Giorgio De Angelis has been a diehard motorcycle enthusiast for the vast majority of his life. The Roman grew up competing in a diverse selection of motorized two-wheeled competition, but now that De Angelis has gotten older – or “more mature” as he puts it – his attention has turned towards building custom bikes under the name De Angelis Elaborazioni. “I mostly modify old BMW’s, but not only because I believe they are great bikes despite their age. They are reliable bikes and once they are modified they can express their beauty to the fullest,” explained the Italian racer turned builder. De Angelis Elaborazioni’s latest one-off flying brick build – entitled ‘LaDina” – is the epitome of a top-shelf custom boasting exquisite fit and finish and top-of-the-line components from companies who regularly produce parts for WSBK and MotoGP teams.
This beyond impressive custom Beemer started out as a 1992 K1100 LT that De Angelis tracked down in Tuscany. Giorgio stripped everything down to the frame before recoating it modifying it to accommodate the build’s bespoke aluminum tail-section. A hefty 50mm upside-down fork was married to the frame before being fitted with high-end radial calipers. Next a set of clip-ons from Robby Moto – who regularly supplies MotoGP and WSBK teams – were added. A remotely adjustable Öhlins monoshock was installed in back which required some custom fabrication work to fit to the single-sided swing-arm.
The ’92 K1100’s stock air-box was tossed aside to make room for alloy velocity stacks, all of which are left on full display. A race-spec EPROM programmable ECU helps maximize how much power can be squeezed out of the German four-banger. Burnt fumes are spit out of a custom slash-cut SeSfactory exhaust that pokes out under the left side of the bike’s tail. Another world-class part found on this flying brick is its custom-built aluminum radiator which came from RC Radiators, another elite Italian company that routinely sells components to top-tier race teams. On the bike’s right side, behind the trick bespoke radiator, is a hand-made side-panel – complete with meshed slits – that covers up the BMW’s less pretty but nonetheless necessary ancillaries.
A steering-damper sits just below a single round digital race tachometer unit, while the temperature and fuel gauges have been moved to the left side of the bike. LaDina is very much a road-goer, so high-end LED lighting has been used all around, including a custom made taillight housed in the aluminum tail. Said tail is also topped-off with a custom CL Racing saddle that’s adorned in a BMW M-Sport livery to match the rest of the machine. I’m normally opposed to customized Roundels, but the carbon-clad Roundels on the tank work well with the build’s paint-scheme. An individual Brembo Racing rear brake was also added, and like the front radial caliper, the Brembo unit is connected via trick aircraft brake hoses. As an avid BMW Motorrad enthusiast, De Angelis opted to use externally mounted spokes from a set of GS rims which have since been wrapped in Continental tires.
This beautiful one-off BMW made some serious waves upon its debut and has been featured at a number of prestigious custom motorcycle shows in 2017 including the Bike Shed’s London show, the Verona’s MotorBikeExpo, Rome’s MotoDays, and even on BMW Motorrad’s official Facebook page. The K1100 LT-based custom also made its rounds online, and was in a number of reputable magazines. The overall quality and fit and finish of this build are just phenomenal. The minute details such as the welds on the exhaust are all damn-near perfect. It probably won’t come as a huge surprise to hear De Angelis got some professional help on this build. This is by far my favorite flying brick build I’ve ever seen.
You can find De Angelis Elaborazioni’s 1992 BMW K1100 LT LaDina custom for sale here on TheBikeShed in Rome, Italy with a price of $23,330 (or €20,000). For more on the build, check out this old article on TheBikeShed.
Featured photo by Image Factory.