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.…