Traumwerk K110 Schwarzarbeit
By Ian Heartfield - 30 Sep 14
There are black bikes and there are black bikes. And then there's Traumwerk's 'Schwarzarbeit'. A BMW so black, that if you parked it down a dark back street you'd probably never find it again.
Das-Traumwerk call themselves a 'design-garage for classical motorbikes' and are based in a tiny village in the middle of Austria. Partners Alex Ahrer and Herwig Prammer, assisted by the local blacksmith and a retired multiple Austrian 600cc champion, have specialised in twin cylinder projects. Up until now.
This time, as well as taking on the challenge of twice as many cylinders, the guys wanted to make the task doubly hard for themselves by tackling the K100. A bike so square it's known as the 'Flying Brick'. As with their other builds, Traumwerk wanted to leave the basic shape as the original designers had intended. That'll be brick like then. In fact, rather than disguise it, they chose to enhance the squareness and reinforce the shape by removing all traces of colour.
As well as the liberal application of black, any parts which disturbed the shape were removed or replaced with rough perforated metal plates. Something the guys say, 'transposed the bike to the 21st century with it's sheer presence'. Precisely.
Another important part of this build was to hide as many of the controls as possible. The indicators for example are unmissable when in operation, but invisible when they're not. The speedo and rev counter are minimalist and then some, using touchscreen controls and hidden buttons. The overhanging and slightly inclined handlebars give the bike a more aggressive stance. The tiny, but apparently blindingly bright headlight, is tucked away between the fork tubes, again specifically to help draw the eye to the power plant at the heart of the bike.
The only thing that has been allowed to stand out on this build are the tyres. Big, fat, chunky off roaders. If you think they're impractical, Traumwerk agree with you. This is not meant to be a functional bike, nor is it meant to be a racer or a long-distance cruiser. This is just a bike to be ridden and looked at. As long as it's not too dark.
Thanks for sharing guys. Like you, we have no doubt that this build will divide opinion. Some will love the sheer bravery and stripped down class of this bike. Others won't be able to see past the blackness. Whichever side of the debate you find yourself on, one thing's for sure, it's created a debate, and that can only be a good thing.
Check out their websites for more darkness; das-traumwerk and prammer