Our coverage of this year’s Bike Shed Moto Show drew an enormous and enthusiastic response, with those having attended confirming what a great event it was and those who only saw it via the magic of the internet exclaiming it was now firmly on their bucket list. But perhaps the most common theme in the comments section was a desire to see more of the bikes displayed, given a full feature; so without any messing around, we bring you another two-wheeled gem fresh from its big showing. Built by the uber-talented team from Pier City Customs, the masters of the BMW R nineT platform have taken a humble 2022 Roadster and transformed it into a real-life Akira bike.
Created by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira, both the manga series and the feature-length anime film adaptation, is not only an icon of the genre but its cult following also helped to give an appreciation to the Japanese artform and drastically boost its popularity in the Western World. And it just so happens that the key protagonist, Kaneda, rides an ultra-cool futuristic motorcycle with a logo not dissimilar to that of BMW. “The Akira bike was a bespoke customer-requested build. Based on the character’s bike from the Akira anime film, the owner works in movies and he’s a huge Akira fan!” Rory from PCC tells us.
There are some big obstacles when it comes to crafting a custom bike like this, building a replica, which has been done before, results in a bike that looks the part but is about as practical as a chocolate teapot to ride. So instead, the PCC team have taken the far better approach, building a BMW nineT which performs incredibly well as a true performance motorcycle, while also capturing the essence and obvious appearance of the original. The first task then becomes creating the best foundation possible, and this is where PCC has a huge advantage over so many, not only have they built endless incredible nineT’s, but they race them too.
To drastically improve the way the bike handles, the stock rear shock absorber has been pulled and in goes a top of the line Öhlins STX 46 Blackline unit. At the front end, the forks have been removed and completely rebuilt. This also allowed for the lower legs to be polished within an inch of their life to achieve a stunning mirror finish, which is replicated on the triple clamps. But these are no stock items, the trees are the full Le Motographe machined fork clamp kit, beautifully made from 7075 aluminium. They not only look the business but allow for the fitment of the clip-on bars and also feature a picture perfect cut out for a MotoScope Pro.
To get the bike rolling, the factory-spoked wheels from the Roadster model are set aside and replaced with the far better fit for the bike cast items, taken from the Racer variant. The front of which gets the highly detailed polished treatment, while at the rear a wheel cover is fitted in line with the look from the original Akira bike. This brings us to the tyre choice, you simply couldn’t build a bike based on the legendary machine from the film without wrapping those wheels in a set of slicks! And over the top of the race rubber at the front sits the first of the body modifications, a fender from an S1000RR.
Given the full fairing of the oddly shaped machine from the film, which has the rider sitting in a recliner chair like position, more bulk needed to be added to the middle of the motorcycle. To achieve this a high quality AC Schnitzer BMW R9T GRP Bellypan has been fitted and really pumps things out. The tail unit picks things up from there with its tight lines and is fitted with a Le Motographe machined tail tidy. And then to literally top it off, the seat is a stunning PCC creation, with Akira branding.
But you can’t look at this bike for even a fraction of a second and not notice just how remarkable the paint job is. “We worked with our buddies at Valkyrie who offered to paint the bike to a ‘movie prop’ level and we’re over the moon with the results.” From nailing the colour, to getting all of the graphics spot on, it truly is a work of genius. You have to simply drink in the detail and from the faux rust to the ‘aging’, you can see why these guys are masters of their craft! And the fairing-less front? “It is based on a schematic we found for a ‘behind the fairing’ look at how the bike would have been built.”
That’s the lengths which PCC go to to get the brief just right. And they can also turn out some serious horsepower, fitting the BMW with a G&G Bike low box full de-cat exhaust system, with carbon fibre muffler inserts. To make the most of this, the engine is re-mapped using all of the data from their race program and a PCC bespoke air intake scoop has been fitted too. Even the little extras are of the highest quality, from the Gilles Tooling rearsets to the Motogadget and Highsider lighting. The Akira bike was literally a show stealer and to add another incredible touch, Scott Fletcher of Maverick Artistic Services painted a one-off portrait to complete the display. A film back that truly earns a standing ovation.
[ Pier City Customs | Photography by Alex Hampton ]