from SS steel tubing for a more classic look, a stark contrast to the sharp-edged sport bike fairing that the S1000 R left the factory with. The front fender takes a similar styling approach with the use of carbon fiber. The stock gauge cluster was retained to manage the electronics and is tucked behind the small hand-shaped aluminum fairing secured above the headlight. The face of the analog rev counter is brought to life by the sterling Ornamental Conifer. Mirrors and brake fluid reservoir are from Rizoma. To secure the forks, Woolie put a call in to Davey Durelle from his home state of Colorado “He had his guys turn out a clean top clamp, since we’d be using clip-on bars from Gilles Tooling.” Gilles also provided rear sets and axle components that compliment the rest of the bike.