Almost a year ago to the day, Diamond Atelier released images of its first ever BMW R nineT build, the ‘DA#4’. The bike went on to grace magazine covers around the world and took out the top spot on Pipeburn’s 2016 Bike of the Year Awards.
It’s been a hectic period for Munich locals Tom Konecny and Pablo Steigleder, releasing more incredible builds and their own limited production series motorcycle.
But you didn’t think they were going to give up their trophy easily, did you? Hell no. They’re back and laying down the gauntlet for 2017 in a massive way with this ultimate Neo-Racer, the DA#9T BMW R nineT.
If there is one thing more impressive than the machines that Tom and Pablo create, it’s the fact they’ve been in operation for less than four years.
Now the phone rings off the hook and orders are flying in, but sadly success also brings the tyre-kickers. They’re starting to get used to it; the guy that walks in, talks for a day, promises they have the money to fund the build and then…
They say they’ve heard this monologue countless times and only rarely does it lead to an order.
But then one day a rather unusual phone call came through.
“All he knew was that he wanted a BMW boxer engine with an aggressive yet elegant shell around it,” Tom says. “With no further questions asked, he ordered. He simply said, ‘I never take long to decide. If I feel something is right, I do it’.”
The client was so confident in DA that he didn’t even specify which model BMW he wanted to use. Talk about a vote of confidence, but just by looking at the images here you can see that they didn’t let him down.
Tanks for the memories
“In terms of looks, our main goal was to give this R nineT racer completely different proportions than what people are used to seeing – even within the numerous custom builds already out there,” says Tom Konecny.
The first step was to expose the front trellis frame, which is normally covered by the stock tank. A new subframe was hand fabricated and neatly welded to the rear load-bearing cradle.
Tom and Pablo used their immense metal fabrication skills, to craft a tank like no other. The top piece gives the BMW a muscularity it doesn’t normally possess and houses all the electronic componentry required to keep a modern factory BMW alive. The enormous tank has triple flutes on each side – an old hot rodder’s trick that helps give it proportion.
The understated tones of the paint allow the lines to really stand out and they’re further accentuated by pinstriping in all the right places.
Eager to make the engine a strong part of the visual statement, the boys had another trick up their sleeve. “The piece we are most proud of are our own signature valve covers that were specifically machined for this bike. This is a prototype set we created together with Simon Dabadie from DAB Design.”
A bored German
While sporting custom valve covers, the engine couldn’t just look good. “To ramp up the power output, we sent the engine to boxer specialist Andreas Reh from Rehcing, who was highly recommended to us,” Tom said.
What Reh sent back is truly special – a big-bore engine with a capacity of 1400cc that delivers a whopping 108kW from just two cylinders. More power is possible, but the engine is built to deliver that performance reliably.
The bike hosts an array of top-class performance bolt-ons to match. The exhaust system is big bucks and beautiful, with the stock headers replaced by Remus titanium free-flow ones. The rear can had to match the overall theme of the bike and yet still unleash a GP-like howl, and a Spark titanium unit does that perfectly. The new tank required a custom fabricated airbox that feeds both chambers thanks to a shared K&N filter. A pressure-flow oil cooler helps deliver that reliable performance with the ECU tuned for regular 95-octane pump fuel.
Wanting Wilbers
The brief for this bike, in addition to a boxer engine, was for performance improvements in most of the Beemer’s other metrics. So with the engine sorted, it was over to the handling and braking department.
Up front is a full Wilbers ZF fork set-up secured in custom triple trees, assisted by a Wilbers steering damper. At the rear, a Wilbers Blackline shock is assisted by an AC Schnitzer fully adjustable Paralever strut.
The factory Brembo brakes are good, but now they’re teamed with a set of ABM custom steel-braided brake lines.
The ABM multi-clip ’bars are fully adjustable and give the nineT a drastically different riding position – as do the AC Schnitzer fully adjustable rearsets.
But nothing says you race the roads like lightweight BST carbon-fibre wheels wrapped in sticky Pirelli Supercorsa SP-2 rubber. They’re candy to the eyes.
To wrap up this build, the intent was to keep things as clean as possible and a total re-wire with Motogadget and ABM components did the trick.
But perhaps the biggest yet subtle piece of bling was left till last – a 0.20 carat diamond neatly set in the top clamp. If you’re going all out, you might as well do it in style.
Words Martin Hodgson for Pipeburn.com
Photos Lukas Magerl
