We are longtime fans of the concept motorcycle musings of designer Mehmet Doruk Erdem, whose torpedo-shaped, BMW-powered, two-wheeled daydreams recall the land speed record streamliners made famous by the Anthony Hopkins film The World’s Fastest Indian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obK7azLtcMI
For his previous computer-rendered sketches, such as the Titan, Radical, and Orion, we’ve pined for some industrious builder to bring one of Erdem’s virtual Bimmers into real life.
Now, we can thank Mark Atkinson for doing exactly that, with Erdem’s Alpha design, which was highlighted by a Bike Exif photo spread shot by Jun Song.
There is the signature Erdum “dustbin” fairing enclosing the front wheel, and of course, there is BMW power beneath the fiberglass bodywork.
Erdem told Bike Exif that he modeled his Alpha design after the great white shark. “Great white sharks have always been an inspiration to me,” says Mehmet. “If you look at the body of a shark, you can see that it’s clean and perfect,” he said “But inside, it’s so complicated. So Alpha’s front end is clean and smooth, while the back is the powerful and ugly side—symbolizing the tail of the great white.”
That internal power source comes from a salvaged BMW K75. That means the engine is a water-cooled 750cc inline three-cylinder that lies on its side. It powers the rear wheel through a driveshaft.
The Alpha looks fast, so to help that K75 deliver on the design’s promise, Atkinson added a turbocharger for a power boost.
The Alpha project proves that Erdem’s designs can work in real life, not just in the virtual world. Maybe this success will drive still more builders to construct his amazing designs.